Evening star., 1958-05-07
HEADLINE PERSONALITY
FIemming Believes
. US. Deserves Best

N returning 10 atop Govern
ment post. Arthur s. Flemming
a merely once. again practicing
what ne has always preached: /:
That Uncle Sam deserves the
best help he can get.
A crack personnel manage
ment man, Mr.. Flemming viii
Be entirely 81 home supervising
the yoluminous employees and
multiple activities Of the Health,
Education and Welfare Depart
ment.
Well-known In Washington
as Q bright young man who
never grew dim. he served three
Presidents In exacting capac-
tiles and attained a reputation
as q demon administrator
tolerant Of no slackness down
through the lines.
Obsession Is Civil Service
II the suave Mr.. Flemming can
be said TO have an obsession. II
Is the building Of q career civil
service along British lines.
On every occasion during his
previous Potomac career. he
lectured on the necessity Of an
efiicient and responsible ou-
reaucracy. He has hammered
on the need of divorcine politI-
cal partisanship from partisan
politics. He has insisted that
the civil servant should be
above reproach In his private
life. 81
Despite this militant attitude.
Mr.. Flemming was one Of the
most popular commissioners
the Civil Service ever knew,
holding a place in the hearts
Of Government workers COM
parable to that occupied by
Teddy Roosevelt, a commits
sioner in the eos. In his nine
years on the csc, he was
known as a tough boss who
tolerated no buck-passing, but
who defended his own with in
comparable eloquence on Capt.
tol Hill.
He really brainwashed those
committees" said one veteran
observer who watched Mr.. Flem-
ming talk legislators around.
Not a Party Darling
Mr.. Flemming's diligence in
the service of Presidents Roose-
welt and Truman did not win
him warm adherents among
Old Guard members of his
party. On the death of Senator
Taft, Republican Of Ohio, he
was considered q possible sue
.cessor, but the idea died on the
vine.
y When he quit Government
service to become the ninth.
president of his alma mater,
Ohio Wesleyan University, in
1913, it was not for long. Three
years later. he was back in
harness as assistant director Of
the Once of Defense Mobiliza-
tion, a particularly fitting job,
since during his csc tenure he
had presided over the wartime
increase Of Federal personnel
from 100000 to 2.5 million.
Two years la ater, when
Charles E. Wilson resigned as
ODM director, President Eisen-
hover, whose brother Milton
and Mr.. Flemming are the best
of friends, persuaded Mr.. Flem-
ming to take over as director.
A Leader Since BOyhOOd
In that ONCE he did some
plain speaking. He warned that
Russian H-bombs could devas-
tate the country. He said
frankly that If civil defense
plans exist only on paper they
ere mot worth the paper on
which they are written"
n The new HEW, chief has been
exhibiting qualities of leader
ship from boyhood. In the
Kingston IN. " High School,
he was chairman of the debat-
ing council, class orator, and
assistant manager of the foot
ball team. On the Ohio Wes-
1eyan campus, he cut a wide
swath as president Of the
YMCA, president of the Repub-
lean Club, a justice of the stu
dent honor court and a men,
Der of three fraternities.
Ready for Service
He went on to new honors
In the academic world. In his
three years at American Uni
versity, he was debate coach
and instructor in government,
while working for his M. A. de-
gree in political science. The
next four years found him on
the editorial board of the United
States Daily (now US. News
and World Report. In 1884.
he was named director of the
American University School Of
Public Affairs. and four wears