THE CONGRESS: Voice of the 84th

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The U.S. Congress is a complex and subtle organization, but sometimes its changing character and mood can be understood through a single individual. The First Congress, determined to keep alive a newborn nation by profiting from the mistakes of past civilizations, listened respectfully to cautionary historical precedents presented by scholarly James Madison. The 25th Congress, struggling to maintain unity in a divided nation, listened fearfully as John C. Calhoun mobilized the minority to arrest the will of the majority. The 39th Congress, filled with anger as it viewed the ashes of civil war, followed the vengeful leadership of Thaddeus Stevens. In 1955 the 84th Congress represents a nation long weary of crisis and war, panaceas and promises. It is symbolized by a man whose son says: "He doesn't have a remedy for everything that ails the universe." The 84th's most influential figure is Georgia's Democratic Senator Walter Franklin George.

Walter George's favorite word is "reasonable." He pronounces it fondly, strongly stressing and dragging out the first syllable. To every problem that comes up before him, George applies the test of reasonableness. Example: during World War II, when the profit margin that should be allowed certain industries was a subject of boiling political controversy, a newsman asked Finance Committee Chairman George for his views. Replied George: "I'd think about 8% would be re-e-eason-able. Maybe 6%. Possibly as high as 10%. But 8% is probably the most re-e-eason-able." In U.S. politics reasonableness has not always been the way to leadership. But Walter George's approach, leading him inevitably to the middle of the political road, is peculiarly fitted to the present mood of the nation and the problems of the 84th Congress.

The 84th Congress is deeply concerned with the destiny of the U.S. in a world of upheaval. So is Walter George. The Congress is vitally interested in a stable national economy. So is George. The Congress does not seek to spoonfeed the nation with welfare cure-alls or sociological pink pills. Neither does George.

A Superb Job. At 77, Walter George is in his 50th year of public service, his 33rd year in the Senate. As the Senate's dean, George holds the respect that the politicians give a man who has been consistently successful in the business of winning elections. As the longtime chairman of the Finance Committee, he is the Senate's acknowledged tax expert. As the current chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he is the Senate's Democratic spokesman on foreign policy. And as a Southern moderate, he is on the friendliest terms with the Northern liberals, e.g., he wangled a place on the U.S. delegation to the SEATO conference for his protege, Montana's able Senator Mike Mansfield, and he offered to campaign last year for Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey (who gratefully declined because he wanted a Minnesotans-only campaign).