SEC. OF COMMERCE SHOULD BE "FREE FROM THE REGULATORY FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT" COOLIDGE, CALVIN. Typed Letter Signed, as President, to former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Edward N. Hurley, agreeing that the Federal Trade Commission should both serve the public interest and permit business to "develop along sound lines," emphasizing the independence of the Secretary of Commerce from regulatory functions while discussing its relationship to the Federal Trade Commission, and inviting suggestions. 1 page, 4to, White House stationery, with integral blank; horizontal folds. Washington, 12 February 1925 ". . . It is my desire that the Federal Trade Commission should be so conducted as you well say 'that public interest may be served and business allowed to develop along sound lines.' It seems to me . . . however, that there is a major distinction between the relationship of the Secretary of the Treasury to the Federal Reserve Board and that for the Secretary of Commerce vis a viz [sic] the Federal Trade Commission in that the latter body is a judicial and regulartory [sic] body.
"I understand that the Secretary of Commerce has always wished to keep his department free from the regulartory functions of the Government in order that it might exert its greatest influence through cooperation and promotion. . . ."
In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Herbert Hoover Secretary of Commerce. Hoover exerted the power of his office aggressively, regulating various areas of the economy with the aim of improving efficiency and productivity while balancing the interests of business and labor. Although Hoover was retained as Secretary of Commerce when Calvin Coolidge became president, Coolidge disapproved of regulation, which was reflected in his strongly pro-business appointments to the Federal Trade Commission.