Nixon's Hagerty

In his tile-floored office at the San Diego Union (circ. 88,646), Editor Herbert G. Klein, 41, last week cleared his desk for a leave of "indefinite" duration. Able, easy-eyed Herb Klein, a World War II Navy officer who rose out of the city room to the top editorial post on the pivotal paper of the 15-paper Copley Press, had received a summons from a friend in Washington: Richard Nixon. Next week Editor Klein will fly to Washington for his new job as special assistant to the Vice President of the U.S.

This is the fifth time Nixon has called on Klein. The two first met in 1946, when Klein was news editor of the Alhambra,

Calif. Post-Advocate--also a Copley paper--and Nixon was running his first political race. Two years later Congressman Nixon borrowed Klein as an unpaid publicist in the 1948 campaign, borrowed him again in 1952 (again as publicist), 1956 (assistant press secretary) and 1958 (press secretary). During each Nixon stint Klein earned increasing respect from political reporters as a pressman's press secretary.

Special Assistant Klein's first big assignment will be to handle the Vice President's news chores on the July good-will trip to Moscow. From then on he will be Nixon's press secretary through the 1960 campaign.* And if 1960 should be Richard Nixon's year, Herb Klein might well be expected to move on to the White House as the successor to Presidential Press Secretary Jim Hagerty.

*Klein is Nixon's second appointee this year, in what is recognized as the building of a presidential campaign staff. The first: Robert H. Finch, chairman of Los Angeles County's Republican Central Committee and another old California friend, who went to Washington in January as Nixon's administrative assistant.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.