Farley File
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A farley file is a set of records kept by politicians on people they have met previously.
The term is named for James Aloysius Farley, who was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's campaign manager. Farley, who went on to become the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a Postmaster General, kept a file on everyone who ever met Roosevelt. Whenever anyone was scheduled to meet again with Roosevelt, Roosevelt would review their file, allowing him to meet them again knowing their spouse, their children's names and ages — anything which had come out of earlier meetings, and any other intelligence Farley added to the file. The effect was powerful, and intimate.
Such "farley files" are now commonly kept by other politicians and businesspeople.
The late science fiction author Robert Heinlein mentions Farley File in his short novel "Double Star."
