White House Office

THE men who work under Sherman Adams are no mere spear-carrying extras; they include some of the key men in Government. Staff channels are not so rigid as to prevent any staffer from going straight to the President. Some, by the nature of their duties, have greater need than others for direct access (see dotted lines on chart). But it is the foolish staff member, or, indeed, the Cabinet officer, who fails to keep Adams fully informed about discussions with President Eisenhower.

Immediately below Adams is his deputy, soft-spoken Major General (ret.) Wilton B. ("Jerry") Persons, 59. Persons spent 13 years as an Army liaison man on Capitol Hill, part of that time as Army Chief of Staff Eisenhower's representative with Congress. Under Persons, as liaison men with Congress, are Administrative Assistants I. Jack Martin, 47, and Bryce Harlow, 39. Martin, onetime administrative assistant to Senator Robert A. Taft, is especially liked and respected on the Hill.

At the same level are Deputy Assistants Fred Seaton, 46, and Howard Pyle, 49. Seaton, a Midwest newspaper publisher, served briefly as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska. A longtime Stassen supporter, he switched to Eisenhower early in 1952, was a trusted campaign adviser. He acts as the White House liaison man with Government agencies. Pyle, a onetime radio announcer, served two terms as governor of Arizona, was defeated in 1954. He now specializes in federal-state relations, e.g., highways and other projects involving grants-in-aid.

Press Secretary James C. Hagerty, 46, has earned, especially since the President's illness, the admiration of the White House press corps. He was a political reporter for the New York Times, served for nine years as Tom Dewey's press secretary. One of the few men with access to the President day or night, Hagerty has more independence than most staffers, yet works in close consultation with Adams. Hagerty's assistant is former New York Herald Tribune Reporter Murray Snyder, 44.

Special Counsel Gerald Morgan, 47, served ten years (1935-45) as assistant legislative counsel to the House of Representatives, now helps draft Administration bills and acts as legal adviser to the President. Administrative Assistant Gabriel Hauge, 41, is the staff's economic specialist. A onetime economics instructor at Harvard and Princeton, he is a former editor of Business Week. Speechwriter Kevin McCann, 51. on leave as president of Ohio's Defiance

College, is an old friend and biographer (Man from Abilene) of the President.

Special Assistant Dillon Anderson, 49, a Houston corporation lawyer and occasional novelist (I and Claudie), is the staff connection with the National Security Council. Working both through the NSC and directly with the President is the Central Intelligence Agency of Allen Dulles, 62. The Adams staff channel with the Cabinet is through Maxwell Rabb, 45, former Senate assistant to Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

All papers from the Cabinet, the NSC, the agencies, etc., are routed through Staff Secretary Andrew Jackson Goodpaster, 40, an ex-SHAPEman under Ike. When the President is at Gettysburg, Goodpaster does most of the shuttling back and forth between there and the White House.

Defense Mobilization Chief Arthur Flemming, 50, Budget Director Rowland Hughes, 59, and Arthur Burns, 51, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, head organizations which are in many ways independent of the regular staff. But they work so closely with Adams' staffers that they can be considered part of the White House team.

Also slightly apart from the staff proper are the special assistants: Harold Stassen, 48, is charged with planning for disarmament; Detroit Banker Joseph M. Dodge, 65, former Budget Director, coordinates the foreign economic policies of the U.S.; Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Lewis Strauss, 59, also acts as the President's personal adviser on atomic energy; retired Army Engineer John S. Bragdon, 62, is the President's consultant of public works; scholarly Hart Schaffner & Marx President Meyer Kestnbaum, 59, specializes in government reorganization and federal-state relations; Civil Service Commission Chairman Philip Young, 45, former dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Business, is the White House adviser on personnel matters; Inland Steel Co. Chairman Clarence Randall, 64, is special adviser on tariff and trade policy; and former General Foods Board Chairman Clarence Francis works on plans for disposing of agricultural surpluses.

Carrying out their duties on a personal basis with the President are his physician, Major General Howard Snyder, 74, his secretary, Ann Whitman; and his service aides, Army Colonel Robert Schulz, 39, Navy Commander Edward Beach, 37, and Air Force Lieut. Colonel William Draper, 35. Even they are in close contact with Adams and his staff; e.g.. Pilot Draper works with the staff in planning for presidential flights.

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