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One of my passions, said Robert Finch back in 1960 while waging a losing battle for Richard Nixon, "has always been that we must rebuild the Republican Party somewhat closer to the Democrat Party." Today, it seems unthinkable that the cautious California Lieutenant Governor, now 43, would ever utter such a blasphemy. Finch was submerged in politics even as a schoolboy. His father was one of the few Republicans in the Arizona legislature, and dinner-table conversation naturally swung to politics. The family moved to California, where Finch was president of the student body both in high school and at Occidental College, where he majored in political science.
As overseer of the HEW morass, he will be attempting to untangle what the Democrats have wrought. Moreover, as Nixon's closest adviser—their friendship dates back to 1947—he has a broad mandate to advise on virtually all phases of domestic affairs. Not surprisingly, there is already talk in Washington that Finch is being groomed by his mentor to succeed him in 1976.
Housing and Urban Development
George Romney is the best known of Nixon's appointees. He followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a carpenter, and still boasts: "I was a builder from the age of twelve." That skill and his long-standing interest in low-cost housing, plus his years of administrative experience as head of American Motors, may prove valuable in his new job at HUD.
As Michigan's Governor, Romney, 61, has done little to resolve the problems of the poor, particularly in urban centers. Detroit, though admittedly a Democratic bastion, is nonetheless one of the country's most blighted cities. After it was ravaged by the nation's ugliest riots in 1967, Romney decided that it was time to learn all he could about the urban crisis. He took off on a 20-day tour of cities ending with a seminar at Harvard.
He was thus delighted when he was tapped by Nixon, exclaiming "That's what I wanted most." As Secretary of HUD, Romney can be expected to apply his own brand of "Mormon idealism" to the task. While enthusiastically supporting Nixon's program of enlisting business to help provide jobs, training and capital to upgrade slum life, he favors federal aid and incentives to en able the poor to build and own their own low-cost housing. The ghetto dweller, says Romney, is an "untapped asset."
Transportation
When John A. Volpe, 60, moves into Washington's new Department of Transportation building, to be completed by late 1969, he should have no trouble at all finding his way around. One of the contractors for the building is the John A. Volpe Construction Co., a job that had been settled before Volpe was ever considered for occupancy. As a hod carrier, Volpe financed a trade-school education, then, in the depths of the Depression, borrowed $500 to go into the construction business. His company has since blossomed into a multimillion-dol lar enterprise.