culture and the humanities.
He is a sage, pragmatic, and resourceful lawyer
who is described by his friends in admirable terms as
"tough and firm, but fair."
A nationally recognized authority on antitrust
and international law, Mr. O'Brien was a senior part
ner in the law firm of Pillsbury, Madison $, Sutro
until he joined Standard Oil Company of California
in 1966 as a Director and Vice-President. He had
been a prominent member of the law firm for 30 years.
Born in Trinidad, Colorado, Mr. O'Brien was
graduated in 1932 from the University of California
224d
at Berkeley and in 1935 from the University's law
school, Boalt Hall, establishing a brilliant academic
record at both institutions.
During World War II, Mr. O'Brien was a dec
orated Lieutenant Colonel who served with the U.S.
Strategic Air Forces in Europe.
His unyielding dedication and skill as a lawyer,
negotiator and advisor have had a profound and far-
reaching influence on the Company that will be evi
dent long after his retirement on April 1.
Beyond his ability, intellect, and scholarship
which established him as a prominent attorney,
Company executives looked to Mr. O'Brien as
more than a legal advisor; over the years they sought
his provocative views and advice on a broad range
of policy matters.
Mr. O'Brien wielded strong influence on the
management of this Company through his service on
the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors;
the Annuities Committee; the Public Affairs
Committee; the Foreign Review Committee and the
Insurance Advisory Committee.
224e
J
As Vice-President for Legal Affairs, one of Mr.
O'Brien's principal achievements was establishment
of an annual meeting of Company lawyers based
throughout the world to review the Company's wide
spread and varying legal problems and to foster a
spirit of unity within the legal staff.
In addition to overseeing legal affairs, Mr.
O'Brien frequently played a key role himself repre
senting the Company's interest in Washington,
in the United Nations, and with other foreign
governments.
The successful conclusion of the International
Oil Cartel Case; complex and sensitive negotiations
with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Coun
tries (OPEC), which culminated in the Tehran
Agreement of 1971; and his on-going negotiations
with Common Market countries on behalf of the
Company, signify benchmarks of achievement in
Mr. O'Brien's distinguished career.
Jim O'Brien's outstanding abilities and public
service have long been recognized not only by his
A*
224f
Company and law firm, but by his colleagues and
friends in industry, government and law.
He presently is a Trustee of Mills College and
of the International and Comparative Law Center of
the Southwestern Legal Foundation and of the
Foundation itself; and he served as an advisor on
international law programs to several universities.
He has served as a Director of W. P. Fuller &
Co., Abercrombie & Fitch, El Portal Mining Com
pany and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
He is the past Chairman of the Stanford Hospital
Board and a Director of the National Fund for Medi
cal Education, the American Academy for Educa
tional Development and the American Enterprise
Institute.
James O'Brien departs from his day-to-day
duties with us with the knowledge that 'he is held
in the utmost admiration of his colleagues in the
Company. His wise counsel and contributions to
the deliberations of the Board of Directors will be
sorely missed.
224g
We, the Board of Directors, adopt this resolu
tion with'great pride and affection and convey to Jim
and Mary Louise our sincere and warmest best wishes
for long life, health and happiness.
CHAIRMA/OFTHE BOARD
SECRETARY
225
INDEX
Abercrombie & Fitch Company 88-91
Alioto, Joseph L. 44, 45
American Law Institute 183, 184
Anglo-Persian Oil Company 101, 102, 104, 110, 121, 128
antitrust law 41-46, 60, 86-88, 98, 100-125, 127-130, 135-137, 145,
147-150, 184, 194-202, 206, 211
Aramco (Arabian-American Oil Company) 79, 80, 87, 114-116, 118, 147,
151-159, 173-183, 193, 194
Armour & Company 51
Armstrong, Barbara 26
Bank of California 58
Bank of China 80
Barrett, Richard 25, 28
Bennett, Eugene 7, 38, 41, 45, 46, 51-55, 214
Bolander, Bob 84, 85
Boucke, Fred 128-130, 132-134, 139
Brawner 43, 46, 87, 217
British Petroleum (BP) 104, 106-108, 110, 115, 121, 122, 128-130, 133,
138-140, 153, 189
Brown, Albert 140, 141, 193
Brown, Art 161-163, 165
Brown, Hillyer 116, 140, 150a, 210
Butler, Vincent 17, 20, 21, 38, 39
Cahill, Gordon law firm 105, 109, 118, 180
Cahill, John 109, 180
California Packing Corporation 58, 59, 80, 82, 83
Caltex 99, 114, 115, 118, 123, 134, 153, 154, 156-158, 161-166, 174,
210
Capocelli, Renato 20, 59, 77
Chevron Corporation See Standard Oil Company of California
Clark, Tom 43-45
Clover, Mary Eudora Miller 90-95
Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (CPF) 101, 102, 122, 131-133, 136, 139
Coward Chance & Company 132, 138
Davidowitz case 51-54
Davies, Ralph K. 57, 108
Depression 23-25, 34, 51, 52, 149
Doppelt, Jerry 99, 105, 119
Draycott, Bill 16, 49
Drum, Frank 97, 98
226
El Portal Mining Company, 97-99
Emmerglick, Leonard, 107, 112
Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, 51-56
Exxon, 101, 102, 107, 128, 130, 142, 143
Federal Trade Commission, 95-97, 100-107
Follis, R. Gwin, 128, 129, 131-134, 137, 139, 156-158, 161-163, 165, 167,
193, 194, 202, 203
Follis Plan, 156-158
Fraser, Billy (Lord Strathalmund) , 131, 140
Fuller, Maurice D.L., Sr. , 38, 56-58
Fuller, W.P. & Co., 40-46, 60, 79, 86-217
Fuller ton, Hugh, 78, 79
gambling casino case, 169-172
Gill, Frances, 85
Goodman, Doris, 42-44
Groezinger, Lee, 80
Guernsey, Otis, 88, 89
Gulbenkian, C.S., 102, 153
Gulf Oil Company, 101-104, 108, 118, 130, 153
Habachy, Sabe, 177-180
Haven, Tom, 144, 192, 193, 208
Hawkins, Fred, 31, 32, 49
Hayes, Henry, 19, 41, 84
Hills, Edward H. , 169-172
Ibn Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, 151, 159, 182, 183, 193, 194
Ibnu Sotowo, 165, 169, 206
Ickes, Harold, 57, 115, 145, 152
Indonesia, ii, 106, 134, 160-169, 206, 220, 221
Infested Prunes Case, 46-48
international law, 147-150, 151-169, 173-187
Iran, 104, 108, 121, 122, 127-150, 192, 193
Iranian Consortium, vi, 127-150, 192, 193
Iraq, 102, 104, 152, 193
Jacoby, Neil, 104-107, 117-120, 199
Johnson-Gilbert, Tom, 132, 135, 138, 144
Kidd, Alexander M. , 27
Kirkham, Francis, iii, 105, 109, 158, 194-198, 200, 209, 210
Korte, Norbert, 46, 79
227
Lambert, Scott 76, 141, 157, 208
Lenzen, Ted 108, 128, 133, 134, 139, 158
Letcher, Bev 156-158
Levin, Gerald 20, 59
Libby, McNeil & Libby company 46, 47
Libyan Arbitration 184, 188-193
Madden, Stan 31, 32
Madison, Frank 34, 37, 38, 58
Madison, Marshall 17, 58, 59, 80, 97, 158, 169
Magana, Raoul 28, 29
Marshall, J. Howard 57, 58, 97
Marshall Plan 148, 152
McBaine, Turner 122, 128
McCloy, John 114, 201
McDonald, George 66, 67
Meyers, Mrs. Forrest 90
Miller, Dudley 80
Mobil Oil Company 101, 102, 116, 122, 130, 139, 144, 152-158, 160, 174
Mochtar 220
Mootness Study 104-107, 117-120, 199
Morse, David 186
Mossadegh, Mohammed 121, 122, 128
O'Brien, Alice L. 2-6
O'Brien, George August 3-6, 11
O'Brien, George F. 3, 5
O'Brien, Harry B. 3, 5
O'Brien, James E.
as intelligence officer 60-74
childhood in China 5-11
community service 216-221
early work at PM&S 15-22
family background 1-5
joining PM&S 30, 31
joining Socal 202
law school 24-29
school in Oakland 11-15
O'Brien, John 1, 3, 5
oil cartel case 100-126
Onassis, Aristotle 147, 159, 174, 175, 182, 191
Orrick, William H., Jr. 118, 119
Owen, Garry 20, 76, 79, 183
Parkhurst, George 132, 158, 185, 198
228
Parma, Lawrence 28, 29
Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro 15-22, 30-51, 75-86, 213-215, passim
Prince, Eugene 20, 38, 50-57, 59, 214
Pringle, Bud 84, 85
Red Line Agreement 102, 104, 108, 114, 116, 131, 145, 152, 153
roadman 31, 84, 85
Robbins, Lloyd 82, 83
Roche, Theodore 56
Romanov brothers 95
Rothert, Harlow 75
Royal Dutch/Shell Group 101, 102, 106, 107, 115, 122, 128, 130, 131,
133, 138-140, 153, 160, 185
Ruggles, Charles 33, 57-59, 77
Saudi Arabian Maritime Tankers Company (Satco) 175
Severance, Harold 144
Sheldon, Huntington 64
Smith, Felix 17, 19, 20, 30-32, 34-41, 45, 79, 83, 84, 103, 153, 154,
214
Sonnett, John 105, 109, 180
Southwestern Legal Foundation 178, 219, 220
Spurlock, Woodson 19, 79, 183
Standard Oil Company of New Jersey 62, 101, 103, 106, 115, 116, 118,
152-158, 160, 174, 194-197, 204, 205
See also Exxon
Standard Oil Company of California (Socal), later Chevron Corporation
36, 57, 58, 101, 107, 108, 114-116, 118, 122, 130, 153, 156,
160, 165, 174, 193-195, 198, 200, 202, 209
St. Sure, Adolph 42, 47
Stanton, Marcus 31, 32
Subandrio 164
Suharto 163-166, 168, 169
Sukarno ii, 160-164, 168, 220
Tahiya, Julius 161-163, 165, 168
Tanner, Al 36, 83, 84
Tapline 8, 115, 152, 154, 155
Taylor, Hugh 156-159, 201
Texaco 101, 102, 114-116, 118, 123, 130, 131, 136, 137, 141, 143, 151,
153, 154-156, 162, 165, 174, 185, 188
Tubbs Cordage 95-97
Webb Motor Company Case 56
Wells Fargo Express Company 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 15, 81
229
World War II 60-74
Carole E. Hicke
B.A. , University of Iowa; economics
M.A. , San Francisco State University; U.S. history with emphasis on the
American West; thesis: "James Rolph, Mayor of San Francisco."
Interviewer/editor/writer, 1978-present , for business and law firm
histories, specializing in oral history techniques. Independently
employed.
Interviewer -editor, Regional Oral History Office, University of California,
Berkeley, 1985 to present, specializing in California legal, political, and
business histories.
Editor (1980-1985) newsletters of two professional historical associations:
Western Association of Women Historians and Coordinating Committee for
Women in the Historical Profession.
Visiting lecturer, San Francisco State University in U.S. history, history
of California, history of Hawaii, legal oral history.
128445
U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES