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over his administration, and by this he meant the “put the papers in the right box” type of administration, and earnestly believed that that administration was one of the most important functions of the President or the people of the United States.
I didn't agree with him. Presidents had been controlling their administrations from the beginning of time. There had always been a certain amount of Presidential control. But Smith believed that technical administration was in itself an objective and not a means to an end. It's just the way some people think that democracy is an objective and not a means to an end. You don't lay down your life for good administration, for technical administration. Technical administration is useful and you should certainly always try to improve it, but the individual close to it is the one that does the best, and it's the sum total of individuals' best efforts that makes good administration. Leadership, inspiration and enthusiasm coming from the President, or somebody else, will greatly assist in that, of course.
But Smith felt that it was an objective in itself and that great sacrifices must be made to get this kind of crossing of t's and dotting of I's. The personnel officers and the central accounting officers were all very important to him. He felt that you should constantly strive to reduce what he called the overlapping and put into one bureau from
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