Evening star., 1951-03-04
When BiffIe's Phone Rings He Knows Who 1t Is
Senate Secretary !
Has Direct Line
To White House
By Jock Bell

SSSN DSb
The extra telephone that sits
on side table near Leslie L. Bif-
fle's desk is different from most
telephones in two respects:
1. It is adorned with a red,
white and blue ribbon.
2. When it rings the man on
the other end of the wire will be
the President OF the United States.
Mr.. Biff1e is secretary OF the
Senate. The telephone in his Of
flee symbolizes a friendship that
goes far beyond the ordinary
bounds of a Presidents relations
with a l2.000-a-year Government
official.
Their friendship goes back to
when Harry S. Truman came to
Washington as a freshman SEN
ator in 1885. He sought and ac-
cepted Biff1e's advice. He has been
asking for that advice ever since,
though 1t can't be said he always
takes it.
When Mr.. Truman wants to talk
to his old and trusted friend the
White House switchboard rings
the direct line to Bif1e's office.
And most of the time when Biffle
wants to talk to the President he
just has to ask for him.
There Is no other such direct
line to Capitol Hill.
There is, in fact, no other man
in Washington quite like the
slight, slender Bifile, whose eternal
air of boyish bashfulness bellies
his 81 years and the bald spot
struggling with his hair.
Behind the hand he is contin-
ually holding to his mouth pass
some of the priced whispered
secrets of Washington oficialdom.
But they go only to those who
should know them. Prying in
quisitors get a poker-faced reac-
tion, no information.
Know Their All
Senate secretaries have been
great fellows and great party men
political and social-in the past.
But none has touched the sphere
where Biff1e moves rapidly and
smilingly in a wide circle of
friends from high and low sta
tionS.
He gave a luncheon for Rene
Pleven. Prime Minister of France,
with Secretary of State Acheson
as guest. That's the kind of a
protocol party that the President
or a cabinet member throws, but
Biff1e took 1t in stride.
1t was not the first time a prime
minister had sat down to luncheon
at the Biffie table. Winston
Churchill did 1t twice during the
war.
Usually the affairs are suggested
informally by foreign ambassa-
dors who think their bosses ought
to know what Congress members
are thinking about.
The Duke of Windsor, an old
friend. drops around for lunch
now and then. Gen. Eisenhower
was top guest before he left for
Europe to survey the Vests de-
fenses.
Senators, businessmen, cabinet
Governors. Mayors and
newspaper reporters wander in
from time to time for a chat with
this mighty mite of politics. Mr..
Biflle sticks pretty closely to his
favorite homegrown brand of TO-
mato juice, his visitors not al
ways.
President Truman had just left
one Of those informal gatherings
more than five years ago when
he was notified of Franklin D.
Roosevelt's death. He called
Biffle to go sto the White House
with him.
Bewildered by his new prob
lens. Mr.. Truman had Biffle on
the phone again the following
morning. the first call he placed
from the White House. That noon
he was back in Biffle's Office for
lunch. a visit he has repeated sew
eral times.
It's nothing unusual for the
White House phone to ring and
the Presidents voice inquire If
there is going to be chilli for
lunch. with the reminder that BIZ
f1e has q mighty good friend who
likes chilli. The chilli is always
forthcoming.
The President and Mr.. Biffle