Farley file

The term is named for James Farley, Franklin Roosevelt's campaign manager.

Farley, who went on to become Postmaster General and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, kept a file on everyone he or Roosevelt met.

A predecessor may be Ancient Rome's nomenclator, "a slave who attended his master during canvassing and on similar occasions, for the purpose of telling him the names of those he met in the street.

"[1] The concept figures prominently in Robert A. Heinlein's novel Double Star in which an actor impersonates a major politician.

Tony Hale’s character Gary Walsh in HBO tv series Veep performs a similar role in his job as Vice President Selina Meyer’s bag man.