New Chairman

BEHIND THE SCENES New Chairman

When Michigan's Arthur Summerfield becomes Postmaster General next month, he will resign as Republican national chairman. Last week most of the G.O.P. speculation about Summerfield's successor was beamed toward one man: lean, relaxed Charles Wesley (Wes) Roberts, 48. Roberts was working on his family's weekly Oskaloosa Independent (circ. 1,400) when he plunged into Republican politics in 1936. With time out for a World War II stint in the Marines, he served the Kansas G.O.P. and its state administrations in various jobs until 1950, when he got out of active politics to start his own public-relations firm in Topeka and Holton. Late last year Kansas Senator Frank Carlson brought him in as director of the national Ike headquarters. After the convention, he became the G.O.P. director of organization, tied together the professional organization and the amateur "citizens" groups. Frank Carlson and former Kansas Senator Harry Darby want Roberts for national chairman, and that may mean that Ike will want him too.

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