The Nation: Mills as Manipulator

House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur Mills is a figure to be reckoned with in Washington, as President Nixon discovered when he announced his plans for revenue sharing and quickly ran into Mills’ brick wall. The gentleman from Arkansas has long been the principal congressional arbiter of federal finance, but now—for the first time—he plans a kingmaking role in presidential politics.

Mills is not enamored of any of the current Democratic contenders, and a back-room coalition of conservative Democratic politicians and businessmen—and a sprinkling of liberals too—is forming around him. Some would like Mills to be the nominee himself, and he is obviously tempted by the idea. His public identification with white Southern racial policy precludes his becoming the candidate, but he hopes to line up enough support to control the choice of the 1972 nominee.