Build a movie plot around this: Who was put in charge of the committee vetting of Leffingwell ? Sen. Seeb Cooley
The answer to this question is:
The President of the United States nominates Robert A. Leffingwell as Secretary of State. The second-term President, who is ill, has chosen him because he does not believe that Vice President Harley Hudsonwhom both he and others usually ignorewill successfully continue the administration's foreign policy should he die.Sen. Seeb Cooley (Charles Laughton) speaking against the Leffingwell nomination on the Senate floorLeffingwell's nomination is controversial within the United States Senate which, using its advice and consent powers, must either approve or reject the appointment. Both the President's party, the majority, and the minority are divided. Majority Leader Bob Munson, the senior senator from Michigan, loyally supports the nominee despite his doubts, as do the hard-working Majority Whip Stanley Danta of Connecticut and womanizer Lafe Smith of Rhode Island. Demagogic peace advocate Fred Van Ackerman of Wyoming is especially supportive. Although also of the majority party, President pro tempore and "curmudgeon" Seabright "Seeb" Cooley of South Carolina dislikes Leffingwell for both personal and professional reasons, and leads the opposition.The Senate Foreign Relations Committee appoints a subcommittee, chaired by majority member Brigham Anderson of Utah, to evaluate the nominee. The young and devoted family man is undecided on Leffingwell. Cooley dramatically introduces a surprise witness, Herbert Gelman. The minor Treasury clerk testifies that he was briefly in a Communist cell with Leffingwell and two others at the University of Chicago. Leffingwell denies the charge and effectively questions Gelman's credibility, but later tells the President that he had committed perjury and that Gelman was essentially correct. He asks the President to withdraw his nomination, but he refuses.Cooley identifies another member of the cell, senior Treasury official Hardiman Fletcher. He forces him to confess to Anderson, who tells Munson. Despite personal lobbying by the President, the subcommittee chairman...