Evening star., 1945-11-25
Vaughn Career Runs With Truman
Presidents Military Aide anOd Friend Noted
Which Is Compensated for by His Loyalty
Harris

War Department heard about this, vio-
dent objections were raised.
Investigation Dropped.
1.-THE Secretary of War personally
wrote Truman saying he would assume
all responsibility for the vast expendi-
ture of money on the project. which he
said was vital one. That was all the
chairman wanted to know. He said
'okay' and dropped the investigation"
The project, of course, involved de-
velopment of the atomic bomb. From
being kept wholly in the dark on the
matter. Truman was to see the day
when he was given the awful RESPONSE
bility of full knowledge of it-and faced
with the decision as to its use.
Vaughan's counterpart in the White
House is Commodore James K Jake)
Vardaman Of st. Louis, the Presidents
naval aide. In front of others they in
dulge in much belittling of one another,
pretending to be consumed with mutual
envy, but actually they are good friends.
An unkind remark about either made
by an outsider would place the COM
menter in personal jeopardy if overheard
by the uncriticized aide
Vaughan says facetiously that his
chief function now is to be part of the
scenery at White House affairs, but this
is being unduly modest. He serves as
contact man with the War Department,
acts as an unofficial trouble shooter and
accompanies the Chief Executive every
where. He is, in addition, his conf
dant.
Informal in Dress.
Vaughan's informality reveals itself
also in his dress He refers to his
aiguillettes, ornamental gold braid
looped over the shoulders of presidential
aides, as chicken guts," and wears them
only when necessary. At the Potsdam
Conference he wore them over his field
jacket. II haven't the figure for Beaux
Brommel clothes" he explained to me
in an interview. He has little patience
with ostentation, either in attire or in
manner. In his Office in the White
House he prefers to wear field jacket
and his Army tie is not always in place.
This is not in strict conformity with
the best sartorial traditions of the War
Department and certain amount of
distant sniping has been evident on the
part of few Regular Army officers
Vaughan was born in Glasgow, Mo,
81 years ago. His grandfather came to
Lexington. Mo-, from Virginia in 1882,
and served as brigadier general in the
Union Army. Harry can trace his an
cestry back to Shadrock Vaughan, a
medical officer in his majestys forces
who came to America about 1740 and
was cited for valor by the Governor of
Virginia, Thomas JEFF crson.
In 1895, Harry's father, DR.. r. r.
Vaughan, moved to st. Louis from
Glasgow. and practiced dentistry for
almost 40 years in the Century Building,
serving also at one time as superintend-
ent Of the Missouri Dental College.
Harry attended Sherman grade school
and Central High, where he met a
classmate, Margaret Pitcher. I'VE didn't
get married for Is years after that" he
says, because 1t took me that long to
live down my school reputation" They
were, however, married in 1927 and have
two children. Janet, II, and David, IL.
Janet, artistically inclined. presented
Truman with a statuette, which now
stands in the White House executive
office.
Lives in Alexandria.
They live in Alexandria, where they
had their own house built in 1941 In
the recreation room is carpenter shop,
presumably set up for David but where
Vaughan spends most of his spare time,
"tinkering." He confesses: "The base
ment is the only part of the house where
I can use my rank" The recreation
room is jungle-thick with hundreds of
trophies and souvenirs of the two wars
guns and spears, boomberangs and
swords, relics of the Potsdam Conference
and of his Pacific travels.
Aside from his amateur carpentry, the
only recreation he has time for is
swimming-as the Presidents companion
in the White House pool. He uses the
crawl stroke, but Truman, he says, has
developed q peculiar maneuver of his
own which enables him to keep his
head above water at all times.
ITS his own invention" Vaughan re-
lates with happy gusto, rejecting the
love of good stories for which he is
noted. "You see, he can't swim without
his glasses, because he can't see more
than few feet without them. So he
keeps his head up and moves along that
way. It's unique"
Now Harry Vaughan probably
shouldn't have told that story, but it
just bubbled out. His intentions were
of the best. And when he sees it in
print, he will take it into the Chief, a
bit beet-faced, and his old friend will
probably grin and say: Forget it.
printed BY Special Advancement with the
st. Louis Post-Dispatch.)
= (TPIlGGIE