Evening star., 1934-11-11
BY MARK SULLIVAN.


Donald Richberg what the
- newspapers have called mo. |
2 man in the Government"
discussion has simmered and blazed |
about just what Mr.. Richberg's pow
ers are to be, how serious an innova-
ton this is in the American structure |
Of government, and, in general, what |
the innovation implies for the future. |
We can begin by saying that Mr.. |
Richberg will not be mo. man" at |
all. He will be, let us say, No. man |
the President himself will be Nos. |
l, and g. The President, to an
extraordinary degree, likes to keep |
power in his own hands and likes to |
exercise power in the sight of the |
public. In saying that it is important |
to make a distinction, Mr.. Roosevelt |
does not attempt to do everything
himself in the sense in which some
former Presidents were prone to keep
rather too many details in their own
hands.
Mr.. Roosevelt does not have the
temperament that likes to take over
the whole task from the beginning
and do it all, in all its details, him
SELF 1t is good that he does not have
that temperament, for If he had the
presidency would be hopelessly begged
down. But Mr.. Roosevelt does like to
keep the final decisions in his own
hands, likes to be known to the public
as responsible for the decision, and
enjoys the drama Of taking the final
step before the public eye. To use a
phrase from the theater, he gets boy
ish pleasure out of taking the bow"
Sustained Vitality Needed.
What then will be Mr. Richberg's
function and what is the reason for
creating the Office that has been
given to him? One sufficient reason
is that neither Mr.. Roosevelt nor any
other one man can possibly handle
all the matters that must have de-
cision from the White House. In spite
of Mr.. Roosevelt's vitality, he has suf-
fered, and it may be the public busi-
ness has suffered slightly, from the
congestion of high matters thrust
upon him. The President has come TO
know that sustained vitality is an i'm
portant element in his conception
Of his job, and realizes that he must
guard his energy and renew it by fire.
Quent vacations.
He knows that tired man, making
one of the radio speeches which the
President regards as one of his most
important ways of directing the coun-
try. cannot put into hts voice the
resonant vibrance that is necessary to
make the emotional effect he desires.
Last March the President announced
he would take vacation of a week
in Florida waters. Just before the
time he was to leave, trouble rolled
up to the White House door in the
shape of a threatened strike in the
automobile industry. Mr.. Roosevelt
took the burden of settlement on his
own shoulders. 1t involved several |
days of strenuous work under condi-
tions of nervous tension brought about
by the belligerence of one side of the
controversy and the static determina-
ton of the other. The moment Mr..
Roosevelt got some kind of compro-
mise settlement he left for Florida.
Strike Burden Avoided.
But the vacation which he had in
tended to be one week was prolonged
to two, and many observers felt the
extra week had been made necessary
by the added strain of the automo-
bile strike coming at time when
the President was already in need
of vacation. Since that experience
Mr.. Roosevelt has avoided taking
strikes on his personal shoulders, has
shunted such matters to various
boards he has set up. And the Presi-
dent through this and other incidents
has come to know that the constant
radiation of his personality out over
the country depletes the physical
reservoir from which such radiations
arise. In June he took, a prolonged
vacation in the Pacific. In August
and September he was at Hyde Park
for some time.
And in future it will be found that
the President will probably act upon
advice he has had to the effect that
he should have at least one week of
vacation to every seven of work.
Those who most bitterly oppose some
of the Presidents policies will con-
cede him the human need of ade-
quate recreation; and agree that
whatever his policies may be, the
execution of them should be the
fruit of rested personality.
With No Statutory Authority.
In one sense the new Assistant
President" Mr.. Richberg, will have no
power whatever. The Office he will
hold was not created by Congress,
and therefore has no statutory au-
thority In order to have an official
status at all and to draw a salary
Mr.. Richberg apparently will keep,
nominally. the Office of chief law
officer of N. r. A. None of the
power Mr.. Richberg may exercise
will be his own, all of it flows from
the President and will 60 just as
far as the President lets it go. In
such circumstances the new CO.
ordinator's authority depends largely
on prestige. and his prestige in turn
will depend on his relation to the
President, on the degree to which the
steps he takes are o. KID by the
President. Everybody else in the ad-
ministration, the persons whom Mr..
Richberg will command so far as he
commands anybody. will watch the
co-ordinator's standing with the
President as a mariner watches the
barometer.
In such a situation as Mr.. Richberg
will occupy in such relation as he
will have to the President, shadings
Of personality count much. Person.
atty will count in this case to an
exceptional degree, because the Presi-
dent belongs in the class of men who
enjoy having about them associates
whose temperaments are sympathetic
to their own, what the Spanish call
'simpatico." When some men are
with the President he relaxes, beams,