[1] Flemming graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, class of 1927 and a member of the Epsilon chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala said of Flemming: "He was one of the great intellects of social policy, combining extraordinary knowledge with a rare gift for policy-making.

On November 9, 1959, Secretary Flemming announced, seventeen days before the Thanksgiving holiday, that some of the 1959 crop of cranberries contained traces of aminotriazole, a weed killer, which had been shown to cause thyroid cancer in rats in laboratory testing.

"[5] After decreased sales of cranberries during the holiday season, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined, in January 1960, that 99 percent of the crop had not been contaminated.

Having served in the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman administrations, his Wesleyan inauguration at the June commencement of 1949 drew many famous speakers and celebrities.

Flemming was responsible for the addition of the School of Community Services and Public Affairs, the Pine Mountain Observatory and the building of various laboratories on campus.

During his short-lived tenure, he founded the Expanded Educational Opportunities (EEO) Program, which provided "total aid," including room & board, books, and travel expenses, to students from "racial minority groups and economically deprived backgrounds.

Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who returned briefly to Macalester (where he had previously taught) after losing the presidential election in 1968, also joined the march.