Evening star., 1950-04-02
Now He'll Be Fighting
For Big Funds as
Army Secretary
By John A. Giles

Frank Pace, jr., the lank, Timber
Arkansan whose phenomenal
climb up the governmental service
ladder was marked Thursday by
selection as Secretary of the
Army. now finds himself in a very
peculiar position.
For. sitting back comfortably as
director OF the budget. in a large,
well-appointed Office next to the
White House. the same Mr.. Pace
has been passing on what now
becomes his own department. S
money requests for men and guns
and facilities. He's only had to
slash here and whack. there-get
the Presidents approval - and
leave it to the poor department
heads to answer embarrassing
questions by congressional COM
mittees.
But very soon Mr.. Pace will
find himself in the witness chair,
first before his successor at the
Budget Bureau, Frederick j. Law
ton. and then before the law
makers. busily defending what he
thinks the Army needs and
should get.
Mr.. Pace himself-with a hearty
laugh-does not fail to see the
humor of his being on the other
side of the fence" for a change.
"I'll be in the position of press
ing for the Army's need for funds
and I'll admit it will be an in
teresting situation" he said.
At 38 years of age, Mr.. Pace
surprisingly enough is not the
youngest Secretary of the Army
in history. John c. Calhoun was
only 35 when appointed Secretary
of War, and several others have
shaded Mr.. Pace by a year or 50,
among them, Robert Todd Lincoln.
Officer in Last War
He first came on the Washing
ton scene during the last war
while serving as a major with the
Air Transport Command. He
went to work with the Attorney
Generals Office as a special as
sistant after going on inactive
duty. There his vivacious person.
ality, genial chuckle and ability
caught the eye of Postmaster Gen.
eral Frank Hannegan. who made
him his executive assistant in
1916. Two years later he stepped
into the Budget Bureau as assist
ant director under James Webb,
another young blood. who is now
Undersecretary of State. Mr..
Pace took Office as director on
January 7. 1949. and plans call
to move to the Pentagon soon,
perhaps this week.
Observers at first could not
understand why Mr.. Pace would
move from the position of budget
director-with its farfiung au-
thority over all Government de-
partments and agencies-into the
defense caldron with it's bitter
rows over funds. mission and al
most everything else.
But to Mr.. Pace, that's easy.
/. I'm in this business of Govern
ment as matter of public service
no, have no plans to return to
Arkansas to run for Senator or
any other office-and I feel that
public service is about as impor-
tant a proposition as there is to-
day." he declared.
apparently the President and
Secretary of Defense johnson felt
that ! could be helpful and assist
with the military and obviously
they expect my experience to be
OF some help in the secretaryship."
But the move might also have
future possibilities not visible at
first. Deputy Secretary of De-
tense Stephen T. Early plans
some day to return to his vice
presidency of the Pullman Co. and
Mr.. Pace may very well be in a
position to step into that spot
later on. He is close to President
Truman and has other influential
friends. His relations with Mr..