Catapulted into the spotlight as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors during the Kennedy-Johnson years, Walter Heller (1915-1987) became the chief spokesman and exemplar of the "New Economics" which attempted to maximize economic growth through "fine tuning."

Walter Heller's life and career was fairly conventional until he reached the age of 45. Born in Buffalo, New York, the son of German immigrants, he travelled with his family to Washington state and then to Wisconsin, where he attended public schools and entered Oberlin College in 1931.

After graduating in 1935 Heller went on to the University of Wisconsin for advanced work in economics, being awarded the Ph.D. in 1941. From there Heller took a post at the Department of the Treasury, where he served as senior analyst for tax research, an area in which he was to specialize. By 1945 Heller was assistant to the head of the division, and in that...