The Disappearing Letter

Francis P. Whitehair wanted to be Secretary of the Navy. Last week he made it. The last step on his Jacob's ladder was a disappearing letter of resignation.

Whitehair's first step came in 1951 when he got himself named Under Secretary of the Navy on the recommendation of Harry Truman's crony, White House Aide Donald Dawson. Whitehair was not a hit with the admirals, who thought that he neglected the Navy in favor of politics in his home state of Florida. They were scandalized when he gave an $11,800-a-year job to William E. Willett, another Dawson pal whom the Senate had refused to reconfirm as an RFC director (TIME, Dec. 24, 1951). Worst of all was Whitehair's arrogance. He told one admiral: "When you come in here to see me, bring a notebook with you." Navy Secretary Dan Kimball intended to resign a year ago, but stayed on because he feared Truman would give Whitehair the job.

When it came time to choose a Truman appointee to stay on with the Navy Department until Republican Secretary-designate Robert B. Anderson could learn his job, former Defense Secretary Robert Lovett passed over Whitehair in favor of a lower-ranking official, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air John F. Floberg.

Whitehair heard the decision, but he did not propose to be bypassed. At first he refused to submit the customary letter of resignation to Truman, finally did so under orders from Kimball. Somehow or other his letter of resignation got lost in the White House, where some of Whitehair's well-wishers were still on duty. As a result, Whitehair's resignation was never accepted.

Last week, with Dan Kimball gone and Republican Robert Anderson not yet confirmed, Francis Whitehair was in his glory. (John Floberg, whom Lovett had intended to be Acting Secretary of the Navy, sat in his Pentagon office ruefully trying to laugh the whole thing off.) Asked whatever happened to that letter of resignation, Whitehair said blandly: "I do not know . . . But I'm not going to call the White House to find out. And I'm not going to call the White House every day to find out if I'm Secretary of the Navy."

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