Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-09-07

Troublesome? Yes.
charity because he figures he
learned everything on Government
time"
Senator Jackson, Democrat of
Washington, says of him:
He is a dissenter, a noncon-
formist in uniform. The man is
a scientist and a genius. You
would search hard and long to
find a good scientist who is not
a bit difficult. I was attracted to
him 10 years ago because he was
like a breath of fresh air"
Scientific Genius?
Some of Admiral Rickover's prof.
ect workers, who have been with
him for years. say Rick (they call
him admiral to his face is not
a scientific genius but rather an
outstanding engineer with ma
ture technical judgment. But they
credit him with a sixth sense for
anticipating trouble before 1t gets
started.
Admiral Rickover, these CO.
workers say, can size up trends
and problems years in advance
and saw the potential Of nuclear
power for the Navy long before
other officers did. He put his own
staff to work on a wartime sched-
ule nine years ago.
And they aren't surprised at the
admiral's failure to get along
with Navy brass. Many people
make friendly compromises and
adjustments in working with
others. Not Admiral Rickover.
Says Admiral Mumma:
"Rickover is a pretty tough guy
to work with. He works like
a dog himself, but he's not 3
happy, pleasant individual. People
feel rebuffed by someone excep-
tionally tough and Rickover makes
fetish OF that"
Admiral Rickover has given his
own Interpretation of his prob
lens in testimony before Senate
committees.
If a military man wants to push
a new idea, he once observed. the
first thing he must decide is that
"he is going to get his head
chopped off ultimately"
He said he was given a free
hand to build the Nautilus because
there were so many people who
were certain the project would
fail and didn't want to be asSo-
ciated with it.
II was kept on and I was as
signed this job all to myself-and
given an office in an ex-ladies'
powder room"
Admiral Rickover's Office today
no longer that former powder
rooms still small and unpre-
tentious in the old Navy Building
. on Constitution avenue. There he
works long hours, relying on the
telephone for much of his per-
Sonal contact with his staff.
He Is q Nonsmoker
He doesn't smoke, rarely takes
a drink stronger than SKINNED
milk. He has a tray-borne lunch
usually consisting of bouillon,
hard-boiled egg, fruit, crackers
and milk.
Admiral Rickover first became
imbued with the vision Of an
atomic submarine during duty
with the Atomic Energy Commits
sion at Oak Ridge, Tenn, in
1857. When the plans he and
some Navy associates drew up
were rejected, Admiral Rickover
carried the matter right up to
Admiral Chester Nimitz and per-
Suaded him to write the Secretary
of the Navy that the atomic sub
marine is militarily desirable.
That started the trail to the
Nautilus and beyond. Today Ad-
miral Rickover holds dual jobs as
head of the nuclear power division
of the Navy's Bureau of Ships
and the naval reactor branch Of
the Acc.
Two facets of this complex per-
sonality are expressed by sar-
donic remark he made to a Senate
committee and the biblical motto
prominently displayed in his Of
flee.
In the first, he excoriated mill
tary buck-passing when there is
always someone else responsible
land finally they get up to the
PreSident-and I think the reason
they don't go beyond him is be-
cause they are not certain they
havea sure channel of communi-
cation"
The second sums up the ad-
mirals personal philosophy. It
says:
Where there is no vision, the
people perish"