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self-assured person. He had much more self-assurance when he became under secretary than he had had when I first saw him. At first he seemed a little hesitant, a little diffident, a little unsure, a little hoping that he wasn't out of line, hoping that his ideas were in line with the President's ideas, or that he was moving along all right. But by the time he became under secretary he was certainly perfectly sure of himself and his own field, and had no questions about his knowledge of the whole agricultural situation. What's more than that he had begun to have some clear views about economics and politics in general.
Of course, I knew him better after that, because we served on some special committees during the war. I saw him at this very best on some committee that used to meet every Tuesday morning over at the Federal Reserve Bank. Anyhow, that's getting ahead of the story.
However, by the time he came in as under secretary he seemed to be quite self-assured in his own field. I don't remember his handing out advice on other things, of course. Certainly he came to Cabinet meeting once or twice during that period between his appointment as under secretary and his appointment as secretary. He was always a very likeable man.
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