The Lyrics Were Familiar

Taking the sun in Key West, Fla., Clark Clifford, the President's closest adviser, last week told why he was quitting the Government. The lyrics were familiar, but some of the accompaniment was new. Though Congress had recently raised his salary as presidential counsel from $12,000 to $20,000 a year, Clifford insisted that he just couldn't live on his salary and raise a family (three daughters).

A strapping man, and handsome as a juvenile lead, Clark Clifford was Harry Truman's nearest equivalent to a Harry Hopkins. He translated Harry Truman's ideas into bland, trudging prose, was the liberal wing's most effective advocate at the President's ear.

He had been making $30,000 a year as a lawyer in St. Louis. Living modestly by Washington standards, he had gone steadily into the red on the White House job. For the last 2 1/2 years, a St. Louis friend whom Clifford describes only as "an older man of substantial means" has been helping him out. "He has sort of taken an interest in me since I started practice," said Clifford. "He felt that I was needed in Government and he told me that he would, as it were, subsidize me and to go ahead and draw on him for what I needed." Altogether Clifford was about $25,000 in debt to him. A man of Clifford's connections and ability would probably have no difficulty making $100,000 a year as a Washington lawyer: many a prince of privilege would presumably pay gladly for his services.

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