Horkheimer became director mainly because Pollock withdrew and he was politically clean

Evidence

There was an element of surprise in Horkheimer becoming Grünberg’s successor as director of the Institute of Social Research. He was in no sense one of the close associates' of the Institute mentioned by Felix Weil in his letter of November 1929 to the Ministry of Culture. Pollock and Grossmann, whose books had started the Institute's series of publications, were far closer associates of the Institute than Horkheimer, who before 1930 had published only an unremarkable post-doctoral thesis and three or four articles commemorating other scholars. … Horkheimer, in a letter to Felix Weil, later described the appointment as follows: We decided, on purely technical grounds, that I should become director of the Institute, simply because this was easier to push through than it would have been with Fritz or with you.’ This was true: Pollock and Grossmann were politically suspect, Horkheimer was not. But Horkheimer, who until then had taken almost no part in the Institute, probably succeeded in becoming a candidate mainly because Pollock was prepared to withdraw in favour of his friend. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 142 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Horkheimer became Institute director mainly because he was the only politically acceptable candidate. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 142

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer became Institute director mainly because he was the only politically acceptable candidate. #exemplifies (0.95) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 142