Evening star., 1950-01-15
Mite Has Performed
Other Important
U. S. Tasks
By Wallace r. Deuel.

partment's Policy Planning Staff.
He is Paul H. Mite, who has
just succeeded George F. Kennan
in the job of presiding over formu-
lation of this country's long-range
diplomatic strategy. In his new
position, Mr.. Nitze is subject to
the superior authority of only two
men, Secretary of State Acheson
and President Truman.
Mr.. Mite, a quiet, soft-spoken,
reserved but pleasant hammered
man, is 5 feet 9a4 inches tall with
his shoes off and weighs 1862 fresh
back from a skiing vacation in
Colorado" he says, a holiday
which also has given him a ruddy
outdor color. He has dark hair
literally seasoned with gray, and
brown eyes SO dark they seem
black.
Mr.. Nitze's appointment as di-
rector of policy planning marks
the elimination of the second
career he has crowded into the %
years since he was graduated with
honor from Harvard at the age
of 81.
Made Fortune Early
He became a vice president of
Dillon, Reed & Co, at 80 and
president of his own company
specializing in corporate reor-
ganizations, at 81. He sometimes
thinks Of the period when he had
his own firm as "the most excit-
ing year and half 7 ever spent"
He returned to Dillon, Reed just
before the war. He had made a
very substantial fortune by the
time he was 80 years old.
Meanwhile, Mr.. Mite had taken
a year off from business in
1878 to take graduate work in
sociological theory at Harvard.
Asked how he happened to do
this, Mr.. Nitze said, II wanted to
find the answers to some of the
things that were happening in
the world, and I thought the an
swers might be found in sociology
rather than in economics"
did you find the answers?" he
was asked
Mr.. Mite smiled:
Il found that there were no
answers to the questions that
most interested me-" he replied,
Little Foreign Experience
Mr.. Mite embarked on his
second career" during the war.
He served as financial director
OF the Office of the Co-ordinator
OF Inter-American Affairs. chief
OF the metals and minerals
branch Of the Board of Economic
Warfare and director of the for
e1gn procurement and develop
ment branch of the Foreign Eco
nomic Administration. In 1914 he
was appointed vice chairman of
the Strategic Bombing Survey,
which undertook to evaluate the
results of strategic bombing in
both Europe and Asia during the
war. He was awarded the Medal
for Merit in recognition of his
services with the survey.
Mr.. Nitze entered the State De-
partment in 1916 as deputy di-
rector of the Office of interna-
tional trade policy. In June, 1948,
he became Deputy Assistant Sec
retary Of State for Economic
Affairs.
Mr.. Acheson's choice of Mr..
Mite for the Policy Planning
Staff reveals once again-as most
of his appointments have done
the Secretary's partiality for
men whom the Hoover Commits
sion has characterized as broad
gauge outsiders with fresh ap-
proach." Mr.. Nitze has had rela-
lively little experience abroad and
very little in diplomacy any
where.
Backgrounds Compared
The contrast between his back
ground and his predecessor is
noteworthy:
Mr.. Kennan has had almost a
quarter of century of experience
in diplomacy. He has served in
a dozen posts overseas, including
Moscow, Berlin, Vienna, Lisbon
and London and in the State
Department here, rising from
vice consul to career minister,
the highest rank in the profess
sional foreign service. He is one
OF the Nations outstanding ex-
perts on Russia and is generally
regarded as one of Americas S most
brilliant diplomatists.
If Mr.. Nitze has qualms about
taking over from such a for
midable and distinguished prede-
cessor, he bears them with a
composure which seems to char
acterize him in other matters as
well. Men who have worked with
him say, furthermore, that he
has every justification for an
adequate self-conf1dence.
For Mr.. Nitze "has great in
tellectual capacity the one
thing that's most needed-and
sometimes seems to be least re-
warded-in Government" one
associate says. The new chief
policy planner has a mind which
is different from Mr.. Remnants
but by no means necessarily in
ferior, in the Judgment of those