THE ADMINISTRATION: Staying Power

In January 1953, when Engine Charlie Wilson unhappily agreed to divest himself of his General Motors stock and took office as Secretary of Defense, Washington wiseacres gaily dismissed him as an incurable case of foot-in-mouth disease, freely predicted that he would be the first man out of the Eisenhower Cabinet.

Last week, speaking to the annual White House Conference of Mayors, Charlie Wilson jokingly told his audience: “Talking about your possible trip through the Pentagon, I would like to warn you about one thing—if any of you get lost you’re liable to find that you’ve got a job.” The point Wilson was trying to make was that he, like the rest of the Cabinet, has had great difficulty in keeping able assistants from ditching Government service for private business. But Engine Charlie’s little joke drew reporters’ attention to another point. Now in his 37th month as Secretary of Defense, Wilson, despite his early bobbles, has outlasted all of his top civilian assistants but one (Truman-appointed Budget Expert Wilfred J. McNeil), has held office twice as long as any of his predecessors.*

* James Forrestal (18 months), Louis Johnson (18 months), George Marshall (12 months), Robert Lovett (16 months).