Evening Star Newspaper, September 21, 1930, Page 85

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SEPTEMBER 21, 1930. ————— _—— Seven Days in the White House How the Presidency Has Become a Man- Breaking Job With the Passing of the Years Because of the Innumerable Tasks Thrust U, 'pon the Chicf Executive as the Nation’s Population and In- terests Have Expanded. A recent photograph of President {oover. Harris & Ewing. BY THOMAS F. HEALEY. EARS before he assumed the burdens of the presidency Woodrow Wil- son, in an engaging book on “Con- stitutional Government,” expressed the opinion that unless some means could be devised of easing the ever-growing pressure upon the Chief Executive, the Nation would be forced to consider physical as well as mental fitness in choosing its President, and accordingly seek men of athletic training as ‘well as scholastic attainment. Unfortunately, remarked Mr. Wilson in ef- fect, this is a combination seldom found. All athletes cannot be scholars nor all scholars athlete:. This being so, Mr. Wilson ventured no soluvion of what was then and is now a pressing problem in our public life, and one which grows more acute as the years advance. Mr. Wilson was himself to become a victim of the overwhelming pressure of the presidency, and his successor, Mr. Harding, was to collapse and die under the strain. Mr. Coolidge aged perceptibly in the White House. After less than two years in office President Hoover, while in excellent physical and mental health, never- theless gives evidence that it is a pressure which the most robust cannot withstand un- scathed it is interesting to analyze this problem, yet rather disappointing, because an analysis leads nowhere. Inevitably one arrives at the con- clusion that there is nothing in the Constitu- tion which permits of a change in procedure by which the President might be freed of the countless responsibilities placed upon him. He cannot divide his responsibility. He cannot in any way shift the burden or part of the burden to other shoulders. He cannot for an instant legally escape the ever-pressing realization that he is the governing head of a vast Nation of some 130,000,000 people, and as such the most powerful individual on earth. He cannot es- cape the forms and trappings of the office, its ceremonial and social necessities, the political leadership. which is an essential part of the office and a vast multitude of details saddled upon him by the Constitution and the law. NEVITABLY the country will have to con- sider this problem objectively and find a solution of it. The presidency is now and for many years has been too great a burden for any man. As the Nation increases in popula- tion, in resources and in world power the bur- dens of the office become heavier. The country as a whole does not realize it, but to observers in the Capital it is amazing how each change of administration increases the work of the presidency and other executive branches of the Government. Each Congress imposes new du- ties upon them. The progress of trade and industry, the currents of the social life of the country, the progress of the great and small nations of the rest of the world—all of these factors are reflected in the President’s office and, united, represent his daily responsibilities. Like so many other constitutional and statu- tory provisions of our Government, the fact that the President is constantly facing a super- human task represents the conservatism of the men who set up the Government. Furthermore, it is eloquent of the tremendous success of this greatest of all republics. For it is not to be supposed —indeed, the records do not support such a supposition—that the Constitutional Convention envisioned a Nation embracing 3,000,000 square miles, made up of what De ‘Tosqueville in a fine sentence described as an assemblage of nations. All the political theory of the time-—and the founders were men deeply read in the theory of government—was op- posed to the view that a republic could exist in other than a nation of limited area and population. Undoubtedly if Hamilton, Jeffer- son, Franklin and their conferees could have foreseen the development of the last century, , the great influx of population and the steady advance of the Nation into a position of world leadership, some form of divided authority, some means of easing the strain of the presi- dency would have been provided. POLITICAL writers and students of the pres- ent engage in speculation on this problem, but hesitate to propose a solution lest they offend the instincts of patriotism. The typi- cal 100 per cent American shudders at the idea of dividing the responsibility of the Presi- dent. He is accustomed to having a single individual at the head of the Government, and he will consider no other proposal or sugges- tion. It is impossible for him to realize what that individual suffers, what a price he pays, what a sacrifice in personal comfort and ordi- nary human happiness is required of him. The average person sees only the glorified aura of the office. He comes to Washington and, looking at the White House—that fine old mansion surrounded by ancient trees, sparkling fountains and rolling lawns—he asks wiwat sac- rifice he would not make to dwell therein, to have every want supplied by a generous Gov- ernment, to be waited upon by scores of serv- ants, to be sought by the great of this and other nations—to have the world at his feet. He does not consider that Mr. Hoover at dinner, perhaps in the magnificent state din- ing room, may have his mind centered upon the drought sufferers of the grain States while an ambassador or other guest of prominence indulges in light table talk with his dinner companion. For, after all*to the occupant of the White House all the glory and glitter soon becomes commonplace, and when one has not the time nor the mental ease to enjoy the luxuries of life they b:come oppressive burdens from which one would be happy to escape. If it were possible for a company of average American men and women to spend a week in the White House, how keenly they would sense that the President must surrender him- self almost entirely to his office and must cease to have personal plans for comfort, ease and relaxation such as the poorest of his fellow citizens may enjoy. They would resent the necessity of constantly being unable to live their own lives, to go where their desires dic- tated, to have their friends about them in easy fellowship. That, of course, is impossible. But perhaps some ideas of a week of Mr. Hoover's life in the White House may be sketched. As a mat- ter of cold fact, description of one day’s routine is sufficient to illustrate the sort of existence he is required to live. For one day is very much like another, except that he sees differ- ent callers, lunches and dines with different guests and has different problems to solve. SINCE he has been spending the week ends at his Virginia camp (where usually he confers with members of his cabinet or other Government officials), the President does not arrive at his office on Monday morning until about 10:30. Government officials are waiting to see him. His desk is piled high with cor- respondence which only he can dispose of. There are a hundred matters pressing for dis- posal, but there may be one outstanding prob- lem, such as an international complication, a national disaster or a political problem. In that event all other business is put aside and the President summons those concerned in seeking solution of the major questions. Con- ferences may last an hour or two hours. Mean- while Mr. Hoover's secretaries are making en- gagements for interviews, for the President must be accessible to all members of Congress, to all those associated with him in the Gov- ernment and to unlimited numbers of men active in the industrial and financial affairs of the Nation. There is a popular idea that few see the President. He may see 10, 12 or 15 callers between 10 o'clock and noon, at which latter hour members of the diplomatic Corps call to present citizens of other coun- tries to the President. More presentations fol- low at 12:30, when members of Congress and officers of the Government bring their friends Woodrow Wilson, himself a victim of the tremendous burdens of the presi- dency, once declared that a Chief Ex- ecutive needed the physique of an ath- lete and the mind of a scholar. and relatives. At this period the President frequently goes into the south grounds to be photographed with visitors. The President goes to lunch at 1:15—not to enjoy a leisurely snack with a group of friends, but to lunch formally with guests, to discuss public business with callers whose necessities require more time than could be spared in the office. Afternoon engagements are reserved for persons with whom extended conferences are necessary. These include Government of- ficials, cabinet members, diplomats, business leaders, labor leaders, representatives of all phases of American life. His day at the office never ends until 6 o’clock. For two hours, from 6 to 8 p.m., Mr. Hoover has an opportunity to relax. He may sleep for half an hour and spend the rest of the time in reading a light book. Dinner is served at 8. Again it is a formal function with guests, or it may be an elaborate state dinner in honor of a distinguished foreigner. After dinner the guests remain usually until 11 o'clock, when the President retires. This hour has been set by the President’s personal physician, Capt. Boone, as the time for his retirement, for Mr. Hoover could not withstand the strains of his office without adequate sleep. On Tuesday and each succeeding morning the President starts the day with 20 minutes of exercise with his “medicine-ball cabinet” in the south grounds. He meets the cabinet at 11 o'clock and at noon sees accredited news- paper correspondents. This conference may consume 15 or 20 minutes. When it is con- cluded the usual routine is resumed. The cabi= net meeting and the press conference are re- peated on Friday, except that the latter is held at 4 o'clock instead of noon. Despite this constant routine pressure there are times when the President must be alone. He must prepare messages to Congress, write his public addresses, dispose of correspondence, consider diplomatic negotiations and in the - solitude of his own room give thought to na- tional policies and problems. The President, of course, is the leader of his party. Hence he is constantly being ealled upon to formulate political policy, to meet the party leaders of the Congress and of the States and ‘o advise and direct to the end that wise polit al action may be reflected in the success of his administration. Such problems as that represented by the recent Huston case must of necessity be considered by him, for in im- portant party affairs he acts as a court of last recourse. ) Week after week this program is carried out. It means that Mr. Hoover never leaves the White House. He cannot go for a stroll in the evening. He cannot drop in on a friend for a smoke and a chat. If he should desire to walk about the grounds, Secret Service men would accompany him. In a few moments a crowd would gather. He never goes to the theater. He sees his friends only when they are invited to lunch or dinner, for one cannot casually call at the White House. Except during his 20 minutes of exercise in the morning and his two hours of rest in the evening he is never without an audience. There are, of course, a multitude of details connected with the presidency not mentioned here. The business of making appointments and signing commissions is in itself a tre- mendous task. It would break the spirit of an impatient man. Mr. Taft hated it with a wholesome and whole-hearted hate. But the President cannot get away from it, for it is his constitutional duty, FOR a time Mr. Hoover consented to hold public receptions, for the American people want to see their President. One day in the Spring of 1929 he shook hands with 2,700 men and women at the rate of 40 per minute. It was heart breaking and arm breaking. The practice had to be abandoned if the President was to preserve any strength for his job. At formal receptions at the White House that number has been doubled at times, and once was trebled. As a substitute for the handshaking formali- ties, an arrangement has been made whereby many groups are photographed with the Presi- Continued on Thirteenth Page