Evening star., 1933-03-05
Duties of the Chief
Executive at His Private
Office in The White
House Wing Are Many
and Varied, and They
Keep Him Close to the
Grind for Many Hours
Each Day.
BY JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG.

BY JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG.
years. and their personal traits and
- general characteristics may vary greatly
but their duties while occupying the
highest office in the gift of the Ameri-
can people change but little.
Quite naturally the methods of applying
themselves to these presidential duties differ
according to the tastes, habits and training
of the individual who happens to be President
but the actual work and countless other duties
that will confront him during his term are
about the same as they always have been.
It has been frequently said that the Office
of President of the United States is man
killer" Much was heard about this after Wood
row Wilson was stricken at the conclusion Of
the World War and his participation In the
peace conference, and following the sudden
death of Warren Harding in a San Francisco
hotel. This phrase has been mentioned in con-
nection with Presidents even since the recent
sudden death of Calvin Coolidge.
Whether or not the presidential office IS
"man killer" depends upon the man who holds
that Office. At least it depends on just how
he goes about his work and how he handles it.
mentally as well as physically.
1t is doubtful if any occupant of the White
House worked as hard, In general sense, as
did President Hoover Entirely aside from the
grave problems which developed during his
four years. Mr.. Hoover will go down in White
House history as the champion toiler, at least
so far as the memory Of old attaches at the
White House can recall
Warren Harding worked hard in spurts and
was generally so far behind that he rarely
caught up. This was because his genial and
sociable nature diverted his attention from his
work. thus necessitating real labor on his part
when he was in working mood.
President Coolidge was methodical and kept
close to a scheduled routine. and -as result
he succeeded in keeping abreast OF his work
each day and at the same time giving the out
ward appearance Of having much time on his
hands
President Wilson was an especially hard
worker but a really systematic one, and he.
like Coolidge, seldom found himself swamped.
Not even excepting Mr.. Hoover, no President IN
recent years kept In closer touch with all that
was going on and with the ordinary routine Of
his office
William. Howard Taft often found himself up
to his neck with work and at the same time far
behind with his daily routine, but from different
reasons. Also like MI. Harding, President Taft
loved to get away from the cares Of his office,
if only for an afternoon Of golf. But he had q
trait of putting off things until the very last
moment and because Of this he was many times
forced to odrn the midnight oil until the early
hours of the morning.
Theodore Roosevelt had style all his own
and probably will never be resembled by another
defatgable worker. He worked hard, and too.
he played hard However, despite his vast
activities and his interest in so many things,
he kept up with his daily work, and found
plenty of time to indulge in recreation. He was
as profound believer in recreation as in work
and he saw to it that he did good job of both.
But as for working early and late, day in
and day out, with only the briefest and most
lnfrecuent departures, Herbert Hoover will not
be equaed for long time to come There
were few workdays throughout his four years
that Mr.. Hoover was not at his desk in the
executive Office before quarter to O'Clock in
the morning. Frequently he was on hand
earlier than that.
Mr. Hoover's workday was not over when he
arose from his desk and started for the White
House to make ready for the evening meal.
Most always there was company for dinner, in
cluding men with whom he wished to discuss
certain pending problems, and the Hoover ma
ture was such as to not wait until the meal had
been completed and he and his company were
comfortably seated with cigars in one OF the up
stairs sitting rooms or the Lincoln study. He
would start right in with the first course of the
meal to talk the business at hand. These discus
sions would last always until after 10 O'Clock,
and if the subject was one of really great i'm
portancc at the time, the President would con-
tinue them until midnight. Generally after his
evening business chats were over and his COM
pany had gone he would retire to the quiet
seclu3icn of the Lincoln study, where he would
write read.
Considering the hours of actual work Mr..
Hoover gave to his Office during his administra-
ton, even aside from the overwhelming gravity
Of the economic problems confronting him, one