Season’s Greetings! If you enjoy discovering hard evidence to confirm a theory you happen to believe, then prepare yourselves, dear readers. I’m about to present you with two thoroughly enjoyable rock-hard pieces of evidence that confirms a theory I proposed in November 2023. I discovered the new evidence yesterday at Miami’s University Archives.
I’d driven to Oxford and back for the sole purpose of looking through several boxes that are stored there, one of which I’m reporting on today.
The box in question contained the file of Reuben B. Robertson, Jr., the charismatic president of Champion Paper and Fibre in Hamilton, Ohio, from 1950 to 1960. As you may recall, Robertson had taken two of those years off, from 1955 to 1957, to serve as the U.S. deputy secretary of defense under President Eisenhower. When he returned to Hamilton from that high-profile stint, he was named to serve on Miami’s Board of Trustees. Unfortunately, he didn’t serve his full four-year term. In the early-morning hours of March 13, 1960, he was instantly killed in a hit-and-run accident near his home in Glendale.
The theory that I’d put out in 2023 was that Robertson and Millett had known each other during WWII because both were working for an extremely small branch of the Army known as the Administrative Management Branch, which was housed in the Control Division of the Army Service Forces. There were only 28 officers and 3 civilians in that branch in 1943, and they were based in Washington, D.C. Considering how outgoing both men were, surely they knew each other, I said in my post. I then suggested that, since Reuben was sitting on Miami’s selection committee for a new president, he likely had talked Millett into applying for the job—a job for which Millett was grateful to accept. Although Millett had many impressive credentials in government and the military, he was at that time a full professor at Columbia University and lacked administrative experience in a university setting.
Understandably, John Millett was extremely saddened by the news of Robertson’s death, and he expressed his sadness in two letters within days of the tragedy.
The first letter I found was to Robertson’s widow, which he wrote on March 17, 1960, four days after Reuben’s death.
Here are the words he chose:
Dear Mrs. Robertson:
I wish there were some way that the many expressions of sympathy which you will be receiving at this time could somehow lessen your sense of loss. But all of us who knew Reuben well thought highly of him, and I hope this will provide you some sense of satisfaction.
I first met Reuben in 1942 when he came into the Army. We worked together on two or three projects that first year.
And I shall never forget the Thanksgiving I spent with you and Reuben in 1944 in Atlanta. It was a pleasant occasion, indeed.
When I came out to Ohio in 1953, I was very glad to have the opportunity to see Reuben more often. You may be sure that none of us who knew him well will forget him. And all of us extend our sympathy to you and to the children.
Sincerely yours,
John D. Millett
So there it is: proof that they’d met and worked together in the Army during WWII. Millett said they began working together in 1942, but Robertson’s separation papers say he began in March 1943. I won’t quibble. Moreover, we also know that they maintained their friendship throughout the war, as evidenced by Reuben inviting John to Thanksgiving dinner in 1944 at the Robertsons’ home in Atlanta.
The second letter was to Thomas D. Morris, who at that time was assistant to the president of Champion Paper. This letter was written two days after Reuben’s death:
Dear Tom:
I should like to express to you and through you to the executive staff and the directors of Champion Paper and Fibre Company my great sympathy for the loss you have sustained in the death of Reuben Robertson. As you know, I have been a friend of Reuben’s since 1942. I met him when he first began his military service and we worked together in the same office in Washington for several months.
Later I visited him on two different occasions while he was stationed in Atlanta, and there I had an opportunity to become acquainted with Mrs. Robertson.
In the intervening years, I saw Reuben quite often in Washington and New York. He was instrumental in my coming to Miami University, and I was pleased, indeed, when Governor O’Neill appointed him a member of our Board of Trustees in 1957.
His death is a great personal and official loss to me, but I know this is little compared with what he meant to all of you in the Company.
I have never known a finer person or a more energetic executive than Reuben. His death is a great tragedy.
Sincerely yours,
John D. Millett
Whereas Millett chose the word “instrumental” to describe Reuben’s efforts in bringing him to Miami, I believe a better word would be invaluable. In addition to suggesting that he apply, I’m sure he advocated for Millett to the other committee members, thus helping secure his nomination. In fact, I’d contend that if it weren’t for Reuben Robertson, John Millett wouldn’t have ever found his way to Miami—wouldn’t have even thought to apply for the job. The Board of Trustees elected him to be Miami’s 16th president on March 28, 1953.
You may be asking why this matters. In my November 2023 post, I discussed how an employee of Reuben Robertson’s named Dorothy Craig had written a check to Ron Tammen roughly at the time of his disappearance. To this day, I have no idea what the amount of the check was or why it was written, though I do have some hypotheses regarding the latter.
When news of Tammen’s disappearance hit the papers, Reuben Robertson probably didn’t want Champion Paper linked in any way. But how could he prevent that from happening, especially if investigators learned about the check? Maybe he could call in a favor from his good friend from the war—one who was recently named president of the university Tammen had attended.
You guys? I’m getting closer and closer to thinking that, of the words that Carl Knox’s secretary wasn’t to speak to reporters, “Champion” may very well have been one of them.
And you? What do you think?
