AFL-CIO Career
Cruikshank began working for the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1944 as the director of social insurance after working as a lobbyist. He worked closely with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer George Meany, and became influenced by Meany's internationalist outlook.
Cruikshank was appointed to the National Advisory Council on Social Security Financing in 1947, where he became the AFL's point-man on old age and health issues. He earned a national reputation as labor's persuasive spokesman on these issues. He lobbied strenuously for national health care, repeatedly taking on its principal opponent, the American Medical Association (AMA), in the print media and on widely aired radio debates.
Cruikshank left the AFL in 1951 and returned to government service. He became director of the European Labor Division of the Office of the Special Representative of the President for Europe, which was part of the Marshall Plan, but returned to the United States after just a year.
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