A Shine for the Brass

True to election tradition, each member of Dwight Eisenhower's Cabinet last week turned in a letter of resignation so the President could have the customary chance to start his new term with some shiny new brass around him. Almost before the letters were in, Ike passed the word that he has taken a shine to the brass he has. He personally persuaded a reluctant George Humphrey, 66, to remain at his desk as Secretary of the Treasury. Commerce Secretary Sinclair Weeks, 63, restive and weary, was talked into staying put. Even Special Assistant on Disarmament Harold Stassen, 49, who led the revolt against Richard Nixon's renomination, was allowed to keep his keys.

But letters or no, Washington gossip was shining up some new names for the two important Cabinet posts: State and Defense. For his Secretary of State, Ike believes no man better qualified than John Foster Dulles. Although surgeons have reported that Dulles' operation last fortnight was successful and that a cancer was properly excised, there was speculation that Dulles might bow out if--contrary to expectations--he found himself overlong in regaining his strength. Mentioned as possible successors:

P: New York Lawyer Thomas E. Dewey, 54, twice (1944, 1948) G.O.P. nominee for President, proved administrator in his twelve years as governor of New York, still very much a power in the G.O.P. P: Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., 54, well schooled in the ways of diplomacy by his day-by-day, hour-by-hour conduct of U.S. affairr in the U.N., well grounded in the ways of Washington by his twelve years as Republican Senator from Massachusetts.

P: Retired four-star General Lucius DuBignon Clay, 59, onetime (1947-49) U.S. Military Governor in Germany, since board chairman of Continental Can Co., old and trusted Ike friend, who probably would resist the job if it were offered.

P: Massachusetts' Governor Christian Herter, 61, World War I special assistant in the State Department, five-term (1943-53) Congressman (he chaired the congressional committee that laid the groundwork for the Marshall Plan).

In the Defense Department Charlie Wilson has been reported ready to step down as soon as the President will let him go. A likely time for Wilson to resign: as soon as the complicated Defense budget has been approved by Congress (probably April). One possible successor: Air Force Secretary Donald A. Quarles, 62, a good administrator and longtime scientist-executive (Bell Labs), who has managed to keep himself out of the interservice trouble. Another: bald, short (5 ft. 7 in.), terrier-tough Charles S. Thomas, former Assistant Secretary of Defense and, since 1954, the Secretary of the Navy who helped goad conservative Navy thinking toward such innovations as guided-missile ships. Still another: retiring Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and onetime Eisenhower Chief of Staff Albert Maximilian Gruenther, 57.

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