Donald Randall Richberg (July 10, 1881 - November 27, 1960)[1][2] was an American attorney, civil servant, and author who was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's key aides and who played a critical role in the New Deal.

"[16] Deeply angered by what he perceived to be the injunction's unconstitutional infringement on worker rights, Richberg co-authored legislation which in 1926 was enacted as the Railway Labor Act.

[1][18] In this capacity, he helped draft the Norris-La Guardia Act, federal legislation which was enacted by Congress in 1932 and which banned labor injunctions.

[2] In September 1932, Richberg, Ickes, Fred C. Howe, Felix Frankfurter, and Henry A. Wallace organized the National Progressive League to support New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt for President of the United States.

[14][21] After Roosevelt's election in November 1932, Richberg worked on the presidential transition team and for the new administration during the Hundred Days, drafting legislation.

[1] In this capacity Richberg was called upon to help draft the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) along with Hugh S. Johnson, Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, Jerome Frank, Charles Wyzanski and Bernard Baruch.

[3][24] On June 20, 1933, at the request of Hugh S. Johnson, President Roosevelt appointed Richberg general counsel of the National Recovery Administration (NRA), the agency established to implement NIRA.

[27] On August 5, 1933, just 46 days after the passage of the NIRA, President Roosevelt established the National Labor Board (NLB) to take over the implementation of Section 7(a).

[29] Even as a national strike of 200,000 auto workers seemed imminent in February 1934,[30] Richberg joined with Johnson to issue a "clarification" of Section 7(a) in which they declared that company unions were acceptable under federal labor policy.

[22][28] On June 30, 1934, President Roosevelt announced that Richberg was taking a leave of absence from the NRA to become director of the newly created Industrial Emergency Committee.

[32] Now, through an Executive Order, Roosevelt made Richberg director of the Industrial Emergency Committee, composed of the secretaries of the Interior and Labor and the heads of the NRA and Federal Emergency Relief Administration, to "make recommendations to the President ... with respect to problems of relief, public works, labor disputes and industrial recovery and to study and coordinate the handling of joint problems affecting these activities.

[3] Three days later, Roosevelt replaced the position of Administrator with a new National Industrial Recovery Board,[39][40] of which Richberg was named Executive Director.

[3] With the NIRA due to sunset on June 15, 1935, Richberg went ahead with plans to reorganize NRA in order to improve the law's chances of reauthorization.

[3] But on May 27, 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court held Title I of the Act unconstitutional in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935), making the issue moot.

[10][43] He was frequently consulted by members of Congress for his expertise in drafting legislation, and played a major role in authoring the Taft-Hartley Act.