The 1958 midyear meeting was held in Birmingham, Alabama. One topic that dominated a number of the sessions was the bank loan controversy, which resulted in the issuance of a policy statement. The minimum-deposit plan, involving the use of money accrued in a whole life policy to pay further premiums not only reduced the value of the policy but it also had tax implications that some felt would sooner or later invite the scrutiny of legislators. Conservative-minded agents looked askance at agents who induced clients to purchase life insurance with borrowed money, and such activity was beginning to cause a division in the field force. The issue and all its ramifications received a thorough airing in a series of meetings. The task of incorporating everyone's views fell to Dunaway who finally succeeded in drawing up a satisfactory statement. Proposed by the Board of Trustees and subsequently endorsed by the National council, the document read:

NALU is deeply distressed by the continued reported abuses which have been coupled with the so-called bank loan plan, and the Board of Trustees wishes to go on record as expressing its disapproval of these alleged abuses….

However, while we are conscious of these causes and wish to see them eliminated by action taken within the insurance industry we are nevertheless aware of the possibility of legislative activity which could seriously jeopardize the over-all tax position of life insurance.

In view of the climate which exists today, we hereby instruct the committee on Federal Law and Legislation and our General Counsel to take such actions as are needed to oppose legislation which would in any way deny to life insurance the same consideration that is given to any other form of property, other than tax legislation which would enlarge the definition of "single premium contract" now contained in Section 264 of the Internal Revenue Code and disallow as a deduction interest paid on funds buffered to purchase or carry any life insurance or annuity contracts coming within such enlarged definition.10

In his address to the general session, NALU president Adams said, "The bank loan plan, whether financed by a bank or the issuing company, is similarly drawing more scrutinizing company attention. And similarly, this is not due entirely to the efforts of NALU." Elucidating the point further, he said:

Evidence is accumulating that this type of case cannot be written as it has been in the past because the plan lends itself to abuses and does not have the characteristic of the normal persistence of the other types of sales.

There are sufficient numbers of cases on record to attract attention where companies have reversed transactions and in some cases damages have been assessed against the writing agent…

We also know that one company, which has considerable experience with this type of sale has changed its underwriting policy for such business. It has adopted rules confining this business to a very restricted area.

Cases outside specified boundaries cannot be completed without home office authorization. They go so far as to specifically tie the amount of premium by percentage to the applicant's income; they also warn that it is possible that cases could be declined regardless of all other underwriting factors being favorable.11

Another provocative topic concerned the propriety of life insurance agents selling property and casualty insurance. A panel discussion on the pros and cons of multi-line selling took up the questions, "Should the life insurance underwriters also handle general lines of insurance?" and "Should the general insurance agent turn his attention to life insurance selling?" Traditionally there had been strong sentiment in the NALU advocating specialization. Many regarded the multi-line seller as an amateur much like the part-timer. The specialist, they asserted, who devoted his energies to the mastery of life insurance marketing was the true professional-the trusted expert. This view certainly had ample grounds for validly in the early decades of the century when life insurance education was in its infancy and the marketplace was flooded with inept and ill-trained agents. With the increased availability of quality training programs, however, many were beginning to take a more relaxed view. Having the question placed on the program of the NALU midyear meeting as a topic for debate demonstrates that, as more and more agents of unquestioned professional standards took up the sale of multiple lines of insurance, the time had come to reconsider. Both sides of the issue received full attention as H. Cochran Fisher, an agent with Aetna in Washington, DC led the discussion in defending the promotion of various kinds of insurance; Harold W. Baird of New York acted as chief spokesman for the specialists. "I believe sincerely that accident insurance is a natural supplement of life insurance and a natural feeder for life," declared Fisher. Arguing that one could hardly be an expert in everything, Baird emphasized the differences in the two lines of insurance. "Appraisals are different, the extent and nature of the investment problems are different, and the nature and frequency of claims are entirely different," he said.12

Whether they were for or against agents selling multiple lines of insurance, all endorsed the resolution introduced by vice president Oren D. Pritchard to ask Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield to issue a commemorative stamp marking the 200th anniversary of legal reserve life insurance in the Unite States. "During these 200 years, life insurance has grown form a small fund to the extent that today there are more than 105 million policy owners in the United States and more than $434 billion worth of life insurance in force," the resolution stated. "Individual thrift, responsibility and self-denial as exemplified by the institution of life insurance have been responsible to large extent for the development of our great nation." In urging their petition the agents asserted, "Today life insurance has become one of the most stabilizing influences in the American economy and one of the prime factors against both inflation and deflation."

There was also considerable discussion at the Birmingham meeting on the proposed headquarters building. Cleeton announced a renewed fundraising drive, but the knowledge that building permits had yet to be issued and the transfer of the property had not taken place raised some embarrassing questions. During the following months, concern and frustration over the delay in construction reached a crisis. In July, with the board members' full support, Adams dissolved Cleeton's group and appointed a new building committee, headed by Arthur W. Defenederfer of Washington, D.C. On August 11, 1958, a press release from Kobel's office announced a change in the NALU's plans for permanent home:

The National Association of Life Underwriters is reconsidering its plans to build a headquarters structure on C Street opposite the new State Department building and is looking for a site or building elsewhere in the Northwest area of Washington.

This is announced by Arthur W. Defenderfer, a chairman of the NALU Building committee, which met here last week with the NALU Executive Committee.

"The Executive Committee and the Building Committee voted unanimously that we look elsewhere for a site or building, and subsequently the Board of Trustees of NALU has concurred by an overwhelming vote," said Defenderfer.13

For Cleeton, Marsh, Hedges, Taggart and their friends it was a bitter disappointment. To many agents the failure to overcome bureaucratic obstacles in Washington meant the end of a dream, and it occasioned considerable comment in industry circles. "It is unfortunate that the National Association of Life Underwriters confronted with the necessity of washing its linen…out on the lawn for the entire life insurance community to observe," was the opinion expressed in United States Review on August 30. "There is undoubtedly some merit to getting the issues out in the open on a topic of financial interest to the association's 75,000 members," the editor said, "but as is often the case where strong personalities clash, the facts tend to become clouded with a great deal of superficial argument that has only incidental connection with the essential issues in the case." The whole affair, the editor thought, illustrated a common problem with volunteer organizations: "The lack of a cohesive force to bring about an amicable settlement of heated issues when opposing groups reach appoint of no compromise," he observed, "is the price paid for democracy in trade associations and other volunteer organizations."

As a summary of the long and tortuous history of the NALU's quest for a home, the article represents the most lucid and probably the most accurate account of this very involved episode in NALU history. Sparking the crisis was the evident unrest within the ranks resulting "from the inconclusiveness of arrangements after six years of activity," the writer explained. Naturally everyone's patience was at an end when the expected transfers of property and zoning approvals were not forthcoming after so long a time.

As the editor explained, the State Department represented only one obstacle. The NALU's property backed onto the site of the American Pharmaceutical Association's national headquarters which faced the Mall, just opposite the Lincoln Memorial, and the zoning code apparently required their consent as well, which its directors repeatedly refused to do:

Reports of lagging interest and downright disenchantment with the project because of the long delay in getting a building started were also coming in from the field, some associations having refused, it is said , to raise any more money until there was some tangible action to report to their members. Reports of concern had also been received because of the continuing costs of the project which are due in part to enlarged requirements of the NALU itself and the LUTC and in part to inflation that has caused construction costs to increase very sharply since the project was launched approximately six years ago.

However, we are reliably informed that the building committee looked on the special meeting and the developments there in as an indication of lack of confidence on it by NALU officer and trustees and when the board insisted on supervisor control over the approval of plans and letting of contracts of the new building the building committee refused unequivocally to serve under anything other than the carte blanche authority it had prior to the special meeting. Thus, we are told, the board faced a challenge it could not ignore and it closed ranks and accepted the resignation despite repeated attempts by various members of the board to work out conciliatory arrangements that would avert an open break.14

Meanwhile, Schriver and his staff had to seek other quarters. The lease on the H Street property ran out with no chance of renewal; the building was scheduled for demolition to make way for a new office building for the World Bank. By December the NALU headquarters was located at 603 13th Street, N.W. since space was at a premium, even for the NALU's needs, the LUTC found a temporary home a number of blocks in the other direction on 22nd Street, near M Street.

At the annual convention in Dallas, Adams was succeeded by Oren D. Pritchard of Indianapolis. Lester Schriver received the Russell award for 1958. Obviously moved, he said, "I feel a bit self-conscious because I realize that those who work with me are entitled to a share of the honor which is implied in the conferment of the Award. No man lives unto himself alone and even though I am the recipient, the honor is shared by those who have contributed to what I have done through the years and to those who have made it possible for me to turn in a fairly good report card."

Both Huebner and Myrick attended the conferment dinner of the American College of Life Underwriters at the Dallas convention where 160 of the year's 637 graduates received their diplomas. American Society membership stood at 4,716 that year, and Myrick told the diners that the College was planning to expand its program of offerings.

By the end of the year the property at C and 22nd Streets had been sold to the government at a profit of $32,000. During the years the NALU had owned the lot it had brought in revenues amounting to $9,427 as a parking lot. (Thirty years later it still remains vacant—a beautifully landscaped mini-park.) On March 31, 1959, the NALU purchased the former St. John's Orphanage building, located at 1922 F Street, N.W. for $515,500. It was a handsome Georgian –style brick building on a large corner lot in the George Washington University area of the city, several blocks west of the White House. Plans called for a total remodeling to provide ample space for both the NALU and the LUTC's offices. There was also land enough for employee parking and potential additions. "Provision will be made for prominent display of the memorial plaques listing the names of our charter builders," Defenderfer assured the local association members. "The cost of all work and installation of new equipment, added to the purchase price, will total considerably less than the cost of erecting a completely new structure." he explained.15

Estimates called for $400,000 for renovations and $105,000 for furnishings and equipment. At a special meeting in May, the board asked Eber M. Spence of Indianapolis to direct the revitalized fund-raising campaign so the NALU could occupy its new home debt-free. At that time, NALU treasurer Louis J. Grayson reported that total contributions, rent, interest on investments (Treasury bills, notes and GMAC Securities) and profit on the sale of the lot had all amounted to $633, 193. To date, both building committees had spent $609,074. Consequently there was only $24,119 on hand. By September, Spence could announce that approximately 4,000 had contributed to the new campaign as "Charter builders" (i.e., those giving $100 or more). After a strenuous campaign conducted among the local associations in every state, Spence announced in June 1960 that more than $200,00 had been donated or pledged.

The proposed H.R. 10, or the Keogh bill, which was now before Congress had received considerable attention from the NALU since it was first introduced in 1957. Named for its key proponent, Eugene J. Keogh, a representative from New York, the bill would permit those who were self-employed to establish tax-deferrable retirement programs. John Schneider, chairman of the NALU Committee on Federal Law and Legislation, in his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee said the NALU favored the billing principle because it "would encourage self-employed individuals to provide for their retirement by permitting them to deduct from gross income each year limited amounts of earned net income set aside for retirement purposes….

"As we understand the Keogh bill," he noted, "it is basically intended to remove an existing tax discrimination against the self-employed by extending to contributions made by them toward their retirement somewhat the same favorable federal income tax treatment now enjoyed by employees under qualified pension plans with respect to employer contributions made on their behalf to such plans." The associated agents objected only to the clause discriminating against foreign (e.g., British or Canadian) companies doing business in this country, he said. "And judging form the information that we have obtained for several individuals who worked on the bill in the House of Representatives, including Mr. Keogh himself, we think that it is accurate to says that this restriction was included in the billing error," Schneider concluded.16

Many agents, however continued to be concerned about the high limits and growing spread of group insurance. Consequently, at the 1960 midyear meeting in Louisville, largely at the insistence of the committee on group insurance (still headed by David Fluegelman), the Executive Committee won the endorsement of the National council in withdrawing its support of the Keogh bill because "group contracts might be written under it." Instead they decided to support a U.S. Treasury bill that would give self-employed persons the same treatment as corporate employees regarding pension plans. "Members of the NALU have become increasingly disturbed about the sale of group plans in one guise or another to professional and trade associations," Life Association News commented. A few months later, the NALU altered its position again. By the time Schneider testified before the senate Finance Committee a second time, the underwriters voiced opposition to those parts of the Treasury alternative to the Keogh bill that would hurt small business. "The NALU is firmly opposed," Schneider said, "to those parts of the Treasury's plan which propose to amend existing tax law by limiting benefits provided to owner-managers of corporations under qualified pension plans—including plans already in being."17

Finally, in 1961, when Keogh reintroduced his bill, NALU attorney Taylor Bigbie commented, "From a preliminary observation, it is believed that the new version of the Keogh bill will be one to which NALU can lend its support….President Kennedy has endorsed the broad objectives of this type of legislation, but it is not believed that this is considered a 'must' bill by President Kennedy and his advisors. Just as we predicted in the past sessions of Congress, we believe that chances of enactment at this session of some sort of tax relief for the self-employed are about 50-50."18

In the fall of 1959, the underwriters were back at one of their favorite haunts, Philadelphia's Bellevue-Stratford, for the 70the annual convention where William S. Hendley, Jr., of Columbia, South Carolina, was elected president. A Graduate of Charleston's Citadel, Hendley had served in the Army for all five years of Wold War II and, like his father, he had a long and successful career as an agent for Mutual of New York. In November he married the former Mrs. Willie B. Taylor Edgerton of Columbia.

Claris Adams, executive vice president and general counsel of the American Life Convention, received the Russell award. It was to be the last industry honor the thirty-five-year veteran of the industry was to receive. On May 2, 1960, at the age of sixty-nine, Adams did at his Washington, D.C. home.

The principal speaker at the "American College Hour," Secretary of the Treasury Robert B. Anderson, addressed a timely and much discussed issue when he complimented the agents on the life insurance industry's efforts to curb inflation. "Sound money, and the maintenance of the purchasing power of the dollar that it implies," he said, " is properly a goal in itself. The millions of Americans whose whole savings are in the form of life insurance contracts, government savings bonds, savings accounts in financial institutions, Social Security and in other forms are entitled to the assurance that these invested dollars will not shrink in value because of inflation."

Besides their usual conferment banquet and board meeting, the chartered life underwriters staged a groundbreaking ceremony at nearby Bryn Mawr for an insurance education center at the new ten-acre campus at the American College of Life Underwriters. When the completed building was dedicated on October 20, 1960, it was appropriately christened Huebner Hall.

"A fitting climax to NALU's Annual convention this year was a new Revenue ruling," NALU counsel Taylor Bigbie informed the agents. The news was good, he said. The new ruling meant that "there shall be allowed as a deduction all the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business, including traveling expenses (including the entire amount expended for meals and lodgings) while away from home in the pursuit of a trade or business."

Even with this added inducement, the agents showed a decided preference for limiting the amount of travel given to Association business. In 1960 the NALU Committee on Functions and Activities proposed a discontinuance of the midyear meeting. Since the idea had first been proposed at the Hartford meeting in 1956, the committee pointed out, both the poor attendance and the subsequent survey had demonstrated the limited interest in the meetings. Its report recommended substituting two extra meetings of the board during the year. This met with the approval of the board of trustees and at the annual convention in Washington that fall the National Council voted to discontinue the traditional midyear meeting after 1962. The concession was not won easily. Vigorous debate preceded the vote, but the final count showed 464 favored discontinuance and 201 voted for continuance.

During the last weeks of August, workmen were putting on the finishing touches and the staffs of both the NALU and the LUTC were settling into their new home at 1922 F Street. The NALU's eight-year odyssey had come to an end. Dedication ceremonies were set for Sunday, September 11, the day before the opening of the NALU's 71st annual convention at the Mayflower and the Statler hotels in Washington. Total outlays, including the purchase price, came to $1,022,00. Because the fund-raising goal for a debt-free headquarters building had fallen short, the NALU took out a 20-year mortgage for $250,000 at five percent.

The visitors were obviously impressed. The front lawn had been beautifully landscaped, and the portico over the entry, supported by four sandstone columns, had been heightened to two stories. In a spirit of impartial gratitude, the board arranged for bronze tablets honoring both building committees to be installed, one on either side of the main entrance. The gesture wasn't only judicious, but just. If Defenderfer had found the place Cleeton had initiated the search. To honor Julian Myrick, the New York State Association furnished and decorated the commodious boardroom. Roger Hull, president of Mutual of New York, unveiled the large portrait in oils of the former NALU president, which dominated the room. The library was named in honor of publisher and insurance educator Paul Speicher who died in 1952. Everyone agreed, the various offices were spacious and comfortably furnished, while the unpretentious entry hall, dominated by the bronze tablets containing the names of charter builders, made a pleasant and dignified foyer.

During this period the NALU began a program to encourage life underwriters to become more politically active. A committee on Political Education and Participation (called "PEP" for short) was formed. One of its main objectives was to encourage agents either to sponsor or to participate in the nine-week Action course in Practical Politics, sponsored by the U.S. chamber of Commerce. This program ultimately led to establishing an agents' political action committee.

At the beginning of 1961, the life insurance industry found itself facing a new Congress and a new administration. "Prospects for extension of the Social security system to finance medical care of the aged have been greatly increased by the election of Senator Kennedy to the Presidency," wrote NALU counsel Taylor Bigbie n February 1961. "This was made further evident by his appointment of Gov. Abraham A. Ribicoff of Connecticut as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Mr. Ribicoff has long been a champion of medical care to the aged through the Social Security system." Even if that particular bill did not pass, Bigbie was certain that Kennedy would propose some form of legislation to finance medical care of the aged. " It was one of his major campaign promises and many of you will recall that he was a co-sponsor of such legislation in the Senate during the last congressional session," he reminded his readers. Noting the negative reaction from the medical profession , Bigbie reported:

The American Medical Association has recently announced that it will wage an all out battle against any form of compulsory health insurance. The House of Delegates of the AMA met in Washington recently and set forth a statement of principles calling for development of the "voluntary non-profit prepayment concept" through consolidation of efforts though the AMA in cooperation with Blue Cross, Blue Shield, the American Hospital Association, private insurance carriers, as well as other types of medical care plans and professional industry, labor, and job groups.

It is anticipated that NALU will work with these various groups in their endeavor to defeat medical care for the aged under the Social Security system.19

The NALU, and the life insurance industry generally, also opposed Kennedy's efforts to extend the benefits of Social Security in other directions by broadening eligibility and raising the amounts received. These proposals, of course, necessitated an increase in contributions both from employer and employees. The President got his way on June 30, with passage of the so-called 1961 Social Security Amendments.*

In May 1961 Schriver announced the appointment of H. James Douds to replace Bigbie who had resigned to become vice president of the Belgian American Banking Corporation in New York City. Douds had been serving as deputy insurance commissioner of West Virginia since 1959. Before that he was supervisor of agent licensing. Noting that he was a native of Pittsburgh who had received both his undergraduate degree and his law degree from the University of West Virginia, Life Association News added, "The new counsel practiced law in Charleston, West Virginia, and served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Korea before he became associated with the West Virginia insurance department." Schriver felt that Douds's extensive experience in state regulation, preparing legislation, and drafting and administering agents' licensing examinations would be "most helpful to NALU in providing service to our affiliated state associations and their members."20 From the beginning, Douds's experience in state insurance regulation bore fruit. Dunaway made him the association's liaison with the insurance commissioners and sent him to their annual meetings. Douds, with the eager support of NALU trustee Joseph Davis Detroit, initiated the practice of hosting a reception for the commissioners. This gave the agents visibility, allowing the NALU's representatives an opportunity to become acquainted with the insurance officials of the various states. In short time the NALU receptions at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' annual meeting became not-to-be-missed events, highlighting the agents' interests in state regulation of the business. Not only commissioners, but other state insurance officials and company representatives also began attending.

During the years 1960-61, Bickerton introduced a major improvement in the NALU's program for grooming new Association leaders. It was a regional concept that met with noticeable success, as Life Association News explained in a 1961 article:

It's a general practice for a state association to conduct a leadership conference late in spring or early summer for the newly elected officers and committee chairmen of its affiliated local life underwriter associations. The incoming local leaders are given a briefing on their duties.

For a long time it has been felt that state officers could do a better job of briefing if they themselves received orientation on the points to emphasize when they meet with local representatives. What was needed then was a leadership Conference for the officers of the various states.

A pilot area conference proved so popular and effective in 1960 that this year the National Association of Life Underwriters felt that all its state affiliates should participate. Accordingly, the country was divided into 12 areas, with several states being assigned to each area. The states will send their offers to their respective area conference, which will be conducted either by a NALU trustee or a member of the NALU headquarters staff. All the states have indicated their willingness to take part in this meetings.21

During the next few years the NALU began sponsoring as many as eight "President's Area Conferences" throughout the country each year. Once the Association ceased holding midyear meetings, the need to keep the lines of communication open throughout the NALU federation became even more acutely felt. In addition to the instructive talks on Association policy and managerial problems, these meetings offered state association officials and NALU officers and staff a chance to exchange views and become better acquainted.

One result of the NALU's 1961 midyear meeting in Fort Lauderdale was the issuance of a "Definition of Abuses." Replacement was seen as a growing problem and seven states had passed new laws designed to curtail unethical activity of this kind. Responding to requests for clarification of terms, the NALU published a statement offering a number of pertinent distinctions. Defamation was declared unethical and defined as "making publishing or circulation any oral, written or printed statement which is false, or maliciously critical of or derogatory to the financial condition of any insurance company, or which is calculated to injure any person in the business of life insurance." Misrepresentation, also declared unethical, was defined as providing a client or one of his advisors with erroneous or incomplete information leading the buyer "to reach conclusions not actually based on complete facts, especially where such erroneous conclusions could react to the detriment of the buyer." The evils of rebating were reviewed and a careful distinction was drawn between replacement and twisting:

REPLACEMENT is the discontinuance of existing life insurance in favor of new life insurance. If such replacement is to the detriment of the policyholder, insured or beneficiary, it may make the underwriter responsible of the act of the policy owner and may constitute "twisting."

In some cases replacement is referred to as substitution. This usually occurs when existing and new insurance are in the same company. The same set of standards apply to substitution as to replacement.

Twisting was defined as making "false or misleading statements, misrepresentation or incomplete comparison, of any kind whatsoever, to any policyowner for the purpose of inducing or tending to induce such policy owner to lapse, forfeit, or surrender his insurance of annuity contract or to replace such insurance or annuity with another contract."22

Printed copies of the definition statement were made available to local members. The Association also published a pamphlet, a rewriting of the older "Beware the Twister," reviewing the subject in plain, practical terms for agent to give to their clients. The new pamphlet was called "Demand To Be Shown." It evidently received wide distribution. By the beginning of 1962, headquarters reported mailing 515,000 copies in response to agents' requests.

Max Hoffman retired in June 1961, after 32 years service. "His duties with NALU," Life Association News noted, related to its accounting and bookkeeping departments, financial reports for the board of trustees, membership, extension of new associations, administration of John Newton Russell Memorial Award, and as aide to the committee on Nominations. In addition, he has managed 65 midyear meetings and annual conventions for NALU…. As NALU convention manager during the past 32 years, Max has been intimately concerned with site selection, program, physical arrangements, and hotel accommodations." A well-known figure in life insurance management circles, Hoffman was also extremely popular with members of the headquarters staff who, naturally regretted his leaving.

A year before, Schriver had announced his intention to retire as well. "All in all, it has been a rewarding seven years for me, and I hope that historians will record it as a period of solid growth in the annals of the Association," he stated in his letter of resignation. "With the close of the Denver convention next year, I shall have completed eight full years of service. I believe that is a longer term of service than any of my predecessors. Therefore, December 31, 1961, would seem to be an appropriate time for me to surrender my commission," he concluded in typical Lincolnian prose. He would be seventy years old.

Recognizing his years of service to the Association, the officers gave an appreciation dinner in Schriver's honor on September 25, during the 72nd annual convention at Denver. In tribute, the joint resolution of the Board of Trustees stated, "he is in truth an outstanding personality: dignified, yet warm and genial; scholarly, yet practical; visionary, yet always attuned to the realities of the contemporary scent…. Gifted with a remarkable ability to communicate convincingly through printed and spoken work he has touched our lives for the better, challenging our conscience and arousing us to our responsibilities as individuals, participating citizens, and career life underwriters."23

Outgoing president Hendley had appointed NALU trustee Frank G. McNamara of Waukesha, Wisconsin, to head the committee to select a successor for Lester Schriver. In June 1961 NALU president William North announced that thirty-seven-year-old James A. Byrd of Houston would be the NALU's next executive vice president. Byrd had a Ph.D. in business administration, banking, finance and life insurance form the University of Texas at Austin where he had taught these subjects as a recipient of a Ford Foundation fellowship. Recently he had accepted the position of vice president and economic advisor of the National Bank of Commerce at Houston. "Dr. Byrd brings to his new responsibility a record or outstanding achievement in business administration and higher education, along with a keen understanding and appreciation of life insurance," North said.

Someone else who retired at this time was Louis I. Dublin. This was the community service program's fifth year. The NALU readily agreed to the suggestion that the public welfare award be named the Louis I. Dublin Public Service Award. "In re-naming the award at this time," Holdgar Johnson said, "we wish to establish a living memorial to a man who represents public service in its highest sense." At the Denver convention in September 1961 winners of the newly named award were the life underwriters associations of Chicago; Orange County, California; Aberdeen, South Dakota; and Tri-Lake, New York. These received the bronze plaque. The silver prize given for sustained effort on a long-range project, went to Dallas and Oklahoma City. The projects had all focused on remedying community health problems or supporting a social welfare program.

For his outstanding contributions to agent education, the young Dr. Davis W. Gregg of The American College of Life Underwriters received the Russell award. The convention also marked a milestone for the GAMC which celebrated its tenth anniversary. At this point the Conference had 143 local units with a total membership of 7,113. An interesting innovation at the Denver convention was the "Trailblazers' Breakfast," reserved for those who had been in the business over forty years. Thirty-seven men and women attended the informal meeting which in succeeding years became a NALU tradition. "Conducted on an informal basis by chairman Herbert J. Baum, general agent in Birmingham, Alabama, for Protective Life," Life Association News reported, "The breakfast featured personal recollections of early business conditions and experiences, plus many word pictures of former NALU leaders. Nearly all of those attending took part."

R.L. McMillon, agent for Business Men's Assurance at Abilene, Texas, was elected president for the 1961-62 Association year. McMillon also served as president of LUTC and is a recipient of the John Newton Russell Award. Life Association News hailed him as "a pro of the podium, an energetic and dynamic speaker who traveled some 75,000 miles a year fulfilling more than 100 speaking engagements."

The year 1962 witnessed the NALU's last midyear meeting. During the week or March 18, the Executive Committee and the National Council assembled midway between annual conventions to deliberate on Association business and industry issues for the last time at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. With 775 delegates registered, it was also the largest midyear meeting in the Association's history. A proposal to increase members' dues going to the NALU from $6 to $8 easily passed. Among the reasons offered for the increase were needed additions to the legal, administrative and editorial personnel at headquarters, and pay raises for staff members that would assure them salaries comparable to those holding similar positions in the Washington area. "Request for the hike in dues was based not only on the fact that NALU is operating in the red during the current fiscal year," Life Association News explained, "but also the fact that NALU must expand its services to members if it is to continue functioning as vital and effective organization."

David M. Blumberg of Knoxville, Tennessee, succeeded McMillon when the annual convention met in Chicago in September 1962. A college athlete, Blumberg had been a radio sports announcer before serving in the Navy during World War II. He had a flair for the political and legislative aspects of being president of the NALU.The Keogh bill (H.R. 10) was finally enacted into law when President Kennedy signed it on October 10, 1962, more than eleven years after Congressmen Reed an Keogh introduced the original version in Congress. "Through the years, NALU has actively participated in the development of this bill," general counsel Dunaway observed. "In particular, NALU--working in close and constant cooperation with the American Life Convention and the Life Insurance Association of America--has striven to make certain that H.R. 10 would accord fair recognition to the use of life insurance, endowment and annuity contracts. Our efforts have been successful."24

However, President Kennedy's proposed "Medicare" legislation was a different story. The insurance industry continued its resistance to the administration's plans for government-sponsored medical benefits and the NALU joined with other industry organizations in a campaign of ambiguous opposition. Many were the article and speeches denouncing "Medicare" as a discouragement for people to enroll in private health care programs and as a needless expansion of the federal welfare system at the public expense. Standards were bound to drop industry spokesmen warned. Public health care would never be as efficient as privately funded medical programs. Throughout 1962 the call went out from national headquarters for life underwriters to urge their representatives in Congress to vote against government-sponsored medical insurance. In 1963 when a plan for federal health care (the King-Anderson bill) was again before Congress, the Association's magazine reiterated its position:

By now our readers should be thoroughly familiar with NALU's stand against federal health care for the aged under Social Security. The marked and Continuing progress of private health insurance toward meeting the needs of most aged persons: the growing effectiveness of existing public plans for medical care for the aged, such as the Kerr-Mills and Old Age Assistance programs; the substantial additional financial burden that the King-Anderson plan would superimpose upon the already heavy costs of the existing Social Security program and the danger that enactment of the King-Anderson bill might well generate great pressure for compulsory federal health care for all citizens regardless of age--all combine to make a system of federal health care for the aged such as is embodied in the King-Anderson bill totally unnecessary and unwise.25

In the end, the medical profession and the insurance industry did not prevail and the Social Security Medicare program was voted into law during President Johnson's administration in January 1966. In response to a request of the Social Security Administration, Dunaway and his staff prepared an article for Life Association News explaining details about eligibility and the nature of the benefits. Their purpose was to show agents how they could advise and assist clients wishing to participate in the program. Pointing out that eligible senior citizens had to sign up by March 31, 1966 or else wait until October 1967, Dunaway said, "in compliance with the SSA's request we are publishing the following additional article as a public service in the hope that our members--and non-members as well--will pas the information contained therein on to as many unenrolled aged people as possible before March 31, 1966."

Foreword by Alan Press, 1988-1989 NALU President

Preface by Jack E. Bobo, 1989 NALU Executive Vice President

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Laying the Foundation—A Meeting at the Parker House

Leading Figures—Ransom, Carpenter, Blodgett and Plummer

Conditions Leading to the Foundation of the NALU

Rise of Modern Life Insurance and the General Agency System

Issues and Accomplishments of the First 15 Years

Chapter 2

In the Wake of the Armstrong Investigation

A Royal Commission Investigates Life Insurance Operations in Canada

A Period of Growth and Visibility for the NALU Under Strong Leadership

The NALU Plays a Leading Role in Insurance Education

The NALU During World War I

Chapter 3

The Post-War Decade

The NALU's Extension of Activity

The Agents Move for Recognition

Chapter 4

The Depression and Aftermath

Annual Conventions and Midyear Meetings

The NALU Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

Chapter 5

The Agents Earn Their Wings

World War II

The NALU Joins the Industry in Legislative Battles

The NALU Establishes the National Quality Award

Chapter 6

Controversies and Schisms (1946-1956)

The Foundation of LUTC

The Nola Patterson Affair

GAMC Formally Organized

Chapter 7

The NALU Goes to Washington

Dispute Over Minimum Deposit Insurance Plans

GAMC Stages First LAMP Meeting

The NALU Celebrates Its Diamond Jubilee Year

The NALU Increases Political Activity

U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee Investigate Life Insurance

The NALU Responds to Consumerist Activism

Chapter 8

The NALU Reaches the Century Mark

FTC Releases a Study Critical of the Insurance Industry

Formation of the Women Life Underwriters Conference

Drop in Local Membership

The NALU Issues Statements on AIDS

The NALU Combats a New Wave of Attacks

The NALU Celebrates a Century of Service

Open Book

Book Marks

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