houston's strong support for roosevelt in congress was rewarded when president roosevelt appointed him on march 5, 1943, to succeed william m. leiserson on the national labor relations board (nlrb). his nomination was not well received. nlrb chairman dr. harry a. millis had supported nlrb general counsel robert b. watts, and had urged roosevelt repeatedly to appoint someone with extensive credentials in labor relations (which houston lacked). roosevelt also passed over lloyd k. garrison, dean of the university of wisconsin law school and former chair of the national labor board (nlb) in the early 1930s; dr. george w. taylor, vice chairman of the national war labor board and a former nlb regional director; and edward c. witte, a noted professor of labor relations at the university of wisconsin.