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Roy L. Elson

Administrative Assistant to Senator Carl Hayden and Candidate for the United States Senate

In 1952, when Senator Carl Hayden was 75, he hired 22-year-old Roy L. Elson as an assistant secretary on his Washington office staff. By age 27, Elson had become Hayden's Administrative Assistant. The aging senator found that the youthful staff member "thought his thoughts." Elson became the senator's surrogate in countless meetings involving the Central Arizona Project and other legislative issues. In 1962 he planned the senator's last campaign for reelection. As Hayden neared retirement, Elson himself ran as the Democratic candidate for the Senate from Arizona, in 1964 against Paul Fannin, and in 1968 against Barry Goldwater. He was one of the first Senate staff members to become a candidate. As Carl Hayden wrote in endorsement of Roy Elson's Senate candidacy, "Roy knows the Congress." In these interviews he shares that knowledge and experience, recalls his personal career, reflects on the senators and staff with whom he served, and offers a candid view of the legislative and appropriations processes. Roy L. Elson died in Sonoita, Arizona, on February 25, 2010.

Table of Contents:

Preface

1) Joining Carl Hayden's Staff

2) Administrative Assistant

3) Lyndon Johnson as Majority Leader

4) Bobby Baker and the Senate

5) The Senate Appropriations Committee

6) Senator Hayden Runs for Reelection

7) First Campaign for the Senate

8) The Kennedy Administration

9) The Central Arizona Project

10) Second Campaign for the Senate

11) LBJ and the Great Society

12) The View from the Lobby

13) One Man Against the Mob

Index

Citation: Scholarly citation: "Roy L. Elson: Administrative Assistant to Senator Carl Hayden and Candidate for the United States Senate, 1955-1969,” Oral History Interviews, April 27 to August 21, 1990, Senate Historical Office, Washington, D.C.

Deed of Gift: I, Roy Elson, do hereby give to the Senate Historical Office the tape recordings and transcripts of my interviews conducted between April 27 and August 21, 1990. I authorize the Senate Historical Office to use the tapes and transcripts in such a manner as may best serve the educational and historical objectives of their oral history program. I also approve the deposit of the transcripts at the Library of Congress, National Archives, Senate Library, the manuscript collection of Senator Carl Hayden, and any other institution which the Senate Historical Office may deem appropriate. In making this gift, I voluntarily convey ownership of the tapes and transcripts to the public domain. Roy Elson, August 21, 1990. Accepted on behalf of the Senate Historical Office by: Richard A. Baker, August 21, 1990.