First Lady's Lady

If i think some of you have gotten exceedingly busty because you are carrying tape recorders, I might question how you gained weight. You are here as guests, and guests do not wander around taking notes. Please introduce yourself to the .guests just as any nice, well-brought-up lady would do. Circulate, and take mental impressions.

That was not Amy Vanderbilt speaking. It was Pat Nixon's staff director and press secretary, Constance Cornell Stuart, lecturing Washington's lady journalists on how to cover formal receptions. "I don't know which made me more furious," recalls one White House reporter. "Her patronizing lecture or the phoniness of pretending that reporters are guests. We're there because we write about it."

Connie Stuart, 32, is there because she majored in drama at the University of

Maryland, went into public relations, and married Charles Stuart. Charles has been part of the Nixon team since 1968; he moved into the White House with the President. He started as assistant to John Ehrlichman, is now an aide to Bob Haldeman. When Pat Nixon fired her first press secretary, Gerry Van der Heuvel (who, among other things, had wanted to work for Hubert Humphrey), there was Connie, with recommendations from two of Nixon's closest men.

White House insiders feel that ebullient Connie was hired to improve Mrs. Nixon's image--to present her as more warm and friendly. But Connie says that is not the reason at all. "I serve one master--Mrs. Nixon. I was not brought on board to 'create an image' for the First Lady. She has a very natural manner, and has no intention of changing. She made this clear when we talked before I took the job. She told me, 'No one is going to change me or the way I do things.' " Nobody has.

That is one reason why Connie has come under fire from the Republican women surrounding the First Lady: "She is not doing anything for Pat." Leading the critics is Washington's great mouthpiece, Martha Mitchell, who recently added Connie to her list of early morning phone calls. Connie had neglected to give Martha credit as hostess for a luncheon attended by Mrs. Nixon. Declared Martha: "Connie is trying to get rid of me because I announced to the press that I called her at 5 a.m."

Connie does have her drawbacks. The night of the White House ball for Prince Charles and Princess Anne, for instance, the press had been barred beyond the receiving line, and reporters had to rely on Connie for color and anecdote. Yet Connie overlooked the early deadlines of East Coast morning papers, and nothing could be written for the first editions. When she finally sashayed into the press room, she giggled that she had little to report because "the British mistook me for an American reporter" and would not talk. The New York Daily News's Ann Wood growled: "We'd never make that mistake, Connie." During the Nixons' last trip to Europe, Connie abruptly disappeared in mid-Ireland, leaving reporters covering Mrs. Nixon with no one to brief them. Where had she gone? Connie had a moose-hunting date in Canada with her husband and she had flown off to keep it--and, incidentally, to bag a moose.

Tries Hard. On the other hand, the distaff White House press corps gives Connie credit for holding twice-weekly press briefings, something that Liz Carpenter, Lady Bird's press secretary, did only on big stories and Mrs. Van der Heuvel never did. She works twelve-hour days at her $30,000-a-year job, without the tranquilizers used by Mesdames Carpenter and Van der Heuvel. And unlike her West Wing counterpart, Ron Ziegler, Connie attempts to answer all questions, though she does not hesitate, with a theatrical roll of her eyes, to show her disapproval of certain queries. Because of her mugging and facial contortions, the "Washington Witches" (the British nickname given the Washington women's press corps for its relentless pursuit of Prince Charles and Princess Anne) have dubbed these press conferences "the Connie Stuart Show." But the Witches grant that Connie tries hard, and that if she does not know something, she will admit it, adding: "I'll find out for you." She usually does.

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