The Washington herald., 1912-06-09
.AIDSTOTHE PRESIDENT
Archie Butts Successor and What His Many
Duties Are.
DutIes Are.

personal aid to the President. Is 81
old friend Of Mr.. Taft's. Maj Thomas J.
Rhoads. Of whom he saw q good dea
while Governor Of the Philippines. Th'
oficer Is a surgeon in the Medical corpi
Of the army-a fne-looking man. clean
shaven, and forty-two years Of age.
FOR more than q year past he has
been the Official physician to the Tafts
and in this way has come into very
close relations with the President and
his family. Whenever. during thai
period, the President has gone travel
ing. he has been a member OF the party
in the double capacity OF doctor and
military aid
1t win thus be understood why hs
has been selected to take Arches
place as ''chief. aid OF the White HOUSE
and personal aid to the President
(such being his formal title), the rela-
tions TO the Executive household bornt
by the officer assigned TO this duty be
ing far more intimate than those en-
joyed by any other person whatever.
For one thing. Maj. Rhoads will be called
upon TO act as the special factotum and
business confidant Of Mrs. Taft. directing
under her orders the social and other
affairs Of the Presidential menage.
Up to the beginning OF the reign OF
the Roosevelts, less than a dozen ears
ago, there was no such assemblss.e OF
aids. military, naval and social. In
the White House as at present. All the
ceremonial business OF the Presidents
House (as II is called In the laws) was
managed by one army ofiicer and Jun
promptly altered this arrangement, ap-
pointing his brother-in-law. Capt. Cowles,
as naval aid" and IN addition,
half a dozen young men, selected from
the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. to
help at receptions and in the business
Of entertaining. Upon the latter the
totle OF social aids was unoficially
bestowed.
Mr.. Roosevelt set a new social pace,
and during his administration the Execu'
tive Mansion kept open house" for the
first time since Andrew Jackson's epoch.
Arthur was fond Of giving little dinners
to a few boon companions. Hayes offered
refreshments at receptions to all comers,
but did very little otherwise in the way
OF entertaining. Cleveland and Harrison
made small attempt at general hospital
ity, and IL was impossible for Mckinley
to do much In that line because his wife
was an invalid. The Roosevelts. however
undertook to lead society in Washington
"a thing which their predecessors had
never attempted since Dolly Madison's
day.
To a certain extent, though on not
quite so expansive a scale, the Tafts
have pursued the same social policy, and
the stan Of aids, military, naval. and
social has remained undiminished In
numbers with an altered PERSONNEL un'
der the present administration. Its titu,
lar head is an engineer oficer OF tbs
army, Col Spencer Cosby-handsome
debonair. and forty-four years OF age
though ne looks much younger.
The place he holds has always beer
assigned to an officer Of engineers, who
incidentally, fulfTls the duties OF Super
intendent OF Public Buildings ant
Grounds In Washington. OF the White
House he has general management, keep
ing II in repair, attending to the bust
ness Of lighting and heating the mansion
and seeing that IL is properly pOliced. Al
arrangements for the state dinners come
levees COr receptions as they are called
nOwadays) he stands at Mr.. Taft's left
and introduces the guests.
Officially, Col. Cosby is the military
aid to the President II the White
House were a royal palace, he would be
designated as the master Of ceremonies u
But, so far as social matters are con.
cerRed. he is not obliged to bother with
most Of the details, which receive atten,
AA0AA dN AAlE AaluH VI AlAb LhOUdl dAus
Maj. RhOads, under the direction Of the
mistress Of the establishment herself
Mrs Taft overlOoks everything. even tC
the making out Of the menus for thC
dinners
The personal aid" however. has many
things TO attend to besides social mat.
ters. His most important function 1.
to be the Presidents right hand on al
occasions. When Mr.. Taft goes on q
journey, Maj. Rhoads arranges all tht
details in advance with the railroad com.
panies, over whose lines the Executive
party will pass. Everything is mapped
out in the most painstaking way. so that
as few questions as possible may have
to be referred TO his chief for decision
He sees about the hotel accommodation
wherever they may intend to stop, ir
one city or another, and, as the Presi-
dents representative, consults with To-
cal committees that have been appoint.
ed to provide programmes Of entertain.
ment.
In addition, the personal aid" IS call.
ed upon now and then to exercise func.
tons OF a quasI-diplomatic nature
Archie" Butt, on the trip abroad. which
brought about his untimely end. car
ried complimentary letters and messages
from Mr.. Taft to the Pope and the
tional case, but in the not infrequent
event OF visit by foreign royalty to ouI
shores, the personal aid" is sent tc
bid the august stranger welcome on
his arrival, in behalf Of the President
and to provide for his entertainment in
any way that may seem desirable. Thus
only a short time ago. when Prince
Arthur Of Connaught and his wife and
daughter came to New York from Can
ada, Mai. Butt was there to receive
them: and It was he who brought the
Prince on to Washington. sscorting him
to the White House, showing him the
sights OF the Capital, and accompany
ing him on a trip to Mount Vernon.
The present naval aid at the White
House is Lieut.. John W. Timmons. His
duties there differ in no way from those
OF the six social aids" except that on
those occasions when the President takes
ABE MARTIN SAYS: