THE CABINET: Cleanup Man

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At Dwight Eisenhower's New York headquarters a few days before the election, a receptionist slipped down the hall to take a look at Herbert Brownell, the great campaign strategist. She peeked in his office door and saw a man who had passed her desk a score of times. Said she in tones of disappointment: "Oh, is that him? He looked so unimportant I didn't think he could possibly be Mr. Brownell."

The new Attorney General of the U.S., a highly capable lawyer, is recognized as the best political strategist of his party, but he is neither a happy-hander like Jim Farley nor a glowering bully like Mark Hanna. He is a slim (5 ft. 10 in., 150 lbs.), neatly tailored man with an easy smile, a low-pitched voice, a high-pitched forehead, and the unassuming air of a side-aisle usher in a big-city church.

One of his colleagues on Dwight Eisenhower's top strategy board said: "Often I'd look around and see that Brownell's chair was empty. That's the only way I'd know he had left the room. Then a little while later, when we were getting near a decision, I would hear a quiet voice speak up—straight to the point. Everyone in the room would stop talking and listen. That's the way I'd find out Brownell was back in the room."

Last week easy, unpretentious Herbert Brownell was getting straight to the point as head of the mighty U.S. Department of Justice. Sitting in his red leather swivel chair with his left knee drawn up, his foot planted on the seat, his long, thin hands dangling, he seemed as relaxed as a ballplayer in midwinter. With his customary calm, he was facing tremendously important decisions on Communism, corruption, crime and the gamut of vital issues affecting the people of the U.S. The success of the Eisenhower Administration depends in large part on how well Brownell does his job.

The Man to Send For. Ever since 1941, important Republicans have been sending for Herbert Brownell when they had a big job to do. That year, Tom Dewey got him to manage Edgar Nathan's successful campaign for president of the Borough of Manhattan. In 1942, he managed Dewey's winning campaign for governor, and then turned down a job in the state cabinet because he wanted to go on practicing law. Says he: "For me, politics was winning elections, not getting political jobs."

In 1944, Brownell was key man in Dewey's preconvention and post-convention campaigns to be President of the U.S. Although Bob Taft's forces pushed him out of the national chairman's job in 1946, he was able to engineer Dewey's nomination in 1948, and again was the G.O.P. campaign manager. He had gained national renown as a political expert by then, but the election fooled him as much as it did anyone. As late as 1 :45 a.m. on Nov. 3, 1948, he was still insisting that Dewey would win.

There & then Brownell vowed that he was through with politics. But when the Eisenhower-for-President campaign was having starter trouble, the volunteer drivers of the machine sent for Brownell. Last March, he went to Paris, had two full days of talk with Eisenhower, during which Brownell told Ike the nomination couldn't be had without a fight. Brownell, convinced that Ike would make all the fight necessary, flew back and quietly took charge.