Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13
Right Hand Man
a Specialist in Politics

ulty relieved the solemnity Of the
White House in war time-there will
come the morning Of March 4 a new
tenant. in the person of George Edward
Akerson of Minnesota as the secretary
to the new President.
A S a newspaper maj in Washington
and in Minneapolis, at the press
benches in half a dozen national con-
ventions, and at other places George
Akerson has typed out with nimble fin
gers portraits of the great and near
great in politics. And 1t never occurred
to him, perhaps, that the time would
come when an associate would be doing
the same for him. But he has become
a personality-and the spotlight must
people will know who and what he is,
his likes and dislikes, his habits. his
hobbies.
We see him first on his uncle's farm
in Southern Minnesota, where he spent
all the Summers Of his youth. He had
been born In September, 1888, right In
the heart Of Minneapolis, but a wise
mother saw to it that her children had
all the fresh air possible, and those
Summers on the farm helped develop
the sturdy frame-so curiously similar
to that of his chief, a powerful torso on
long, slender legs-which stood up so
well in a grueling political campaign.
Georges mother intended that her
boy should spread happiness as he Jour-
neyed through life, and to that end
she provided him with q thorough mu-
steal education. Even today, when his
a time, he Is ready at any time to
switch from a discussion of the tariff
to ar expression Of opinion on the
comparative merits Of Bach, Debussy OF
MacDowell.
But music did not hold first place In
the dreams Of the growing boy. His
high school days came in the midst Of
the Roosevelt era, and the man in the
White House was the boys idol. When
he read somewhere that Roosevelt had
defined politics as the science Of gov
eminent" young George determined to
dabble a little in that science. He read
all he could about it. A history, par
ticularly of his own country, fascinated
him far more than the stories of Indian
fighters and Of newsboys destined to be-
come captains Of industry-the sort
Of literature provided for adoleScent
America at the turn Of the century.
X y X y
SOMEWHAT automatically George en-
~ tered the University of Minnesota,
but he was not entirely satisfied. That
institution naturally put its greatest
emphasis on the problems Of Minnesota
and its farming population. It could
not satisfy a lad who wished to study
politics with an interpretive eye. His
closest friend and adviser, Andrew Ben
ton, a business man in Minneapolis,
made some inquiries and reported that
the ancient university of Harvard could
tell him all he desired to know about
political science.
There was a hitch, however. Harvard
demanded crtain preliminary credits In
the classics and dead languages. George
lacked them. But he decided to get
them in the Feast. and his steps finally
took him to Allegheny College In Penn
sylvania. His principal reaSon for Sc
lecting Allegheny was that he had the
promise of q job near by, by which he
could pay his way and perhaps save
money for the years ahead at Harvard.
The job was to serve as organist in a
little Catholic Church.
This breezy youngster, with Presby-
terrain upbringings, saw nothing unusual
in such employment. Neither did the
got along famously together. George
could no more understand religious in
tolerance then than he can now, and
nothing made him happier than the
announcement on that ques-
ton by his Quaker chief during the Bit
of a national campaign. Today,
George a put his Catholic friends to
shame by convincing them that he
knows more about the history Of church
music than they do. He knows the ina
and outs Of the long debate over the
Georgian chants and the richer com
positions of Gounod and Palestrina.
Finally, In the Fall of 1910, young
Akerson reached his goal at Harvard
and for two years he stepped himself
In the historical surroundings Of Boston
and In a study Of the great Americans
who moved through its narrow streets
In the early days Of the Republic. His
trait was the speed with
which he tackled everything. He
about Harvard Square and he
about Boston. Soon his class
mates named him Breeze" and no
nickname could have been more appro-
pirate.
WITHIN . few months he was
W ~"breezing' through q whirlwfnd
courtship. He met Harriet Blake, q
freshman at wellesley, whose home was
6entinued on sixth Pase.S