TRUMAN'SPOLITICAL

QUARTERBACK« y JA11MA]V

OLLIE ATKIN

Robert E. Hannegan, Postmasler General and Chairman of the Democratic National Coniniillec.A hard-working advocate of party unity, he ie rated hy some as most powerful man in the Government.

Dob Hannegan, one-timeprofessional football star, nowcalls the signals for the for-midable aggregation that JimFarley reeruited.

¡HE state of Missouri, which, up to recently,never amounted to very much in nationalpolitics, is now having ita day in Washington,

and the gentleman mainly responsible for the cur-rent phenomena on the Potomac—including thepresence of Harry S. Truman in the White House—is Postmaster General Rohert Ë. Hannegan, theformer Democratic hoas of St. Louis. Hannegan isa forty-two-year-old, aix-foot-one, 200-pound Irish-taan with a square jaw and dark stuhhy hair, wholooks Uke, and used to be, a football fullback.

Since two years ago, when he became head coach,signal caller and cbeer leader for the Democratic 4Party as chairman of the E>emocratic NationalCommittee, political-organization work has bloomedand blossomed, and the party is now enjoying agreater degree of prestige and influence than it hasknown since the days of James A. Farley. Hanne-gan's influence has been gaining right along withtbe committee's. He is President Truman's chiefadviser on patronage, and is regarded as a sort ofgrand vizier. Some observers rate bim as the mostpowerful man in the Government. He ia in andout of the White House constantly, and hetweentimes confers witb tbe Chief Executive by telephone,concerning appointments to jobs ranging from theCabinet and Supreme Court on down to postmaster.

In many ways Hannegan iß not so suave andurbane as some of the party chairmen wbo havepreceded bim. Sartorially, he is immaculate, with afancy for blue and brown suits with shirta, ties andhandkerchiefs of matching hues. His personal hab-its are of the hest. He is a tremendous worker and ,he neither drinks nor smokes, although he is pro-ficient at throwing fiaming words around when hebecomes excited. He likes to read wben he has timefor it, and has a fondness for historical novels. Butpolitically he is still a bucking fullback, who prefersto smash tbrougb the center of the line rather thanexecute fancy runs around end.

He uses the meat ax instead of the rapier, andhe is still a lot closer to the smoke-filled back roomthan he is to sedate drawing rooms and elaboratehotel suites, wbere some of the more polished partychieftains of the past have largely operated.

"Bob is a good guy and a good chairman," oneeminent Democrat remarked recently, "but he hasstill got a lot of St. Louis in his hair,"

The Hannegan concept of politics is simple andstraightforward. "All you have to do to win dec-tioiiB," he says, "is go in there and organize andget tbat vote out. I get tired of some of these peoplewho call themselves liherals—'crying Uberala,' IcaU them—hecauBB they are always wanting toissue a statement ahout something. I regard myeellas a practical liberal."

A political headquarters, Hannegan believe,should be bright, cheerful and efficient, but there

TIIE SATURDAY EVENING POST 19

should not be too many people around. "That's anunhealthy sign," he says, "There are a lot of guysI call 'headquarters Johnnies.' They like to hangaround headquarte» and he seen there, hut they'renot worth a damn in winning elections. Head-quarters is a clearinghouse only. You can't get outvotes hy Bitting at a desk."

The Hannegan theory of vote-getting was illus-trated during the presidential campaign by his re-marks to a stately gentleman in a Homhurg hatwho bad come to New York from a Midwesterncity to help ornament the Hotel Biltmore head-quarters. "See here, Hannegan," the gentlemansaid; " I control a lot of votes around the country,and I tbink I can do you a lot of good here atbeadquarters. I'll need a large office, at least twosecretaries and plenty of personal stationery. Iwant to write a lot of letters."

The chairman asked the gentleman whether helived in an apartment house or in a private resi-dence. The man said he hved in an apartment."WeU, you've got a couple of elevator starters orso and maybe a dozen and a haK elevator opera-tors," Himnegan aaid. "Do you know wbetber theyare registered and how tbey are going to vote?"

The man said no, he didn't."You've got a bunch of chambermaids, two or

three janitors, an electrician or so, and a manager.Do you know how any of tbem are going to vote?"

The man said he didn't know that, either."You've got maybe ninety families Uving in

your building. Do you know how any of them aregoing to vote?"

Tbe man said no."Well, I'll teU you what you do. You go hack

home, and thirty days from now come hack to seeme, and see if you can teU me wbo in your buildingare registered and bow tbey feel about the candi-dates. If you do that, you'U be a greater leadertban anybody here at headquarters."

As party chairman, Hannegan bas made his johrecommendations to the White House witb tbe ideaof pleasing tbe most possible Democrats around tbecountry. He calls bimself "an old team man," andheUeves that before a ntan from some section isgiven an appointment, his local Democratic leadersshould he consulted; it makes them feel better andhelps party harmony. On an average day thechairman chats about patronage witb probablybalf a dozen governors, eigbt or ten mayors andperbaps a dozen senators and congressmen. Tbeseconversations are usually by telepbone.

The chairman's efForta are constantly aimed atcementing party unity, which suffered in 1944,when tbe liberal wing of the party was not pleasedahout the convention's failure to renominate Henry

A. Wallace for Vice-President. Hannegan, wto hadopposed WaUace at the convention, neverthelessbelped secure Wallace's confirmation as Secretaryof Commerce last winter, in epite of Senate ppposi-tion. His probable reason was to prevent theliberals from making a martyr of Wallace. Notlong ago Hannegan managed the appointment, aaa member of the United States Maritime Commis-sion, of Raymond S. McKeough, of IUinoia, westerndirector of the CIO Political Action Committee,although a congressional committee had reportedadversely on McKeougb. More recently, he backedtbe appointment of Irvin C. MolUson, ChicagoNegro lawyer, who became a member of tbe UnitedStates Customs Court in New York.

There's Always a Deserving Democrat

"PROBABLY bis greatest contribution to the partyi to date, however, has been his program of re-vitalizing tbe Democratic National Committee,wbich began to go into a decline late in the secondRoosevelt Administration, wben it became apparentthat Chairman Farley would be a candidate for tbeDemocratic presidential nomination in 1940. Ed-ward J. Flynn, wbo succeeded Farley as cbairman,was more interested in pohtical affairs of the Bronxtban in tbe National Committee, and seldom gotdown to beadquarters. Flynn tbougbt the Farleysystem of keeping in close touch witb county chair-men was hokum, and abandoned tbe practice.Frank C. Walker, who succeeded Flynn, neverwanted to he chairman in the first place.

As a result, when Hannegan became cbairman,in January, 1944, he found conditions at headquar-ters in a state tbat he regarded as appalling. Head-quarters—a big, rambling suite in Washington'sMayfiower Hotel—had been growing duUer eversince the departure of Farley. The suite was occu-pied mainly by Cbarley Michelaon, pubbcity di-rector for fifteen years, and several typewriters thatwere seldom used. "It was awful," Hannegan re-calls witb horror. "Tbere was thick dust on tbecbairs and tables because nohody had sat on themfor so long." Tbere was no office for Hannegan,and not even a mailing list of county cbairmen.Patronage was out of band. Tbe National Com-mittee waa never consulted about appointments,and the Administration waa even appointing someRepublicans to office—a condition that Hanneganconsiders unspeakable.

"Don't get me wrong," he sometimes remarks indiscussing this condition. "People say tbat I thinkanybody who is a Democrat ia capable of boldingoffice. Tbat isn't what I believe at aU. I think aman's qualifications come first, but I haven't run

into any jobs yet that you couldn't find a good,qualified Democrat to fill."

Hannegan has revised patronage disposal andshot some life-giving elixir into headquarters, wbichia busy laying plans for winning tbe 1946 congres-sional elections. Tbe committee's power is furtherenhanced because of tbe close friendsbip hetweenthe cbairman and tbe President, wbo ia a strictparty-organization man himself, with apparentfaitb in Hannegan methods. This is natural hecauseHannegan saved Truman's political ufe at leastonce back in Missouri, and is prohahly more re-sponsible tban anybody else is for placing Trumanin Une to succeed to the presidency. It has heensaid that Mr. Truman's career is hased on tbe moatamazing group of ifs and buta in the history ofAmerican politics, wbich may be true, but somehard, practical politics also figured in his rise to 'power.

To understand why Harry S. Truman is Pres-ident of tbe United States, a person ought to knowthe background of his good friend. Robert EmmetHannegan got his political start in tbe old 21stWard in Northwest St. Ixiuis, where tbe bousesbave sooty cbimney pots and it baan't been longsince old-fasbioned gas lamps used to burn tberein a noxious atmospbere composed of fog from tbebig river, smoke from tbe East St. Louis smelters,and aromaa from stockyards and from bops soak-ing in the neigbboring breweriea. Hannegan wasborn there on June 30, 1903, a son of an IrishCatbobc pobceman, who, Hannegan stiU beUevea,was probably one of the greatest policemen in tbeworld—or at least in St. Louis.

Probably Hannegan's deep regard for bis fatheris one reason for his devotion to the DemocraticParty. Tbe Democrats elevated his father to chief 'of detectives, and tben tbe Republicans came alongand demoted him to a mere captain. Tbere werethree Hannegan boys, built hke young black-smiths, wbo distinguished themselves at football,baseball, basketball and swimming at YeatmanHigh Scbool and in tbe municipal leagues. AtSt. Louis University, Hannegan won letters in aUthe sports played there, and was graduated inlaw in 1925. He later played professional foot-hall and baseball, and by tbe time he bad settleddown to he a lawyer, he was considered the chiefaporta authority and hero in Northwest St. Louis.

Tbis bad its debilitating ettects on his chosencalling, as people were always wanting to talk tohim about sports instead of about law. To offset tbis,Hannegan once spent a year witbout attending a sin-gle sport event, and when people aaked bim wbat hetbought about tbe Cardinals' chancesor similar mat-ters, he would reply, "I (Cuntinnfd on Page t?)

Henry Wallace when he was still in the running for the vice-presidentialnomination. Hannegan's choice—Truman — won on the second hallot.

Fellow Misäoiirians confer al the White House. One of Truman's chiefadvisers, Hannegan is constantly tt^lcphoniiig or ealline on the President.

THE SATURDAY EVENIP4G POST 97

TRUMAN'S POLITICALQUARTERBACK(Continticd from Poge 19)

don't know a tbing about it. When arejrou going to send me a case? " He gothis law practice that way, and hecameahoutjas well known around the court-house as in the stadium.

This combination of successes in-fluenced the Democrats of his ward toelect him to the party's city centralcommittee in 1933, The old leaders saidtbey needed new hlood, which wasunderstandable because tbe 21st hadnot gone Democratic in the memory ofman. Hannegan changed tbis, and tbeward voted Democratic three monthsafter he took charge, A montb after theelection he was named chairman of tbecity central committee, and for almostnine years thereafter he was co-boss ofSt. Louis witb tbe Democratic mayor,Bernard F, Dickmann,

The Truman-Hannegan friendshiphegan in 1934, when the St, Louis ma-chine opposed Truman in a bitter sena-torial primary fight, hut wben Trumanwon it, Hannegan and Dickmann wentall out for him in the general election.Hannegan's greatest contrihution toTruman in Mi^ouri was in the 1940senatorial primaries, when Truman wasregarded as a dead political duck. TheTom Pendergast machine of KansasCity, wbich had sponsored bim, wasout of power, and Pendergast bimselfwas under sentence for income-tax eva-sion, Truman was talking unbappilyabout going down witb tbe sbip, andSt. Louis was expected to present a100,000-vote majority to tbe favoritecandidate, Gov. Uoyd C. Stark, wbowas running for the Democratic nom-ination for senator. The newspapers,the reform element and most of tbecity's articulate forces were back ofStark—tbat is, all but the Democraticcommittee and Chairman Hannegan.Hannegan chose to ignore Truman inbis public utterances and to discussStark.

He would ask how in the world Starkcoiald he expected to lose, and he evenproposed h ¡TU as a candidate for Vice-President—a hit of strategy intendedto confuse tbe issue and give the ideathat Stark was a candidate for every-thing. The anti-Truman forces in St.Louis were thus lulled into a sense offalse security, and no real attack wasmade on Truman in tbe city during thecampaign's critical phases.

Then, the night before the primary,the candidate choices of the Hannegan-Dickmann machine were distributed.These were sample, ballots for each

ward, bearing the names of all candi-dates. The candidate chosen hy themachine's organization in each wardwas printed in laige capitals. There aretwenty-eight wards in St, Loiiis, andthe machine backed Truman in twenty-two of tbem. Tbe opposition gave abellow of rage, but it was too late,Tnunan carried the city by about 8000votes, and, thus aided, was ahle to carrythe state hy a bare 7000 votes.

Truman, witb tbe help of the St.Louis machine, won in tbe general elec-tion, but the Hannegan-DickmannDemocratic candidate for governor lostthe election to a Republican, Tbis in-furiated St. Louis Democrats, wbo re-solved to contest the election, an ill-advised and badly executed move thatHannegan says he did not approve.The contest clragged tbrougb the Gen-eral Assembly and tbe State SupremeCoin^, and became known iis "the in-famous Governorship Steal," The Re-publican nominee was seated eventu-ally, but the newspapers continued tosbout about the infamy of the Demo-crats, and laid most of the blame onHannegan, One newspaper, the St,Louis Post-Dispatch, put a staff of re-porters to work on tbe exclusive job offinding something crooked in Han-negan's past. The investigation wenton for weeks, but the reporters foundnothing dishonest, and be continuedas city Democratic chairman.

The newspapers had heen so eloquentin tbeir condemnations, however, tbatwhen Mayor Dickmann ran for a thirdterm he was crushed at the polls. Tbematter of the "Govemorsbip Steal"migbt bave ended after tbat if tbe postof Collector of Internal Revenue at St.Louis had not become vacant early in1942. Hannegan, as Democratic chair-man, wrote letters to Senators Trumanand Bennett Cbamp Clark in bebalf ofseveral aspirants for tbe job. The sena-tors could agree on none of them, andflnaUy decided that Hannegan was theman for tbe job. The Post-Dispatch gotwind of tbis, and let out an editorialscream the Hke of whicb has heen sel-dom heard in the windy halls of jour-nalism. The Post-Dispatch and tbe St,Louis Globe-Democrat ht into Han-negan with renewed vigor, and the"Governorship Steal" was again pa-raded before the public.

If it had not been for tbese blasts,Hannegan would probably still bepracticing law in St. Louis, unknownpolitically outside of Missouri, and Mr.Truman would probahly still he in tbeSenate. Hannegan had no notion oftaking the collector's job, which car-ried an annual salary of $6500. He wasmaking about $40,000 a year as a law-yer. But he got mad when the PoBt-

has a big family,"

Dispatch called the idea of his heingcollector " an affront to tbousands," andthe Globe-Democrat termed him "themost discredited boss of a discreditedparty." He said be would he collectorin spite of his loss of income and in spiteof the newspapers and, furthermore, hewould he the best damn collector in thehistory of St. LOUÍB,

"I never quit under fire," he added.At this point. Senator Truman spokeup from Washington as follows: "Han-negan carried St, Louis three times forthe President and for me. If he is notnominated, there will be no collectorat St, Louis." A short while later Presi-dent Roosevelt appointed Hanneganto the joh.

Hannegan threw himself into hisnew work with a fury seldom seen ingovemment circles. He was tbe firstone at the collector's office in the mom-ing and tbe last to leave in the evening.He went to nigbt scbool and read allthe books he could find on Governmenttaxation. He eliminated lines of wait-ing taxpayers by scattering deputycollectors ahout the city; said bewanted to make taxpaying as painlessas possible. He beld pep meetings, andso inspired the employees of his de-partment that they worked at nightand on Sundays for no extra pay. Han-negan taught his men tbat efficiencyand courtesy were the most importantparts of their job. The new income-taxlaw, wbicb added about 50,000,000 newtaxpayers to tbe rolls, went into effecttbat year, and tbe St. Louis office wastbe first large one in the country to re-port. Hannegan worked so hard thatbis wife became alarmed about bishealth. " I guess you are killing your-self just to fool tbe Post-Dispatch,"she remarked.

At the end of 1942, when Hanneganhad been in office eight months, therating of tbe office in St. Louis had heenchanged from the worst in the nation tothe best, from the standpoint of effi-ciency and performance, A few montbslater, wben tbe office of Commissionerof Internal Revenue in Wasbington be-came vacant, beads of the TreasuryDepartment voted unanimously thatHannegan was the nation's outstand-ing collector, and recommended bisappointment as commissioner. He tookover that job in tbe fall of 1943.

The new commissioner said the de-partment was suffering from harden-ing of the arteries, and started in tomodernize tbe wbole setup. He gavebis customary pep meetings and lec-tures on courtesy, and managed to visitwith the department's employees in thesixteen largest states diiring his threemontbs as commissioner. His com-missioner's career was short becauseDemocratic leaders, who were castingabout for a new party chairman to di-rect the 1944 elections, were impressedby Hannegan's enthusiasm and organ-izing ability in the Bureau of InternalRevenue, and they recommended himto President Roosevelt for party chair-man. Tbe President, who didn't knowHannegan, looked him over twice underthe guise of talking taxes, and likedhim. Wben the National Committeemet the following January, tbe under-standing was that Hannegan wasRoosevelt's choice, and his election tothe chairmanship was automatic,

"Anything I do, I have to do allout," Hannegan says frequently, andthat is the way he has operated aschairman. The day after bis election hestarted visiting, and by April he hadtraveled some 12,000 miles into mostothe states. He was convinced thatDemocratic leaders about tbe landwere sore about patronage; that tbej

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had long wanted to raise thunder withsomebody, but in the past tbere badbeen nobody to absorb tbeir criticism.Hannegan went out and let ibem bui-1brickbats at him. He preferred to holdbis meetings in sbabby political ballsinstead of in ballrooms, and be ad-dressed bundreds of precinct workerswho bad never before seen a nationalchairman. He talked a lot about bowbe, too, bad been a precinct worker.

"I'm just a regular, one bundredper cent organization, strictly partisanDemocrat," be told Ibem. " I'm a prac-tical politician and I know your prob-lems." He would tben allow tbe dis-gruntled leaders to get the ire ofT tbeircbests, but he says tbat most of tbemended up on his team.

During bis travels Hannegan kept anear to tbe ground to learn wbom theleaders liked for Vice-President. Wal-lace was believed at the time to bavetbe best cbance, but Hannegan did notwant Wallace as a candidate, and toldbim so. He found that a lot of statesbad favorite sons tbey wanted to run,but be was able to get out of most of theleaders a few favorable words aboutTruman, wbo was known for bis workas cbairman of tbe Truman Committee.Hannegan brougbt back enthusiasticreports about Truman's popularity tothe President, and said tbe Missourisenator was. the only possible runningmate for Roosevelt wbo would not losetbe ticket votes. He said that Wallacewas considered too much of an idealistand was not popular in the South, andtbat tbere were various sectional dis-likes for tbe otber aspirants. The chair-man said Truman bad tbe plain,bomely sort of American characteris-tics tbat would inspire confidence inwartime, and tbat Truman, witb a warrecord dating back to 1918, was popu-lar witb the veterans.

At tbe same time Hannegan was put-ting up a series of pep talks to TrumanbimselE, wbo was reluctant about tbewhole thing. Truman was afraid tbatRoosevelt did not want bim as a run-ning mate because he and bis commit-tee bad been critical of some phases oftbe war effort. He also feared tbattbe opposition would confront bimwith bis former connection with tbe oldPendergast macbine in Kansas City,and embarrass bis famüy. Hanneganfinally persuaded Truman not to doanything rasb, like saying publicly tbatbe would reject tbe nomination.

Wben tbe Democratic National Con-vention was preparing to meet in Cbi-cago in July to renominate PresidentRoosevelt and select a candidate forVice-president, Hannegan saw to ittbat, Truman arrived in town quietly,witb no fanfare. He figured that some-body at the bead of tbe parade of vice-presidential aspirants was going to getkilled off, and he did not want bis manin a vulnerable position. Wallace hadsome 400 oftbe convention's 1176 votespledged to his cause. Truman was con-sidered a poor eigbtb or tentb.

This was pleasing to Hannegan, wbodid not want Truman brougbt into thelimeligbt until tbe proper moment. Itwas pleasing also to Truman, wbo stilldid not believe Mr. Roosevelt wantedbim. He regarded bis poor sbowing inpreconvention talk as an indicationthat be would not be put in an embar-rassing spot, but be followed Hanne-gan's advice and kept pretty much tobis suite in The Stevens botel.

Two or three nights before tbe con-vention was to open. President Roose-velt, en route to San Diego, stopped atCbJcago, and Hannegan visited him inthe railroad yards. He bas never re-vealed what was said, but apparently

be got tbe President's definite approvalof Truman as a running mate. Han-negan then began quietly lining up tbestates bebind Truman, assuring tbeleaders that he was the Rooseveltchoice. Several of tbe big-city bossesare also believed to have helped turntbe President against Wallace.

Wallace, who bad a mild endorse-ment from tbe President and wbo badintended to remain in Wasbington,now left tbe capital for Chicago witbgreat speed to make a personal figbt forrenomination. Wallace arrived in Chi-cago during tbe convention's first day,amid considerable tumult and shout-ing, and was acclaimed at the railroadstation and later at his botel and on tbeconvention floor. He said be was tberefor a fight to the finish. Hannegan re-sponded to this by announcing tbat bebad a letter from President Rooseveltstating be would "be pleased" to baveeither Truman or Justice Douglas as arunning mate.

A rumor spread quickly tbat Han-negan bad no such let ter, and was bluf-

by radio, responding to his fourth-termnomination.

After he bad finished, tbe Wallacedemonstration began, first in tbe gal-leries, tben spreading to tbe conven-tion floor, wbere state delegationsgrabbed standards and joined in tbeparade. Tbe Times reported tbat "nota majority of the state votes were repre-sented in tbe Wallace demonstration,but tbe atmospbere of stampede wasbeavy in tbe air," Tbis looked danger-ous to Hannegan, wbo didn't want bisplans upset by hyBteria.

Tbe Wallace demonstration was justgetting into swing wben somethingstrange happened. People wbo oughtto know say tbat wbat bappened wastbat Hannegan bad all tbe outer doorsof tbe Stadium opened, and tbe generalpublic stormed in, causing tbe Wallacedemonstration to get completely out ofhand. The hubbub became so greatthat tbe demonstration broke up inconfusion, witb a great fainting ofwomen and trampling of sore feet. Tbeconvention cbairman was forced to ad-

HAZEL

lirollicr!"

fing to salvage Truman's cbances. Thecbairman did not deny tbis, and it hassince come to be believed that bespread the blutîing rumor among tip-sters for certain columnists, wbo de-manded indignantly tbat Hanneganproduce tbe letter. Hannegan waiteduntU tbe following day, wben the ten-sion bad become so great tbat his pressconference was packed, and the writerssbouted angry questions at bim. Hetben exbibited the letter. His reasonfor delaying that long was to buud upsuspense, so tbat the letter, wben beproduced it, would get the maximumpublicity—a tecbnique that Hanneganpalls timing.

In spile of the telling effects of Han-negan's letter, tbe W.iillace forces,wbicli included tbe CIO PAC, plannedtbeir great effort for tbe second nigbtof tbe convention, in tbe bope of stam-peding the delegates for Wallace. TheChicago Stadium looked more like aWallace rally tban a Democratic con-vention, witb Wallace-Roosevelt ban-ners all over the place and the galleriespacked wiLb Wallace supporters. Itbas since boen charged that many ofi,bem got in on fake tickets. PresidentRoosevelt addressed tbe convention

joum tbe session for tbe night, beforeanybody was offered for the vice-presidential nomination.

Tbe next day, with tbings more set-tled, tbe nominations for Vice-Presi-dent proceeded. On tbe first ballotWallace led witb 429 '4 votes, Trumanwas second witb 319 J and tbe remain-ing votes were split between fourteencandidates. As soon as the tabulationwas announced, two delegations spokeup and said tbey wanted to cbangetbeir votes from favorite sons to Tru-man,

Tbey were out of order, but tbeybad acbieved wbat Hannegan was bop-ing for, Tbey put tbe convention in aTruman frame of mind, and be wonon tbe second ballot, 1031 to 105 forWallace, wbo was runner-up.

Ever .since the Democratic ticketwon in 1944, and particularly sinceTruman succeeded to tbe presidency,there have been rumors that Hannegan,having helped make his man President,intends to resign soon as PostmasterGeneral and Democratic cbairman,and return to his liw practice in St.Louis. Hannegan says tbat wouldprobably be tbe best tbing in the worldfor his family . ^ 1 bimself, but he shows

March 2,1946

no signa of intending to leave Washing-ton any time soon. His friends aay thatHannegan feels he has an obligation tobelp Mr, Truman all be can, and thatbe wiU remain in Wasbington untilafter tbe 1948 elections anyway. TheHannegan bome in St. Louis has beensold, and he has bougbt a large stoneone in Wasbington's exclusive Glen-brook Road section, wbere he lives witbbis boybood sweetheart, tbe formerIrma Protzmann, wbom be married in1929, and tbeir four children, Patricia,fourteen; Robert, Jr., eleven; William,ten, and Sally, six.

Hannegan is a devoted family man,and enjoys playing games witb hiscbildren, sucb as the card game of OldMaid, but he doesn't get to see verymucb of bis family tbese days, since bebas set about, with cbaracteristic en-tbusiasm, to reform tbe Post OfficeDepartment. He now works ten oreleven bours a day in tbe huge paneledPostmaster General's office, and spendsa good portion of bis Sundays boldingconferences around town. One postalreform Hannegan is sponsoring is theabolition of ihe air-mail stamp. Hesays that all letters sbould be sent byair for tbe price of a three-cent stamp,and to do tbis he proposes tbe use oftransport planes similar to tbose usedduring tbe war by tbe Army, Tbeplanes would be operated by privateair lines,

"Our department is tbe biggest busi-ness in tbe world," Hannegan says,"We do a six teen-billion-dollar busi-ness a year, and any business tbat largeought to be the most efficient in tbeworld. If we are as efficient and up-to-date as we sbould be, it is incumbent onus to send letters the fastest way pos-sible, wbicb is by air, and not chai^extra for doing it."

Anotber of Hannegan's ideas is toprovide his department witb modem,streamlined equipment in tbe way ofpostal trucks and letter boxes, and hebas been conferring witb tailors andgarment designers about a new typeof uniform for letter carriers. Hedoesn't tbink tbe present uniforms ofdrab gray are sufficiently exotic for hisdepartment, and it may not be long be-fore tbe nation's postmen will be strut-ting around tbeir routes in resplendentoutfits suggestive of tbe Royal Ca-nadian Mounted Police.

Perhaps tbe most far-reaching of theproposed Hannegan postal reformBconcerns tbe small country post offices,wbich often occupy a remote comer ofsome gen eral-merchandise store, wherepostal business is carried on in an at-mospbere of the potbellied stove, to-bacco juice, the cracker barrel and thearoma of dill pickles. Hannegan notonly intends to irnprove tbe service intbese post offices, wbich he says is oftenlackadaisical, but intends to back legis-lation appropriating funds for the Gov-ernment to buy these country storesand erect modern, attractive buildingsof a sleek and streamlined nature.

" I want to give the people in smallvillages post offices that tbey will beproud of," Hai^negan says. "After all,tbe post office is Uncle Sam to the peo-ple in small places, and Uncle Samought to look handsome and efficientwberever be is represented,"

Of all tbe post offices in tbe land,however, Hannegan intends to estab-lish one tbat will be the acme, the cli-max and tbe culmination of all tbat iaexcellent in postal service, and thatwill be the one in St, Louie, whicb heregards as a sort of mecca ofiurbincivilization. In spite of his successes innational politics, Hannegan is still ahome-town boy.