- brain trust
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a group of experts from various fields who serve as unofficial consultants on matters of policy and strategy.Also, Brit., Brains Trust.[1905-10, Amer.]
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Group of advisers to Franklin Roosevelt in his 1932 presidential campaign.Its principal members were the Columbia University professors Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, and Adolf A. Berle, Jr. (1895–1971). They presented Roosevelt with analyses of national social and economic problems and helped him devise public-policy solutions. The group did not meet after Roosevelt became president, but members served in government posts. See also New Deal.* * *
▪ United States historyalso called Brains Trust,in U.S. history, group of advisers to Franklin D. Roosevelt (Roosevelt, Franklin D.) during his first campaign for the presidency (1932). The term was coined by journalist John F. Kieran and gained national currency at once. Raymond Moley, Rexford G. Tugwell, and Adolph A. Berle, Jr., all professors at Columbia University, were the three principal members, although others served with them from time to time. Under the chairmanship of Moley, the Brain Trust presented Roosevelt with its thinking on economic and social problems facing the nation and helped him weigh the alternatives of public policy that would be open to the new president. It contributed suggestions and drafts for campaign speeches, all of which underwent considerable revision by Roosevelt.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
