had distributed a leaflet on election day questioning whether the company had made a profit. In 1977, the board had held in Shopping Kart Food Market, 228 NLRB 1311 (1977) that elections should only be set aside only when egregious misstatements of fact occurred during election campaigning. Walther voted with other Republican-appointed Board members to uphold the election, arguing that the board's duty to quickly certify elections was more important than its duty to assure fair elections. The General Knit decision overturned Shopping Kart Food Market and restored the board's old rule as handed down in Hollywood Ceramics. Truesdale provided the critical third vote in the case. Carter nominated Truesdale for a full five-year term on the Board on August 5, 1980. But Senate Republicans, convinced Truesdale was excessively pro-labor, sought to delay his confirmation until after the November elections (which Republican Ronald Reagan was expected to win). The Republicans announced in mid-August that they would filibuster Truesdale's appointment. By mid-September, Senate Republicans had adopted a much-enlarged strategy to bottle up large numbers of Carter appointees who would be able to serve past the end of the presidential term. On October 23, 1980, President Carter used his recess appointment powers to appoint Truesdale to the NLRB once again. Truesdale's recess appointment was effective only until Congress came back into session. However, President Ronald Reagan withdrew Truesdale's nomination to the board the day after his own inauguration, and Truesdale resigned effective January 26, 1981. Return as executive secretary But in a surprise move, the remaining NLRB members voted to appoint Truesdale as the board's executive secretary. President Carter had nominated Executive Secretary William Lubbers to be the board's general counsel on November 28, 1979, but when Republican Senators said they would filibuster the nomination Carter used his recess appointment powers to elevate Lubbers to the post. Robert Volger, Deputy Executive Secretary, was named Acting Executive Secretary. With the position still unfilled by the start of 1981, Truesdale applied for the job on January 18. Truesdale's appointment, and his service until 1994, testified to his impartiality as board executive secretary. For example, in 1989, AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland asserted that Reagan-era appointees to the board had tilted their decisions heavily toward management and had failed to impose harsh penalties on employers to violated the law. Truesdale defended the board, noting that only one member (Mary Miller Cracraft) had any employer connection before