SHIFTS AT STATE

Dean Acheson last week strengthened his State Department by choosing a new team of top-level aides. The nominees:

David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce, to be Under Secretary of State, replacing James E. Webb.

Born: Baltimore 1898, son of the late U.S. Senator William Cabell Bruce.

Educated: Princeton, Law Schools of University of Maryland and University of Virginia.

Career: 2nd lieutenant Field Artillery, in World War I. While in private law practice, served a term in the Maryland legislature. Foreign Service officer, 1925-27. Spent next dozen years running his 4,000-acre estate in Virginia, sitting on a score of corporation boards, serving in Virginia legislature. During World War II, Bruce directed OSS operations in Europe. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of Commerce in 1947. In 1948, he became chief of the EGA mission to France. Since April 1949, Bruce has been U.S. Ambassador to France.

Bruce's first marriage (one daughter) to Andrew MelIon's daughter, Ailsa, ended in divorce in 1945. His present wife, the former Evangeline Bell, 35, is one of the most successful diplomatic hostesses in Europe. They have three children.

Bruce has been in the thick of NATO and European unity planning. As a diplomat, he is a diamond: polished, hard, glittering--and very valuable.

Henry Alfred Byroade, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian and African Affairs, replacing George C. McGhee.

Born: Maumee Township, Ind. 1913. Educated: West Point ('37), Cornell (M.S. in engineering, '40).

Career: Byroade is a Regular Army colonel, on loan to the State Department. During World War II, he built air bases in India for the vital "Hump" route and 6-29 bases in China. General Marshall made Byroade his right-hand man during the ill-fated Chinese truce negotiations of 1945-46. He was temporary brigadier general at 32. Marshall brought Byroade to State, where he became chief of the German Affairs Bureau.

Byroade is married, has three children.

While a novice in Near Eastern affairs, Byroade has a reputation as a fast learner and excellent organizer.

John Moore Allison, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, replacing Dean Rusk.

Born: Holton, Kans. 1905.

Educated: University of Nebraska ('27).

Career: After teaching English in Japanese schools and doing commercial work in Japan and China, Allison started with the Foreign Service in 1930. He has held a dozen diplomatic posts in the Far East. In 1938 in Nanking, he figured in a red-hot diplomatic incident when a Jap sentry slapped his face; the Japs quickly apologized. Last year he acted as John Foster Dulles' assistant in the preparation of the Japanese Peace Treaty and the Pacific security pact.

Allison is married, has no children.

An Oriental scholar and linguist, Allison is one of State's best-informed experts on the Far East, but lacks the drive of his predecessor.

Howland Hill Sargeant, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, replacing Edward W. Barrett.

Born: New Bedford, Mass. 1911.

Educated: Dartmouth ('32), Oxford (Rhodes Scholar).

Career: In 1935, Sargeant became assistant to the chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. He left Government in 1940 to plan a new type of scientific foundation for the National Academy of Science. He took over the administration of seized Axis patents in 1942, and has been with the State Department since 1947.

Sargeant's first marriage ended in divorce. Second wife: Cinemactress Myrna Loy.

Sargeant combines a first-rate mind with a folksy manner that is effective at appropriations time on Capitol Hill.

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