Decisive Shortage

In the arms race with Russia, any serious gap in decision making can result one to five years later in a serious U.S. defense gap. This "decision lead-time" problem came sharply into focus last week when the Pentagon faced a serious, unexpected gap in top decision makers. The sudden death of Deputy Defense Secretary Donald Quarles (TIME, May 18) robbed the Pentagon of its key keeper of important policy detail just at a time when:

Defense Secretary Neil H. McElroy was planning to head back this fall to his Cincinnati home to pick up the valuable stock options that soapmaking Procter & Gamble is holding for him.

Air Force General Nathan Twining, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was hospitalized for quick surgery for lung cancer; doctor's prognosis: he will be away from his desk for a minimum of five or six weeks (acting chairman: General Maxwell Taylor, Army Chief of Staff).

Navy Secretary Thomas Gates Jr. was getting ready to retire, turn over his duties June 1 to Under Secretary William B. Franke, whose principal experience has been in financial management.

Of all the problems, the most pressing was finding a successor to McElroy as Defense Secretary--or persuading him to stay on. Last week McElroy had two talks with the President and a constant stream of Pentagon interviews about prospective recruits for Defense. Administration leaders grimly watched him hunt hardest for a successor rather than a new deputy. A deputy could be picked from among the seasoned hands, e.g., Assistant Defense Secretary (Comptroller) Wilfred McNeil, or the Air Force's able Secretary James Douglas, but the President might well want to reach outside the Pentagon to fill the top job. Top prospects: AEC Chairman John McCone, onetime Air Force Under Secretary; Presidential Assistant (for National Security) Gordon Gray, onetime Army Secretary; retired General Alfred Gruenther, Eisenhower's SHAPE Chief of Staff, who might be loath to give up the prestige, house, $30,000 salary and perquisites that go with his job of president of the American Red Cross; Ambassador to the U.N. Henry Cabot Lodge, who would be difficult to replace at the U.N.

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