houston had no labor relations experience prior to his service on the nrlb. for the first several years of his first five-year term on the board, houston relied heavily on his legal staff for advice. united states department of labor solicitor general gerard d. reilly was appointed to the nrlb in september 1942 to replace the departing edwin s. smith. reilly was deeply conservative, and some staff at the nlrb considered him reactionary. reilly also had a great deal of influence on houston during houston's first few years in office. but as houston gained experience, he forged an alliance with the nlrb's moderate chairman, harry millis, who was a firm believer in collective bargaining and labor unions. in his second five-year term on the nlrb, houston became the most consistently pro-labor member of the board. reilly came to believe that nlrb chief trial examiner frank bloom (a left-wing lawyer) heavily influenced houston in these later years.