Max Lowenthal (1888–1971) was a Washington, DC, political figure in all three branches of the federal government in the 1930s and 1940s, during which time he was closely associated with the rising career of Harry S. Truman; he served under Oscar R. Ewing on an "unofficial policy group" within the Truman administration (1947–1952). Background Mordechai Lowenthal was born on February 26, 1888, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the 1870s, his parents Nathan (Naphtali) Lowenthal and Gertrude (Nahamah) Gitel, both Orthodox Jewish, emigrated from Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania, to Minnesota. At a young age, he started using the more "American" name of Max. He had two older siblings, of whom only one survived childhood. He graduated from North High School in 1905, first in his class. He also attended Talmud Torah, where he learned Hebrew. He received a BA in 1909 from the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1912 from Harvard Law School, where he began a lifelong friendship with Felix Frankfurter. Career Many of Lowenthal's accomplishments are presumed unknown as some are being discovered through historical research. Lowenthal had an incredibly discreet personality and often refused to take credit for his accomplishments. A memo in Lowenthal's FBI file reveals the following chronology (supplemented): 1907–1909: Reporter at Minneapolis Journal 1912–1913: Law clerk for Judge Julian Mack at $1,800 per annum 1913–1914: Law clerk for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft (AKA Strong & Cadwalader) at $1,800 per annum 1915: Starts own law firm in New York City 1917: Clerk or assistant at U.S. Department of State 1917–1918: Assistant secretary to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's Mediation Commission (Morgenthau Mission, recommended by Felix Frankfurter)) 1918: Informal aid at U.S. Department of War 1918–1919: Assistant chairman for War Labor Policies Board to Felix Frankfurter 1919–1920: Returns to private practice; defends Sidney Hillman and Amalgamated Clothing Workers in "landmark injunction case" 1920–1921: Assistant secretary to Second President's Industrial Congress 1920–1929: Partners in Szold Branwen [sic] law firm and becomes a "very wealthy New York lawyer" in Lowenthal, Szold and Brandwen of 43 Exchange Place, New York City. (FTC commissioner John J. Carson later mistakenly recalled one partner as "Max Bramblin" of "Lowenthal & Bramblin") Lowenthal knew Walter Weyl (father of Ware Group member Nathaniel Weyl), who recommended Adelaide Hasse as a researcher for the War Labor Policies Board. Private law practice Lowenthal ran a private law practice from 1912 to 1932. Cases involved workers rights, defense of