AMERICAN NOTES: Washington Turnover

Never before the Nixon Administration have so many public servants served so brief a time in office. Of the top White House aides, only three have stayed on the job without a break: Henry Kissinger, Patrick Buchanan, Ronald Ziegler. Of the original Cabinet, only George Shultz remains, and he has shifted from Labor to Treasury. Nixon now holds the record for Cabinet appointments: 31 in five years; a close competitor is Franklin D. Roosevelt, who appointed 25, but then F.D.R. served more than three terms.

Among the departments and agencies with the greatest turnover under Nixon:

JUSTICE. John Mitchell to Richard Kleindienst to Elliot Richardson to Robert Bork (acting) to William Saxbe (hopefully).

DEFENSE. Melvin Laird to Richardson to James Schlesinger.

HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE. Rob-Oft Finch to Richardson to Caspar Weinberger.

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.

Robert Mayo to George Shultz to Weinberger to Roy Ash.

CIA. Richard Helms to Schlesinger to Vernon Walters (acting) to William Colby.

FBI. J. Edgar Hoover to L. Patrick Gray (acting) to William Ruckelshaus (acting) to Clarence Kelley.

OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY.

Donald Rumsfeld to Frank Carlucci to Phillip Sanchez to Alvin Arnett.

Amidst all this, grace under pressure has been in short supply. After being ungraciously dumped as energy adviser (the third to be appointed), former Colorado Governor John Love said last week that he felt "battered and bruised." Richardson must have felt much the same way when he was forced to resign. By serving in three different Cabinet posts, Richardson incidentally matched another record. George Cortelyou, appointed by Theodore Roosevelt, was the only other man to hold three Cabinet positions—Treasury, Postmaster General, and Commerce and Labor—under one U.S. President.