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MacLeish sought support from expected places such as the president of Harvard, MacLeish ’ s current place of work, but found none.

It was support from unexpected places, such as M. Llewellyn Raney of the University of Chicago libraries, which alleviated the ALA letter writing campaign against MacLeish ’ s nomination.

Raney pointed out to the detractors that, “ MacLeish was a lawyer like Putnam ... he was equally at home in the arts as one of the four leading American poets now alive ... and while it was true that he had not attended a professional school of library science, neither had thirty-four of thirty-seven persons presently occupying executive positions at the Library of Congress .” The main Republican arguments against MacLeish ’ s nomination from within Congress was: that he was a poet and was a “ fellow traveler ” or sympathetic to communist causes.

Calling to mind differences with the party he had over the years, MacLeish avowed that, “ no one would be more shocked to learn I am a Communist than the Communists themselves .” In Congress MacLeish ’ s main advocate was Senate Majority Leader Alben Barkley, Democrat from Kentucky.

With President Roosevelt ’ s support and Senator Barkley ’ s skillful defense in the United States Senate, victory in a roll call vote with sixty-three Senators voting in favor of MacLeish ’ s appointment was achieved.