The first congressional leader President Kennedy invited to the White House after his return from Florida early this month was Arkansas' Democratic Representative Wilbur Mills. It was no happenstance summons, for Kennedy well knew that Mills, as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, would be passing this year on most of the top priority items in the Administration's briefcase. Indeed, of all the members of the 87th Congress, Mills may be the most important to the Administration's legislative programs.
Kensett, Arkansas, where Mills was raised, is said to have...