The circumstances of the 1940 presidential election conspired to draw Walker back into public life. James A. Farley, estranged from Roosevelt over the issue of a third term, resigned as Postmaster General in August. Roosevelt turned to Walker to fill the vacancy and Walker moved his family to Washington.
While serving as Postmaster General Walker also acted as a negotiator and advocate for Roosevelt's international policies. In his apartment in Washington, Walker and Secretary of State Cordell Hull held delicate informal negotiations with representatives of the Japanese government. But with the bombing of Pearl Harbor the focus of Walker's work in Washington turned back to the post office. The need was urgent to get mail to the millions of Americans stationed on two fronts overseas, and Walker is credited with effecting a remarkable transformation in the efficiency of the agency's operation to handle that task. In January of 1943, Walker added to his duties by succeeding Edward Flynn as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Walker held that position for slightly less than a year, but during that time established a framework for FDR's successful fourth term presidential bid.
Walker's involvement in national politics virtually ended with the death of Roosevelt in 1945. Public service had been a personal favor to Roosevelt; Walker resigned as postmaster general in June of 1945. He did agree to one last act of public service early in 1946: he accompanied Secretary of State James Byrnes, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., as a member of the United States delegation to the first session of the United Nations Organization (UNO) in London.
Returning to New York, Walker resumed his work with the Comerford theaters. He also involved himself with W.R. Grace's shipping and banking interests, serving as a director of W.R. Grace and Company and the Grace National Bank.
Throughout his life Walker devoted a considerable amount of time to charitable activities. He worked as treasurer of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of New York, and as a member of the boards of the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman presidential libraries, as well as the Board of Lay Trustees of the University of Notre Dame.
In 1952, Walker retired and started work on his memoirs with the help of his aide, Paul Kirby Hennessy. The work was never completed.
Frank C. Walker died on 13 September 1959.
Index :
Walker, Frank C., 1886-1959
Frank Walker's correspondence files begin in 1924 with his work in New York as general counsel to Comerford Amusement Enterprises and continue on to document his work with the Democratic Party, his positions within the Roosevelt administration, and his interests and activities after his retirement in 1952. The files are made up of fourteen separate alphabetical runs, each covering several years, and a group of subject files, set aside by Walker, consisting primarily of correspondence with and about Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Routine correspondence such as invitations, greeting cards, and congratulatory letters have also been filed in this series.
Correspondents include politicians, job seekers, White House and other government workers, New Deal officials in Washington and around the country, lobbyists, theater owners and others involved in the movie business, members of the Catholic hierarchy, administrators of the University of Notre Dame, and family and friends. Subjects discussed include political fundraising, Democratic Party conventions and campaigns, patronage jobs, New Deal policies and programs, the theater business, the finances, personnel, and procedures of the U.S. Postal Service, local affairs in Walker's hometown of Butte, Montana, and other personal matters. Correspondence with Roosevelt and Truman appears in both the general and the subject correspondence; the subjects covered in these letters include the presidents' speeches, messages that Walker had been asked to pass on to the White House, political strategy, and patronage matters.
The content and arrangement of Walker's correspondence reflects the fact that he was usually holding more than one job at a time. His official positions included Democratic Party treasurer (1932), director of the National Emergency Council in the Roosevelt administration (1933-1935), postmaster general (1940-1945), and chairman of the Democratic Party (1943-1944). But in addition to these jobs he was very active in Democratic Party affairs and the Roosevelt administrations throughout his career even during those years when he had no official duties. His correspondence is a source of information on these continuing interests as well as his official positions. Walker kept separate files for his work with the Democratic Party, the NEC, the Post Office, and his family business. These records can be found in other series in the Walker Papers, but much of the correspondence from these activities was filed with his general correspondence.