Clark Clifford.
An unnamed but "distinguished" Washington lawyer, adds: "The intellectual conflict of interest between Clark, as Secretary of Defense, and all those corporate clients of his is really something."
"Still another long-time acquaintance has remarked," continues Harwood, "that he could never imagine Clifford taking up the cause of a pauper or marching in a demonstration for civil rights.
"Instead, Clifford and his firm are today preoccupied with such matters as the political aspects of mergers and anti-trust problems, the difficulties of the Wall Street mutual companies with Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the confrontation between General Electric and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare over the radiation hazards from color television sets, the problems of Hoffman-Laroche, the drug maker, with the Food and Drug Administration over the marketing of a tranquilizer."
To sum it up. Three presidents, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson, have all been impressed by what they call Clifford's greatest strength: his "judgment." "In their view, he rarely gives the wrong advice."
He has another strength, that is probably not unrelated to his greatest asset. This "is an indefinable aspect of his personality -- call it a 'bedside manner' -- that inspires trust, confidence and security."
It should be clear from Harwood's article why Johnson decided to bring Clifford into his cabinet and give him the most important post at his disposal -- running things in Vietnam and fixing up the president's image for the 1968 campaign. With his connections, his experience, and his bedside manner, who could better inspire the American people with the needed trust, confidence and security in their president than this Washington Rasputin?