A Matter of Pride

Emerging from a visit to the White House last week, dapper Anthony J. Celebrezze, 51, smiled noncommittally when newsmen asked whether he and President Kennedy saw eye to eye on the controversial issue of federal aid to parochial schools. "I'm not sure he knows my position," said the newly appointed Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. For that matter, neither did anyone else, including the Senate, which confirmed Celebrezze's nomination at week's end without even asking him about it. But it hardly made any difference, for Cele-brezze's views were among the least of Kennedy's concerns when he chose the five-term mayor of Cleveland to replace Abraham Ribicoff.

No Hard Feelings. In Celebrezze, Kennedy got not only a good administrator, a well-honed politician and an outgoing personality, but a man who could help him tie up some political loose ends. Chief among them was the restive Italian-American bloc, whose 4,543,935 members make it the biggest foreign-born minority group in the U.S.*

By putting Italian-born Anthony Celebrezze in the Cabinet, said Massachusetts Republican Silvio Conte, one of a dozen Italian-Americans in the House, Kennedy "has solidified his position with the Italian-Americans. If they had any feelings against him for anything he's done, this will overcome it." Added Rhode Island Democrat John O. Pastore, the only Italian-American ever to serve in the Senate: "It is a matter of pride and prestige." To Kennedy, it is also a matter of votes. In no fewer than 125 congressional districts, Italian-Americans account for 3% of the vote. Heavy urban concentrations in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio and California will figure in important statewide races this fall. And, as it happens, Kennedy's choice could give Brother Teddy a boost in his bid for the Senate. There are 311,053 Italian-Americans in Massachusetts (in a total population of 5,148,178), and there are roughly as many in Boston as there are Irish. Of late, more and more of them have been straying into the Republican camp (the state's G.O.P. Governor, John A. Volpe. is an Italian-American). Celebrezze's appointment might make them look more kindly on Kennedy's oarty, and perhaps on his brother's candidacy.

No Yes Man. Kennedy even plowed some ground for 1964 in Ohio, where Richard Nixon buried him by 273,000 votes in 1960. Governor Mike Di Salle, another Italian-American, could not deliver Ohio, now is in trouble in his own bid for reelection. Celebrezze can help Kennedy in Ohio whether Di Salle wins or loses. He is highly popular in Cuyahoga County, where he won a record 73.8% of Cleveland's vote in his fifth bid for the mayoralty last year.

As an incidental dividend, Celebrezze is a practicing Catholic who sent his three children to parochial schools and enjoys close ties with the Cleveland hierarchy. This fact could help gloss over the hard feelings that have grown up between Kennedy and Catholic churchmen as a result of the battle over aid to parochial schools. On that issue, Celebrezze hinted that he might differ with the President. "There's a possibility that there might be a contradiction," he said, but the possibility did not upset him. "Knowing Mr. Kennedy, I don't think he would want to be surrounded with yes men. I will give my views, but when the President sets the policy, that will be the policy."

*The Census Bureau counts as foreign-born not only those born abroad but also their children. Other 1960 counts: Germans, 4,320,664; Canadians, 3,181,051; Poles, 2,780,026; Irish, 1,773,312.

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