David Elliot Bell joined the incoming administration at the close of 1960, when President-elect Kennedy appointed him Director of the Bureau of the Budget. Mr. Bell promptly began formulating the new administration’s economic policy against the backdrop of the Eisenhower/Kennedy transition. Some of his tasks included mapping out legislative proposals and strategy and reviewing proposals made by other government agencies. At the end of 1962, President Kennedy appointed Mr. Bell to become Administrator of the Agency for International Development. In this position, Mr. Bell developed foreign aid programs and legislation, lobbied for funds, and fought budget cutbacks. In the summer of 1966, Mr. Bell left the government to become executive vice president of the Ford Foundation, a private institution that works toward aiding underdeveloped nations.
1919 Jan. 20, Born, Jamestown, North Dakota.
1939 B.A., Pomona College, California
1941 M.A., Harvard University
1942 Staff member, Bureau of the Budget
1942-1945 United States Marine Corps
1943 Nov. 17, married Mary Louise Barry
1947-1951 Staff member, Bureau of the Budget; Special Assistant to President Truman
1951 Administrative Executive and speechwriter to President Truman
1952 Speechwriter, White House Liaison for Adlai Stevenson Campaign
1961 Director of the Bureau of the Budget
1962 Administrator for the Agency of International Development
1966 Executive Vice President of the Ford Foundation
2000 Died
See also:
Archives and Manuscripts; David E. Bell: click here
Oral History Project: click here