Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-08-24
G. F. KEENAN, Heads
State Departments
Cerebral Staff
By Richard /. Stokes

| during the rOSeaCe hours Oh al
ia. Potsdam and the first two Con-
ferences OF Foreign Ministers, there
was one officer of the American
diplomatic service who reflected
that Joseph Stain was not only
Russian but a Communist. From
May %, 1914, to April 26, 1916
George Frost KEENAN, was Embassy
Counselor in Moscow. His hard.
bitten dispatches elevated many ar
eyebrow among his superiors. Or
returning to Washington he was
farmed out to the National Wal
College as deputy for foreign af-
fairs.
When the romance between
Pennsylvania avenue and the
Kremlin turned sour, KEENAN, was
unclaimed from the doghouse and
promoted, with the high rank OF
career minister, to command the
departments revolutionary innova-
ton, it's policy planning staff
There he is not required to act. He
administers nothing. In recog-
milton of his cerebral proves at
Moscow, his sole and exclusive job
is heavy thinking.
First Job Tough
The function of the staff Is to
solve problems which are posed by
it's own members, or which are
tossed into its lap by Secretary OF
State George c. Marshall or Under
secretary Robert A. Lovett. The
first job passed by Marshall to Ken
nan was a veritable behemoth. All
he was asked to do was work out
the enigma of European reconstruc-
ton. He was told to discover why
the continent had failed to recover
and why American help of II billion
dollars since VI day has proved
unavailing.
His mental operations are pro-
tected by a Gordon of secrecy which
is unique in the State Department
and which the Pentagon Building
might have envied in the heyday of
wartime censorship. Once a week
Secretary Marshall exposes himself
10 a press conference. Interviews
are readily granted by Undersecre-
tary Lovett, as well as by Norman
Armour, Assistant Secretary for
Political Affairs, and William L.
Clayton, Undersecretary for Eco
nonic Affairs. These are the four
potentates who rule the department.
But it is impossible for reporter
to gain admission to Mr.. Kennan's
presence, even when it is agreed
that no questions will be asked
and that the only purpose is to
make his acquaintance. Some of
the precautions reached fantastic
heights. Judging by the apprehen-
sive evasions of his sentinels, 1t
might be supposed that his stature
in feet and inches is a 'most con-
1dential" matter, and that the very
color of his hair and eyes is top
secret" It is explained that the
policy planning staff was not in
tended to be news source"
Unwelcome Renown
BY a stroke of irony, KEENAN, had
barely withdrawn behind impene-
trable barricades when he became
the subject of unwelcome renown
on an international level. In it's July
issue Foreign Affairs, an American
quarterly review, published an essay
on THE Sources of Soviet Conduct"
Beneath the title stood a mysterious
entry, by x" 1t was a formidable
analysis of the Politburos motives
and maneuvers. The st. Louis Post
Dispatch was first to perceive the
articles Importance. It ran the
earliest news summary and then re-
printed the discourse verbatim, in
three installments.
That the author was topfight
parsonage at the State Department
was presumed from the start. Sur
misses regarding the identity of "X'
glanced briefly at 10y w. Hender-
son, director of the Office of Near