Word: factotums
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...spent his summers in a variety of ways. He did chores on a family farm down the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn. Another time he used his vacation to work as a lifeguard, track coach, truck driver and general factotum at a Y.M.C.A. camp in Wisconsin. Though he was not a top student, his all-round achievements won him a scholarship to Princeton, which he declined because it did not pay enough...
Exactly what had Kennedy won? The post of whip,* after all, usually carries with it more drudgery than drama. As a factotum and deputy of the majority leader, the whip must help keep routine business flowing. He must also try to maintain party discipline on key issues, which is frequently a futile mission among independent-minded Senators and committee chairmen who are in some cases more powerful than the nominal party leaders. Once party policy on a given issue is established, the whip should defend it. He must serve as a link between the leadership and the rank and file...
...Bequest. The dominant figure on the permanent White House staff is Executive Assistant William J. Hopkins, 58, a bald, self-effacing factotum who joined Herbert Hoover in 1931, and has been the presidential office manager since 1943. Hopkins commands a crew of 255 secretaries, stenographers, messengers and telephone operators. He is, says Lyndon Johnson, "an indispensable instrument" to the management of the presidency...
Emblems of Service. In drafting his statement on Viet Nam, Humphrey chose his words with excruciating care. He went through seven drafts of the speech, taped it six times before he was satisfied. James Rowe, a Humphrey campaign aide and a factotum for Democratic administrations since the New Deal, said the wording of the crucial paragraphs "must have been changed 300 to 400 times." When he was ready, Humphrey made certain that the vice-presidential seal and flag-emblems of his service to Lyndon Johnson-were nowhere in sight. "I wanted to speak as Hubert H. Humphrey, candidate for President...
...despite his being unemployed recently. He did well enough at John Muir High School to gain admission to Pasadena City College, but he dropped out. He wanted to be a jockey, but could qualify only as a "hot walker," a low-ranking track factotum who cools down horses after the run. Then he got thrown from a horse, suffering head and back injuries...