Abstract

King of the Military Mountain

L. Mendel Rivers, white-haired son of Gumville, South Carolina, is not a modest man. But because the accomplishments of his 64 years are not the kind that can be identified by ordinary titles and certificates, his autobiography in the U.S. Congressional Directory says only that he is an Elk, a Mason, an Episcopalian, winner of the Charleston Exchange Club "Book of Golden Deeds," winner of the Naval Dental Corps Plaque and other such honors. Deep in his heart, and sometimes as expressed to colleagues, he is much more puffed up than that biographical sketch would indicate. Putting aside the first half of that boast as being perhaps excessive, he appraises quite correctly his chairmanship of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee; when it comes to swinging the Pentagon or tilting the federal budget, it exerts an almost irresistible leverage. Depending upon how the books are kept, one-half to three-fourths of the total federal budget, which is the military portion, is largely his creation.