J. Edward Day

[2] Following law school, Day joined Sidley, Austin, Burgess and Harper in Chicago, where he became a close friend of Adlai Stevenson.

There, he was responsible for reducing the postal deficit, introducing ZIP codes, and improving service and employee morale; towards the latter he signed its first labor contract,[3] with the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association.

Immediately after leaving the federal government, Day returned to private law practice and joined the firm of Sidley Austin Burgess and Smith.

[3] Day's departure resulted from a perceived slight by his partners following the merger of Sidley with the Chicago law firm Liebman, Williams, Bennett, Baird and Minow.

[citation needed] Day sued his former partners in a case that went to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Day joins the rest of Kennedy's newly formed cabinet in the East Room of the White House as they are sworn in on January 21, 1961, by Chief Justice Earl Warren .