Evening star., 1921-04-17
MULTITUDE OF DUTIES FALL UPON ;.
PRESIDENTS "RIGHT-HAND' MAN

ing no Office. there was a little mite
more of happiness in the smile that ht
gave. The impressions gathered o!
Christian during the time the writer
has known him. when he was merely
a secretary to a senator. when he was
secretary TO the nominee of the repuh-
lican party, when he was secretary
to the President-elect and as secre.
tary to the President. are as follows:
George b. Christian. jr. is pocket
edition of Abraham Lincoln. six feet
in height. slightly stopped. weighing
about los pounds. voice resonant: ac-
cent. slightly western; a warm-hon,
est-glad dto-see-you handclasp: black
hair. shot with gray: nose. chin and
check bones reminiscent of the mar
tyred Lincoln. While Christian fea-
lures remind one of Lincoln. ii is ir
the point of rugged honesty.
He affects dark clothes. turn-down
collars. with black bow ar polka dot
ties. His dark eyes are the old-fash-
ioned. kindly sort: buShy. black eye
brows surmount them. While listen
ing to visitors he stands at ease.
sometimes with hand in pocket while
the other holds the visitors creden-
tials, or ne plays with his eyeglasses,
on black string. Seated. he sits in
a chair easily and naturally. One
must not be deluded and believe that
he is easy 10 fool. for. while he is
quiet and courteous. he is ever on
guard. He is ever mindful that a
slip on his part might cmharrass the
man that is not only the President
of the United States. but who is also
his friend.
A rather interesting situation arose
while the writer was studying Mr..
Christian. A well known citizen from
Ohio brought two friends to the White
House. One of them had lately es-
tablished a paper in the interests of
fnr f,,rr Of
the Buckeye state. After the formal
introductions were over. Ihe young
man started to Interview the secre-
tary. Mr.. Christian listened. and. not
ing the trend, he hucked. politely,
automatically. but firmly. He was
not to he interviewed. This
evidently a matter. in his judgment.
that should have been passed upon
by the State Department. He was
ever mindful that any word of his
might be construed q thought of
the Presidents. He is ever mindful
that his duty is to serve his country
and protect his chief. Mentally he is
quick and interruptions do not cause
him to forget the matter being dis
cuSsed. His experiences during the
wartime period have proved a great
help in his new position. for during
that time many problems arose that
taxed the ingenuity OF senators and
secretaries alike.
His idea of the position is not to
act as buffer. but really to be of
help to the public and to the admin
istration. and there are hundreds of
cases where his office has taken up
matters, to the satisfaction of visitors
who would have taken up the Presi-
dents valuable time only to have had
their causes reported back to the sec
retary. Mr.. Christian realizes that
events taking place at the White
House are of great interest to the
public, and, whenever il is possible 10
give out news. calls in the newspaper
men stationed at the Executive Man
sion. He is real friend OF the news
gathercrs and is always willing and
glad to assist them. and they. in turn.
appreciate his thoughtfulness and
fairness.
slow. Mr.. Christian makes each action
count. and attaches of the White
House say that his quick grasp of
details enables them to turn out an
unusually large amount Of work per
day He has two hobbies-the well
fare of the United States and the
success Of the administration. One
must not gain the idea, however, that
the secretary to the President is
merely a public official. He is a real.
human. red-blooded American. He
plays a fair game of golf. an excellent
game of tennis and sits horse well.
He likes the theater. smokes a popu-
lar brand of cigarettes and is a base
ball fan of the thirty-third degree.
He knows the batting averages of all
the big leaEuers as well as many of
the players in the bush circuits.