Kades, Charles Louis, 1906-1996

Lawyer.

From the description of Reminiscences of Charles Louis Kades : oral history, 1961. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 86158512

Charles L. Kades was born in 1906 in Newburgh, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1927 and Harvard Law School in 1930, joining the Manhattan law firm of Hawkins, Delafield, and Longfellow as a municipal bond lawyer. From 1933 to 1942, he brought his knowledge of public finance to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal administration, serving as Assistant General Counsel for the Public Works Administration and then for the Treasury Department. An Army reservist since 1924, Kades entered active military duty in 1942. After service in the Army Civil Affairs Division in Washington, he participated in the U.S. D-Day landing in Southern France in August, 1944. In 1945, he was re-assigned to the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) in Tokyo, Japan. As Deputy Chief of the Government Section of SCAP, Kades became head of the steering committee charged by General Douglas MacArthur in February 1946 with producing a "democratic" draft constitution for Japan. He maintained life-long relationships with several SCAP colleagues and superiors, including General Courtney Whitney, then Chief of the Government Section. Kades returned to private law practice at Hawkins, Delafield, and Wood in 1949 and became known for his role in developing new methods of tackling public fiscal crises (the municipal assistance corporation) and financing public works ("pothole bonds"). From the 1950s to the 1970s, Kades participated intermittently in discussions with scholars, journalists, and Japanese politicians about the origins of Japan's post-war constitution. After his retirement to Heath, Massachusetts, in 1976, he became more actively involved in these discussions, travelling to Japan, participating in conferences, and producing an article for Political Science Quarterly (1989). He also provided numerous interviews for scholars and journalists. Charles Kades died in 1996.

• 1906 Mar 12: Born in Newburgh, New York
• 1923: Graduated from Newburgh Free Academy
• 1924: Joined the U.S. Army Reserve
• 1927: Graduated from Cornell University
• 1930: Graduated from Harvard Law School
• 1930 - 1933 : Worked for law firm of Hawkins, Delafield, and Longfellow, specializing in public finance and municipal bonds
• 1933 - 1937 : Assistant General Counsel at the Public Works Administration
• 1938 - 1940 : General Assistant to the Chief Counsel for the Bureau of Internal Revenue
• 1940 - 1942 : Assistant General Counsel to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Henry Morgenthau)
• 1942 - 1943 : Attended Fort Benning Infantry School and underwent command and general staff training at Fort Leavenworth
• 1943: Assistant Executive Officer to General John Hilldring, Civil Affairs Division, War Department General Staff
• 1944 Aug: As Regional Liaison Officer with the First Airborne Task Force of the 7th Army, participated in the U.S. invasion of southern France on 15 August 1944
• 1945 Jan - 1945 Aug : Returned to former position at the Civil Affairs Division, War Department General Staff, in Washington, D.C.
• 1945 Aug: Awarded the Legion of Merit for work with the Civil Affairs Division of the U.S. Army
• 1945 Aug 15: Promoted to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army
• 1945 Aug 25: Arrived in Japan
• 1945 - 1949 : Served in Japan as Deputy Chief of the Government Section, General Headquarters of SCAP (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers).
• 1946 Feb: Head of the Government Section Steering Committee organized to draft a revised constitution for Japan.
• 1946 Jun: Awarded the Oak Leaf Cluster of the Legion of Merit by General MacArthur for "Exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services in Japan."
• 1949 May 3: Resigned from active military service on the second anniversary of the effective date of the new Japanese Constitution. Returned to work as an attorney at Hawkins, Delafield, and Wood.
• 1950: Address to the American Civil Liberties Union; published article in the American Bar Association Journal
• 1958: Acted as guide for a visiting delegation of the Japanese Constitutional Reform Commission.
• 1973: Legal adviser to the New York State government on the creation of so-called "pothole bonds," used to finance highway maintenance and repair.
• Mid-1970s: Legal adviser to New York Governor Hugh Carey on the creation of the Municipal Assistance Corporation for New York City.
• 1976: Retired as senior partner from Hawkins, Delafield, and Wood. Lived in Heath, Massachusetts.
• 1989: Published an article on the Japanese constitution in Political Science Quarterly
• 1996 June 18th: Died at the age of 90 in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

From the guide to the Charles L. Kades Papers, 1913-1997, 1945-1996, (Amherst College Archives and Special Collections)