FOREIGN RELATIONS: Through the Iron Curtain

North Carolina's husky, handsome, 54-year-old Congressman Thurmond Chatham is a man who likes people, parties, a well-bottomed drink—and doing what he pleases. He surprised his Yale classmates by passing up officer training courses, enlisting as a seaman in the Navy in World War I. He startled fellow businessmen by expanding instead of contracting the family business (Chatham blankets) during the Depression, a gamble which eventually made him a millionaire. During World War II he wangled a demotion—from commander to lieutenant commander—to get into combat on a cruiser in the Southwest Pacific.

Glad Shouts. Last week in Germany, Congressman Chatham fell...