Evening star., 1925-02-22

of the big strains on the Chief Execu-
tive was due to the large and ever
increasing number of people demand
ing personal contact with him on
every conceivable business and pre-
tense. The President would not, of
course, stand for any policy intended
to keep people away from him. Never
theless, Mr.. Slemp solved the problem.
He set aside the morning period for
callers and conferences with the Chief
Executive. Wherever possible, ap-
pointments were put into the morning e
hours. 1t made the appointments
shorter. 1t probably cut out some of
the less important ones. but the re-
suit of 1t in toto was that the Presi-
dent had practically the entire after
noon free to devote TO the business
on hand without undue Interruptions.
This of course, did not apply to i'm
portant Government officials or mem
bers of Congress-, who had real busi-
ness, but the people with real busi-
ness as a rule take less time and have
greater discretion as to when II Is
necessary to consult with the Presi-
dent
Mr.. Slemp did something else in his
position as contact man. He was able
TO keep the President better informed
as to legislative and governmental
matters than would have been possible
for q man without his particular kind
OF experience. Members of Congress
took him into their confidence and he.
in turn, was able to give the essentials
to the President without redundancy
of detail He knew by instinct when
it was necessary for a Senator or a
Representative to see the President
He could say NO" or "Il1 attend to
it," and the President was saved from
a conference on the postmas astership at
Sandlake, or on the type of a letter
that should got to the mayor of Hol-
| lowville on the opening of a. new
waterworks.
A Veteran of 30 Years.
Mr.. Forster is of all men living to.
day the wisest in the ways of the
White House. The title of executive
secretary does not convey any idea at
all Of the work and value Of this high
type executive. On March he will
have served 80 years at the White
House, his service covering the terms
| of seven Presidents of the United
| States
His Office is the clearing house for
everything that comes and goes to the
Presidents desk. And he has the most
| correct instinct Of what should be done
in any given situation. He is the ref
cree par excellence. He is the solon
when it comes to White House pro-
cedure-except, perhaps, politics, which
with Mr.. Forster has always been ad-
| journed.
There he sits in the most orderly of
all offices-usually with a bowl of
roses on his desk. The desk is always
clean and tidy. There is never fuss
| or bluster, but the wheels are always
| turning around this man who has be-
come an invaluable White House in
| stitution. His efficiency is only sur
passed by his amiability and equabil-
ity. He does for Mr.. Coolidge Just
| what he has done for six other Presi-
| dents. He Is the Yeoman of the Guard.
| Mr.. Clark's contact with the Presi-
dent is perhaps more personal than
| that of any of the other aides. He
was Mr.. Coolfdge's secretary when
the latter was Vice President. He
had previously been secretary to
| Senator Lodge and had served as an
executive with one of the biggest
corporations in the country. Thus
he brought to the White House a
knowledge of business and Of politics
| besides his intimate knowledge OF
the President himself. He knows
instinctively what the Presidents line
of thought Is on any given subject
and the aid he can bring him is in
direct ratio to this knowledge.
| During the recent campaign Mr.
Coolidge depended very much on some
of his intimate friends to put his
policies into effect. There were Mr.
Butler and Frank w. Stearns, for
example. But there are probably few
mon to whom the President owes as
much as he does to Mr.. Clark, who
SHE'D at publicity and avoided the
limelight, but whose Judgment was
always sound and unerring. To find
him at his desk in the small hours
Of the morning was nothing unusual
i, Mr.. Welliver has made his own pos,
| at the White House. He served with
President Harding in the campaign
of 1920 and after Inauguration was
! asked to join the force in the Execu-
tive once. He was very much in the
1 position of an attache at an embassy
| without special and defined field
! With an organization composed OF
men like these, there is no reason
why President Coolidge should no,
continue to. beat his job.