Nation: Cabinet Making

Late in every presidential campaign there comes a time for Cabinet making, the traditional guessing game about the candidate’s preferences for the top posts in his Administration. In Hubert Humphrey’s camp last week, the speculation went beyond that stage. The word was that Humphrey, if elected, might create two additional Cabinet posts: one for youth, the other for consumers. Still, most of the guessing ranges around the men who might fill traditional Cabinet posts in the next Administration. Some possibilities:

> HUMPHREY. The Vice President’s staff promises “surprises,” but quite a few non-surprises seem as likely. Robert Nathan, a vice chairman of the Americans for Democratic Action, will probably get a Cabinet job; he is now heading Humphrey’s task forces studying various issues. Economist Walter Heller, onetime chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, will probably become Secretary of the Treasury. Clark Clifford may be persuaded to stay as Secretary of Defense. The post of Secretary of State could go to George Ball or McGeorge Bundy.

John Gardner, who resigned as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in January, might be coaxed back in a Humphrey Administration. Robert McNamara and Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes are mentioned interchangeably for the departments of Transportation and of Housing and Urban Development. Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris is being considered for Agriculture or Interior along with North Dakota’s Democratic Governor William Guy. California’s Republican Senator Thomas Kuchel is also a possibility for Agriculture. A Humphrey Cabinet would almost certainly contain Republicans, and might include a woman, perhaps Patricia Roberts Harris, former Ambassador to Luxembourg, for HEW.

> NIXON. The word went out last week in the Nixon camp: Dampen all that Cabinet speculation until after Nov. 5, lest it seem presumptuous. Still, it is generally believed that Nixon is so interested in foreign affairs that he may not want an overly independent Secretary of State. In that case, he might pick Pennsylvania’s William Scranton, who recently trekked to Europe on a fact-finding tour for him. If Nixon finally decides on an individualist for Foggy Bottom, the odds favor Douglas Dillon, who would have been Secretary of State in 1960 had Nixon won. Scranton might then become Ambassador to the United Nations. McGeorge Bundy, a Republican who served both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, was once considered for State, but his call for a bombing halt hurt his chances because Nixon’s camp felt that he was lifting a trial balloon for Lyndon Johnson.

Nelson Rockefeller is mentioned for Secretary of Defense because of his credentials as an administrator, and George Romney might get Commerce for the same reason. Robert Finch, Lieutenant Governor of California and one of Nixon’s closest friends, will most likely get a Cabinet post—if he wants one. At the moment, his greatest ambition is to become a U.S. Senator. Maurice Stans, Eisenhower’s Budget Director, has the inside track for Treasury.

> WALLACE. So far, the Cabinet makers have steered pretty clear of Wallace. He has indicated, however, the kind of Cabinet he would like. He would seek men, he said recently, “of the caliber” of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.