The Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (popularly known as the Kestnbaum Commission) was created by an act of the United States Congress on July 10, 1953, to make recommendations for the solution of problems involving federal and state governments.
At the time he made appointments to the Commission, President Eisenhower described it as "an historic undertaking: the elimination of frictions, duplications and waste from Federal-state relations; the clear definition of lines of Governmental authority in our nation; the increase in efficiency in a multitude of Governmental programs vital to the welfare of all Americans.
"[1] The original chairman, Clarence Manion, was asked to resign in February 1954 by the White House, apparently over his advocacy of the Bricker Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
He had also been criticized for frequent absences, and lecture tours attacking the Tennessee Valley Authority.
[3] Dudley White, Ohio newspaper publisher, who had been appointed executive director for the commission,[4] resigned in protest over Manion's ouster; Noah M. Mason also resigned from the Commission.