THE MAN TO WATCH
Spivack, Robert G.
The Man to Watch By Robert G. Splvack TEDDY ROOSEVELT would have liked Herbert Brownell, Jr., the new Attorney-General and dispenser of Republican spoils because he speaks softly and carries a big...
...The senate Republican leader of the New York legislature intervened in the racketeer's behalf with the Parole Board...
...He was born in 1904 in Peru, Nebraska, into a family of seven children...
...Brownell said no...
...Before he acts, he will have weighed the political advantages to be derived from winning over Negro voters by a record of moderate performance, or, at least, splitting a portion of them away from the Democratic Party...
...At the age of 28 he became a full partner in Lord, Day and Lord, now celebrating its 105th anniversary...
...The last time Brownell had a chance to clash with McCarthy was at the Republican convention when the Taft crowd succeeded in having him named one of the principal speakers...
...V One incident sums up the Brownell method in politics and in the practice of law, too...
...Then, by pure chance, Taft's explosion came while Eisenhower was enroute to Korea with Brownell at his side...
...Brownell and he came to know each other...
...I had a number of talks with Mr...
...Taft said then he was certain Thomas E. Dewey would be stopped in his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination...
...But the insiders say that Brownell cautioned against it...
...Spivack is the author of the chapter on New York in Robert S. Allen's "Our Sovereign State" and has contributed to numerous periodicals...
...Some even suggested that Taft thought he had put the Indian sign on Brownell and that it was only a question of time before Eisenhower would get rid of him...
...Soundings had been taken of the attitudes of key AFL and CIO leaders to Durkin...
...The most important underworld case his department will have to handle at the outset will be that of Thomas (Three-Finger Brown) Lu-chese, who appears- to have succeeded Frank Costello as boss of the New York underworld...
...Dewey was fairly conservative and exceedingly ambitious...
...Nobody knows more about Brownell's strength of purpose than Robert A. Taft of Ohio...
...That's what he thought, Brownell said...
...I have known him for the better part of a decade and can never remember hearing him raise his voice or lose his temper, except once when an Oregon Republican insinuated that he had broken his word...
...Brownell is married, has four children, and shares his political interests with his wife, the former Doris A. McCarter, a Texan whom he met at a New York dance...
...According to his friends he was a campus tactician at the University of Nebraska...
...This is the story as Brownell tells it and in the narrative you get some hint of Brownell's polished method of operation: "We had discussed many names...
...When Brownell left the University of Nebraska he had the choice of two scholarships: one at Columbia University in journalism, the other at Yale Law School...
...They tell a great deal, too, about Taft...
...Yet this Nebraskan has come East to leave an imprint upon New York and national politics that at 48 ranks him right up with the big bosses and the purposeful man to watch in the Eisenhower Cabinet...
...Joe R. Hanley's moral standards were bound to get the Republicans into trouble...
...Taft has an incredibly poor sense of timing...
...Then we proceeded to look beyond the paper record...
...He was a clean-up man...
...Each time it was Brownell, the serene, unassuming, almost colorless lawyer with offices just off Wall Street, who maneuvered the anti-Taft opposition to victory...
...If this is what he thought, it is quite apparent that Taft still has no concept of Brownell's staying powers...
...Their defense was that they had to keep their eyes on the main objective and not be diverted by the "sideshows...
...Finally, Brownell concluded, and Eisenhower concurred, that there were few men around with "as many pluses...
...For a short time Taft had professed to be in doubt about wanting it but it soon became clear that his heart was set on the job...
...state politics...
...Taft left no doubt that he regarded the Durkin appointment as a reflection on Brownell's character...
...Styles Bridges of New Hampshire...
...But there are other gangsters and Brownell may succeed in finding one even more sinister than Three-Finger...
...It's safe to say that he does not count on keeping the Southerners who voted for Eisenhower in the G.O.P...
...The family was of moderate means and high academic achievement...
...This, at least, is the explanation of Brownell's close associates...
...The well-meaning amateurs who had been running Eisenhower's campaign were in near panic...
...He entered New York politics out of a sense of dedication and outrage at what Tammany Hall was doing...
...What is unique about Brownell is that he rarely speaks out publicly about anything, even when he dislikes it...
...There was a time last summer when Eisenhower's nomination seemed less than a sure thing...
...The two men have been close friends since the mid-'30s when Dewey first ran for district attorney in New York, with the help of Sidney Hillman of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, David Dubinsky of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and many others now regarded as advocates of "creeping socialism...
...But Taft and Dirksen were secondary in Brownell's thinking, even if this meant risking some Congressional reprisals later on...
...In nearly every instance they were favorable, despite his union's bias against Negro plumbers...
...What makes the case so complicated for Brownell is that Luchese is well connected with many New York Republican politicians...
...It sounds reasonable...
...Brownell has been reluctant to enter into a battle of words with Taft over the appointment...
...I can do more with a delegate at the Saddle and Sirloin Club than I can do with him in a big stadium," he said...
...The first time was at the Chicago convention in 1944...
...This was his way of telling Taft and his crony, Dirksen, that their convention conduct had not yet been forgotten...
...But there will probably be one or two big cases developed in time to do the most good at the next election...
...In any event, the pure revenge impulse was repressed...
...It was a calculated risk and Brownell took it...
...To some extent this is true, but not in the way that Taft thinks...
...Even then Brownell did not explode, but a deep blush spread over his face as he firmly denied it...
...Fully aware of his own sense of power, he has complete self-confidence and sees no need to flex his muscles in public...
...On the question of civil rights Brownell can be counted on to try to win big political advantage for the Republican Party, especially in matters dealing with Negroes...
...If so, Luchese may become the forgotten man...
...What they said was that the new Administration had "two bridges to build" to the only groups that solidly opposed Ike's election—labor leaders and the Negro voters...
...His father was a professor of science education at the University of Nebraska...
...But years before, when all the backroom boys in Albany knew that lovable old Joe spelled trouble, Brownell served as his campaign manager...
...They came to Brownell and proposed that a huge Eisenhower rally be held in Soldiers' Field...
...His plans are to instill new life into the virtually defunct Civil Rights Bureau of the department...
...He hates all forms of athletics, although just to be sociable sometimes participates...
...James McGranery's closing days in the Justice Department...
...Bourbon is his favorite drink, but his genteel Methodist upbringing and natural restraint never allow him to imbibe to excess...
...Apparently he felt the best strategy was to present the Taft wing with an accomplished fact...
...He thought the question over for some time and then answered: "The principle runs all through the law that there are certain things you can do as an individual that you can't do in concert with others...
...Eisenhower's election, and advocated the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Law," he also said that his criticism was "no reflection on the character or ability of Mr...
...Why had Brownell not informed Taft and Dirksen that Durkin was under consideration...
...This is a weakness that some who have worked with him profess to have detected in Brownell's make-up...
...In time, after some shuffling among the Republican Senators themselves, it was decided to let Taft have the prize...
...On matters related to the prosecution of trusts, he is probably indifferent...
...Taft made it clear that Durkin was just an innocent bystander in the brawl that ensued...
...The question about Brownell is on whom will he use ~the stick during the next four years...
...Herbert Brownell is a natural-born political maneuverer who avoids the impression of being tricky...
...When Durkin was chosen it prompted one wit to comment that the Cabinet now consisted of eight millionaires and a plumber...
...How he will handle them remains to be seen...
...Dewey, for instance, has known for years that former Lt.-Gov...
...Sometimes he seems to be interested in maneuvering just for the sake of maneuvering and when a matter of important policy comes up he may not consider it as seriously as it deserves...
...Dewey sent Brownell out to Chicago...
...Brownell did not say anything about the political considerations involved...
...Brownell shudders over Life's acROBERT G. SPIVACK has covered poli>«Val «4pwlnnments in the state of New York for The New York Post for nearly a decade...
...It has even been suggested that Dewey used the soft-spoken, earnest young Nebraskan as a foil, or a sort of softener-upper for those who found young Tom hard to take...
...How far it's possible to go along these lines without getting into serious trouble will be the real test of Brownell's capacity as a strategist...
...Although he described Durkin as a "partisan Truman Democrat, who fought Gen...
...He set off his blast less than a month after the G.O.P.'s triumph, and the first reaction of many was that he was showing himself a "poor winner," as one editorial writer put it...
...In winning the nomination that was his whole method of operation—personal contact plus one or two persuasive arguments...
...Although the dutiful press aides explain that what Ike's men are really doing is outflanking Taft and saddling him with responsibilities, there are those who view the move as appeasement of the Ohioan...
...If he can win the Negro voters, or a large portion of them, some of the old-line Southerners will be expendable...
...IV Brownell has imagination...
...He chose the latter, became editor of the Yale Law Review, and went on to join two of New York's biggest law firms...
...2, 1952, when Taft called the designation of Martin P. Durkin as Secretary of Labor "an incredible appointment...
...Up to Durkin's selection nearly everyone had been a big banker or (General Motors) industrialist, steel magnate, or corporation lawyer (Brownell himself...
...He handles himself well...
...Moreover, Brownell did consult with the new Illinois governor, William G. Stratton...
...Dewey nor Brownell forgave Dirksen and probably never will...
...The Eisenhower forces gulped but did nothing...
...Although Brownell has never specifically answered Taft's criticism for the record, it was apparent he was gambling for big stakes...
...There is a quiet quality about Brownell, almost shyness, that is extremely deceptive to those who meet him for the first time...
...Brownell's role, as he envisioned it, was something quite different...
...II The temporary and uneasy armistice that was arranged at the famous Eisenhower-Taft meeting on Morningside Heights during the summer of 1952 was abruptly shattered on Dec...
...The issue in New York then, as it has often been since, was clean, efficient municipal government, not abstract ideologies...
...Durkin we started off, of course, with his paper record and that gave him a lead over anyone else...
...He served in the New York legislature for five years.] "I wanted to help clean up the local 'mess.' That's what attracted me to Tom Dewey...
...Taft's utterances on the Durkin appointment and the background material that his colleagues fed to reporters meant in plain language that the Ohioan was hoisting the storm warnings...
...But they did nothing...
...Brownell's concern was with the first impressions that Eisenhower's new Cabinet appointments were making on the general public...
...The answer to that was simple: neither of these men could be expected to go along with the broad political approach that he was developing...
...Whether this proves a mistake or a stroke of genius still remains to be seen...
...They did not become friends at once...
...It's hard to see how you can have a Department of Justice"—(he emphasized the word)—"if the federal government sets a bad example in fields such as civil rights," Brownell has said...
...Brownell, who has been the key man in Cabinet appointments," Taft sizzled, "and made several recommendations of qualified men...
...Estes Ke-fauver...
...Neither Gov...
...He is aware of the need of bridging ihe gap that has kept many minorities in the Democratic column for so long...
...He sensed quickly that there were many people who recoiled at his overbearing arrogance (which, incidentally, has been softened somewhat since then...
...One college chum says that he was "always up in the attic in a secret little group...
...The exploitation in the press will meet all the Hollywood requirements...
...The second time was at Philadelphia in 1948 when Taft and Harold Stassen enjoyed a mild flirtation and for a brief time even toyed with a political marriage of convenience to stop Dewey, The last time was in Chicago, 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower carried off the prize...
...That he left for friends to interpret...
...Taft's fear of Brownell stems from a view that he is really not his own boss but actually a front-man for Dewey...
...Each time Taft was certain he could take the measure of the man, but each time Taft was battered to a pulp...
...It was never - even suggested that a man would be appointed who has always been a partisan Truman Democrat...
...The new Attorney-General has little use for characters of the Joe McCarthy stripe...
...There is no doubt that he has looked the other way at some of the machinations by New York's Republican politicians and never spoken out against them...
...colade because he knows that sort of publicity puts a crimp in his style...
...He tried all his wiles to get Hanley out of politics long before Hanley disclosed that for certain "considerations" he had decided to step out of the 1950 gubernatorial race...
...This may prove costly...
...The Man to Watch By Robert G. Splvack TEDDY ROOSEVELT would have liked Herbert Brownell, Jr., the new Attorney-General and dispenser of Republican spoils because he speaks softly and carries a big stick...
...For a while, at least in the early stages of the Eisenhower Administration, the tilting' between these two divergent personalities may dominate the Washington story and mold the character of the new government...
...It goes back to the campaign...
...Durkin...
...Until President Eisenhower named him to the Cabinet this was the role he always sought for himself...
...Five of the seven young Brownells earned Phi Beta Kappa keys...
...Later Brownell acquired some of the Dewey cynicism, but even now he still retains much of his genuine concern about the issues that revolve around civic cleanliness and governmental purity...
...He was fairly friendly with former Mayor William O'Dwyer and succeeded in winning important concessions for the hotel industry, which he represented, from the Democratic city administration...
...Eisenhower's to a T." Brownell said he had talked with Durkin and found that he fully comprehended the rights of "organized labor and unorganized labor...
...He prefers it that way and even now he shudders at the description bestowed upon him in Life magazine as the "second most powerful man" in the nation next to Eisenhower himself...
...His principal opponent was Sen...
...Relations with minority groups play a big part in Brownell's estimate of the G.O.P.'s future problems...
...Many will recall that it was Dirksen who turned the convention throng into a mad, hissing, anti-Dewey mob...
...On the prosecution of gangsters it is necessary to put a big question mark...
...His opportunities to observe Herbert Brownell in action ranged beyond Albany and Nev York to the Republican National Conventions at Philadelphia in 1948 and in Chicago in 1952...
...It showed that he met the 'clean as a hound's tooth' standards that we have set for all appointees...
...His attorney, now a State Supreme Court justice by appointment of Dewey, has played an important role in G.O.P...
...With Mr...
...This fear was heightened after the Durkin incident...
...If Ike had wanted to crack the whip there seems little doubt that he could have put Bridges across, or almost anyone else of his choosing...
...The bare facts of Brownell's life offer little clue to the man's character or capabilities, except that he was always serious...
...From the pattern that Brownell has followed in the past, it seems unlikely that there will be wholesale indictments of the sort that have characterized Atty.-Gen...
...Three times in the high-tide of his career Taft has run head-on into the "Brownell Boys...
...In the course of kicking this idea around he was asked if he meant that a man might say anything he wants to in a public square, but that when the Communists pulled the North American Aviation strike in the midst of the war he would consider that conspiratorial...
...Whether Taft's feelings or those of Sen...
...That's overplaying it," was his immediate reaction to the new (and deserved) title...
...Everett Dirksen from Durkin's home state were wounded just did not enter into Brownell's calculations...
...When it became clear that Taft had really lost the battle, there were some members of the Eisenhower team who wanted him punished...
...corner very long...
...There is one other aspect to the Brownell-Taft feud that bears watching...
...The latest phase of their relations foreshadows what is yet to come...
...Taft's experiences with Brownell are more revealing than any bare recital of the offices he has held and honors he has won...
...I went into politics during the Seabury investigation...
...The worst penalty they could think of was to prevent Taft from becoming Majority Leader of the Senate...
...Brownell has made other concessions to what political bosses like to consider the "realities...
...The secret of an effective political strategist is to stay well in the background, and Brownell knew this from the outset...
...It has been said of Brownell that he hates crude crooks, but that the shady practices of Wall Street fail to arouse him if they are performed by clean-cut young men out of Princeton, Yale, or even Harvard...
...If they knew Durkin was even being considered, there would have been leaks to certain newspapers calcu*-lated to stir up opposition...
...Dewey's own Parole Board has covered up the means by which he received a good conduct certificate which restored his right to vote after a conviction...
...Ill This gives rise to the question of what sort of Attorney-General Brownell will make...
...His middle-of-the-road philosophy fitted Gen...
...Except for political insiders, Brownell is the man nobody knows...
...The biggest question mark about Brownell in the field of civil liberties is where he draws the line between "heresy" and "conspiracy...
...But he has been willing to explain how he went about recommending Durkin...
...Both knew it, in fact, long before Sen...
...When he was asked about this it was clear that it was not a familiar subject...
...Lu-chese faces deportation on the grounds that he lied in filling out his citizenship application...
...Yet Brownell, like Dewey, knew that O'Dwyer was under a shadow...
...Up until then the commentary had been that you could not join the new government unless you sold Chevrolets and drove a Cadillac...
...I was an antUTammany candidate for the Assembly...
Vol. 17 • February 1953 • No. 2
