Slave of Office

Beyond his duty to keep counterfeiters in check, U. E. (for Urbanus Edmund) Baughman, chief of the Secret Service, is also responsible for the personal safety of the President. Last week Baughman gave the Senate Appropriations Committee a guardsman's view of the Chief Executive's job. The President, he said, "cannot have what is considered a normal life, home or family relationship. He has no choice as to where he lives. He is a focal point for public and world attention. He is a slave to his office, being obliged to serve his country without cease at all hours and every day of the year. He can have very little privacy. If he has young children, they are largely governed by protocol and cannot enjoy the freedom of the White House as they would a normal home."

Baughman, who was presenting his agency's $3,853,000 budget ($250,000 less than in 1952), disclosed that last year the Secret Service handled 2,535 cases "relating to presidential protection," arrested 74 individuals, sent 72 of them off to prison or mental institutions. The Secret Service's biggest worry: escaped mental patients who bear grudges against the President or the Government.

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