American accounting histories of the mid-twentieth century have long focused on the development of accounting standards. With the exception of the events surrounding the New Deal, there has been a reliance on memoirs and official histories for analysis of the accounting profession itself. The union corruption scandals and the accounting profession's efforts to involve itself in the reform of unions and pensions offers an opportunity to see how the profession understood and consolidated its franchise in financial statement audits and, perhaps more importantly, how it saw its own place in American society and how its place was viewed by others. This article focuses on the events that led to the passage of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (Landrum-Griffin Act) of 1959, paying particular attention to congressional testimony and the records of congressmen and the Eisenhower administration and the efforts of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to influence the legislation.
United States Congress, Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Welfare and Pension Plans Investigation. Final Report, CIS-NO: S3489, 1956.
2.
United States Congress, Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor of Management Field, Interim Report, Serial No.12070, SRpts. V10 #1417, CIS U.S. Serial Set, 85th Congress 2nd Session, 1958.
3.
United States Congress, Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Statistical Analysis of Major Characteristics of Private Pension Plans, CIS-NO: 72-S542-26, 1972.
4.
United States Congress, House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Record Keeping Under the LMRDA: Do DOL Reporting Systems Benefit the Rank and File?, Serial No.: 107-55, 2002.
5.
United States Congress, Senate Subcommittee on Welfare and Pension Plan Legislation, Hearings, 85th Congress, CIS 85-S-1237-1, June 6, 1957, p.163-74. Testimony by Carman Blough.
6.
United States Congress, Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor of Management Field, 85th Congress, CIS 85 S1232-1-B, July 10, 1957, p.3317-38, 3486-92, testimony by Eric Jansson, Anthony Calabrese, George Meany.
7.
United States Congress, House Committee on Banking and Currency, 85th Congress, CIS 85 H1644-8, January 14, 1958, p.1439-53. Testimony by Stanley Shirk, Chairman of Committee on Bank Auditing, AICPA.
8.
United States Congress, Senate Subcommittee on Labor of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, 86th Congress, CIS 86-S1312-3, February 4, 1959, p.813. Letter submitted by John Carey.
9.
United States Congress, House Committee on Education and Labor, 86th Congress, CIS 86-H1730-8-B, March 24, 1959, p.827. Testimony by Raymond Jennison.
10.
United States Congress, House Joint Subcommittee on Labor-Management Reform Legislation of the Committee on Education and Labor, Hearings, 86th Congress, CIS 86-H1739-7, May 5, 1959, p.979-94. Testimony by Carman Blough.
11.
United States Congress, Senate Select Committee on Small Business, 87th Congress, CIS 87 S1535-4, June 25, 1962, p.110-16. Testimony by Robert Witschey.
12.
Abbott, A. (1988), The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
13.
"AFL-CIO Code of Union Financial Practices - Official Text" (1957), Journal of Accountancy, Vol.104, No.1, July, pp.50-4.
14.
Annual Report (1958), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York.
15.
Arthur Andersen and Co. (1963), The First Fifty Years: 1913-1963.
16.
"Barden Labor Bill" (1959), Journal of Accountancy , Vol.107, No.4, April, p.8.
17.
Bellace, J.R. and Berkowitz, A.D. (1979), The Landrum-Griffin Act: Twenty Years of Federal Protection of Union Members' Rights, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
18.
Blough, C. (1959) "Challenges to the Accounting Profession in the United States", Journal of Accountancy, Vol.108, No.6, December, pp.37-42.
19.
Carey, J.L. (1970), The Rise of the Accounting Profession: To Responsibility and Authority 1937-1969, New York: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
20.
Demond, C.W. (1951), Price, Waterhouse & Co. in America: A History of a Public Accounting Firm, New York : Comet Press.
21.
Estey, M.S., Taft, P. and Wagner, M. (1964), Regulating Union Government, New York: Harper and Row.
22.
"Hearings on Financial Reports of Labor Unions" (1959), Journal of Accountancy, Vol.108, No.1, July, pp.71-7.
23.
Hutchinson, J. (1970), The Imperfect Union, New York : E. P. Dutton & Co.
24.
Kennedy, R.F. (1960), The Enemy Within, New York : Harper & Co.
25.
Lee, R.A. (1989), Eisenhower and Landrum-Griffin: A Study in Labor-Management Politics, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
26.
Legislative History of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (1985), National Labor Relations Board.
27.
McLaughlin, D.B. and Schoomaker, A.L.W. (1979), The Landrum Griffin Act and Union Democracy, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
28.
Miranti, P.J. (1990), Accountancy Comes of Age: The Development of an American Profession, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
29.
Smith, S.G. (2007), "Maurice Stans' Views on Social Responsibility in the Accounting Profession", The Accounting Historians Journal , Vol.34, No.1, June, pp.147-72.
30.
"Will Union Financial Reports be Adequate?" ( 1960), Journal of Accountancy, Vol.109, No.2, February, p.27.
31.
Wise, T.A. (1960a), "The Auditors Have Arrived", Fortune, Vol.62, November, pp.152-98.
32.
Wise, T.A. (1960b), "The Auditors Have Arrived", Fortune, Vol.62, December, pp.144-226.
33.
Wootton, C.W., Wolk, C.M. and Normand, C. (2003), "An Historical Perspective on Mergers and Acquisitions by Major U.S. Accounting Firms", Accounting History, Vol.8, No.1, May, pp.25-60.
34.
Zelizer, J. (1998), Taxing America: Wilbur Mills, Congress and the State 1945-75. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
