Gem of an Appointment

Missouri's earnest, plodding Forrest C. Donnell is one U.S. Senator who has never sampled the hospitality of Washington's No. 1 hostess, Perle Mesta. Last week, when her appointment as U.S. minister to Luxembourg reached the Senate floor, Republican Donnell was ready & waiting with a hungry look in his eye. First he demanded to know whether the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had ever discussed Perle's qualifications (it had not); then he read extensively from J. Rives Childs's American Foreign Service, to prove she had none.

New Hampshire's Republican Charles Tobey rose to interrupt: "I look upon this as a gem of an appointment, for is not the lady a 'Perle' in reality?" Tobey freely admitted that Perle had never appeared before the Foreign Relations Committee, "but," said he, "the Senators have come before Perle Mesta, many & many a time, in ... great feasts of the intellect and palate . . ." Texas' bellowing Tom Connally got in some licks too. "The Senator from Missouri wants a man with striped britches and a silk hat, perhaps," shouted Connally. "Career men are all right in their places, but . . . they get into ruts . . . The career man says, 'I have to go. We have tea at 4 o'clock. I am sorry, but I must go to tea.' They nearly all wear the same kind of clothes . . . Their minds have little grooves in them . . ."

Donnell doggedly held out, finally registered the one negative vote when the nomination was confirmed.

Later in the week, Perle Mesta, wearing a white shantung Hattie Carnegie suit and a purple orchid (from Mrs. Woodrow Wilson), stood proudly beside Vice President Barkley and her new boss, Secretary of State Acheson, for the swearing in. The minister to Luxembourg's oath-taking was far more star-studded than Acheson's had been. Five Cabinet members, half a dozen ambassadors and squads of faithful Mesta partygoers showed up. "It's just like one of Perle's parties," said one guest. After the ceremony, the Democratic Party's fund-raising hostess made a happy little speech. Said she: "I expect to take my job very seriously . . ."

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