Out of the Back Room

As back-room Man Friday to three Presidents, Clark Clifford's demeanor has always been as discreet and distinctive as the double-breasted suits he continued to wear all through the two-button era. Last week, during his first center-stage performance as a Cabinet officer-designate, a 2 1/2-hour appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he left the strong impression that Robert S. McNamara's succes sor as Secretary of Defense will be flexible in tactics but firm in strategy.

Clifford, 61, set the tone that is likely to dominate his Pentagon reign by taking a tough stand on Viet Nam. Unlike McNamara, who has questioned the military value of bombing North Viet Nam, he supported the aerial campaign and strongly opposed any pause "under present circumstances." For the air raids to stop, said Clifford, paraphrasing President Johnson's San Antonio declaration last Sept. 29, North Viet Nam must "agree to start negotiations promptly and not take advantage of the pause."

Minimal Requirement. Then Clifford offered the first public--and presumably official--interpretation of the President's declaration. It merely means, he said, that the North must not use a bombing pause to increase--as it has in the past--its infiltration of men and materiel to the South. It does not mean that the Communists must discontinue transport of their "normal amount of goods, munitions and men to South Viet Nam," or stop fighting "until there is a cease-fire agreed upon."

"It seems to me that this is a minimal requirement," said Clifford. "They have chosen not to do it. My hope is that they soon will, and I would be the first, and maybe as happy as anyone, to see the bombing stopped. But in my opinion, it can't stop with their present wholly intransigent attitude."

Tougher Policies. Though Clifford handled questions from the committee with notable finesse, there was no mistaking that he planned to follow policies that will be tougher, and more palatable to senior military experts on Capitol Hill, than were McNamara's. Clifford emphatically endorsed a program of "nuclear superiority" vis-a-vis Russia; McNamara had advocated a program of "nuclear parity." Without committing himself, Clifford also supported such congressional pet projects --which McNamara opposed--as development of an advanced manned bomber to replace the B-52 and construction of a greatly expanded nuclear fleet of warships. He also expressed serious reservations about the politically unpopular plan once advocated by McNamara to merge the National Guard and the Army Reserves. Following his testimony, Clifford was unanimously endorsed by the committee, made up of twelve Democrats and six Republicans, and is expected to win Senate confirmation this week.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.