Word: rusk
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...cannot get authority formally on paper," says Kissinger. "A President feels he needs you or not." How to feel needed is in Rusk's words "the art of the matter." To begin with, a Secretary of State should be compatible, both philosophically and personally, with his President. "Fundamental disagreements simply should not arise," says Kissinger, adding that the selection process has always been too haphazard...
Once chosen, a Secretary must become intimate with the President, yet keep a certain professional distance. Muskie, for example, never called Carter "Jimmy," though others around the White House always did. Rusk was the only Cabinet member Kennedy addressed as "Mr. Secretary," and he took pains to nurture this special respect. "We were very close officially," recalls Rusk. "But I never played touch football with the Kennedys. I never got pushed into their swimming pool." Kissinger cannot remember ever going into the presence of Nixon at the White House without a coat...
...with other people of power, like Mao Tse-tung, Kissinger stocked up on personal information about world leaders. He also supplied stories about the Ivy League, both good and bad, which the boss relished. Muskie twitted Carter about his inept fly casting but praised him for superb fly tying. Rusk bent to Kennedy's appetite for humor. Ordered to track down and fire a leaker, Rusk traced the culprit to the Oval Office. "I can't fire him, Mr. President," phoned Rusk. "It's you." They both roared...
enough to act. At the end of every day, Rusk sent Kennedy, and later Johnson, one piece of paper with short items explaining minor actions taken that day and those that he planned to take in the next couple of days without presidential consultation...
Muskie had 24-hour access to Carter either by phone or in person, but often resisted the impulse to call the President. "I decided that if I ever overdid it, I would become less effective," Muskie remembers. Rusk calculated that two-thirds of the world was always awake creating mischief and a President had to be shielded from too many crises. Rusk also worked at "not bothering the President or abusing my access." Result: "When I saw them, both Presidents always took me seriously...