Donald H. McLean, Jr: 

as we knew him

Introduction

Frederic A. Stott

On September 16, 1984 in the Cochran Chapel at Phillips Academy, Andover, Theodore R Sizer spoke at the memorial service for Donald H McLean, Jr. concluding, “We were the beneficiaries of the loyalty of a profoundly worthy man." These words, multiplied by those of countless others raised the idea - could we put together the McLean story? would it be worthy?… And, would be readable?

A cautious approach was in order. An often use McLean dictum came to mind, "assemble the facts and they lead you to a sensible conclusion." So I did some assembling, in this case, opinions. Then Martha McLean and her son John offered suggestions as to both topics and authors. The idea of a book held fast, and grew. So did the list of possible authors. And so did my desire to attempt it. Now on a warm May day in 1986, the idea nears reality, and the answers to the question of  “why this book?" are several.

The first reason is that twenty-four different men and women were invited to contribute. Everyone accepted. 

The second is that few men have served society so well in so many different settings. As this informal record unfolds on the pages which follow, it is clear that Donald H McLean Jr. was a generalist of the first order. His intelligence, his training, his sensitivity, his toughness, his principles, his fine judgement, and his enormous inner wish to advance society all combined to make him effective in an incredible array of circumstances.

Don did not start as a generalist. His early years with Milbank, Tweed, after Yale Law School, could easily have been the beginning of a typical successful lawyer’s career  but then came World War II. During those years, people and institutions kept "finding" Don, seeking his counsel and his help. They were many - starting with Gen. Lucius D. Clay and Gen. John Hilldring; later Secretary of State George C Marshall… several educational institutions including Andover, Harvard, and Amherst; medical centers - the Leahy Clinic; the Cleveland Clinic; Overlook Hospital; unusual causes such is the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey or an international gathering of psychiatrists in Dromoland Castle, Ireland. Even the investment firm of Massachusetts Financial Services in Boston was included. Perhaps, above all, there was John D Rockefeller, 3rd. He found Don too, and had the wisdom to involve him in a far-flung series of ventures in Japan, the Philippines, and India, as well as in the United States.

Don found people as well. In each of the episodes recounted here, it is clear that a partnership existed between the author and Don McLean. It is also clear that there were problems to solve, causes - good sensible human causes - to advance. There were and they did. In the process friendships were formed and knowledge was shared, not only about the situation at hand, but about numerous other endeavors which were all part of the man, his experience, and his accumulating wisdom.

There is a another reason for this volume. As several of the authors state, Don McLean had a deep affection for Andover. Cliff Wharton underscores it with a single phrase, “His beloved Andover."

There'll be an appropriate room bearing McLean’s name in the soon to be renovated Andover library.  In that room there will be copies of this volume. Therefore the hope exists that two or three or four, perhaps even more, of the students who see this book will be moved by these tails to try to advance social ideas or enterprises in a similar manner.

Finally there is a personal reason. I first met Don in 1956 when he joined the Andover Alumni Council. We worked at that, at fundraising, at finding headmasters, at many of the issues which faced him as President of the Board of Trustees. Worked is the right word. Some play too, but always in the context of our common project. I felt very much the older son or the younger brother. Don could be demanding, even steely, and we did fall out on two or three occasions. But we worked back into harness. It was always more important to "get on with it" than to worry about a differing of opinion. He was in truth my mentor and the lessons learned from and with him have shaped many a personal decision.

So during the 30 years of our association I got to "know" many others with whom he had worked - Matsumoto and Deshmukh, Van de Veld and Mosher, Fenske and Abreu and Ravenholt, Palmer and Bowie, Minton and Wharton and many many others. (Almost always it was by the last name only. Only a handful escaped. Moore was always "John Moore”.  Andover trustee Summer Smith was always "Summer Smith". But these were practically the only ones to carry their full name.)

A reading of Sizer or Monroe or the Trustee Resolution or Cooper or Ireland will bear witness to this Andover record. As I wrote in the Andover Bulletin:

Donald H McLean , Jr. was at the center of all policy decisions during the troubling period in the late 60s and early 70s when student unrest was at its height, when Headmaster John Kemper’s fine leadership ended with his death, when acting Headmaster Simeon Hyde, Jr. courageously pushed and pulled the school to through a hectic year of transition, when a new headmaster was urgently sought and Theodore R Sizer was fortunately found. 

These were stressful uncertain years. like the Great Depression, you had to live through them in order to appreciate the tension which existed within and among faculty, students, Trustees, staff, alumni, and parents, let alone the community and the nation. Confidence in management was at a low ebb. It was far easier to clamor than to lead, and people clamored. For the newly elected President of the Board of Trustees it was a stern test.

From that period of trial emerged a stronger Andover. Headmaster Sizer, with Donald McLean at his side, let the Academy through an upswing remarkable by any set of measurements - student applications, faculty recruitment and compensation, student skills evident in the classroom or onstage, the introduction of coeducation with the merger with Abbott Academy, funds contributed in record amounts through the Bicentennial Campaign, and morale steadily on rise in all quarters.

I therefore wanted to tie the Andover record in with many of the other McLean ventures in order to show a reasonably complete whole.

There are two other thoughts to include here.

Any description of Don McLean must also record some of the phrases which were oft-used favorite tools. There were many:

"What is needed is a good staff study."

"Let's established the terms of reference."

"He'll just have to pull up his socks." 

“He’s the the sort of person you can count on when it's snowing outside.”

"Tall elms and green grass.”

"Assemble the facts and they lead you to a successful conclusion.”

“A leader must be able to respond to the reasonable questions of reasonable men women.”

“If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember what you said."

“What man can conceive, man can achieve."

And, at the end of discussion or debate, there was his usual exhortation,

"Let's get on with it."

Good tools they were, used often and well.

Finally, a very special part of working with Don was the informal invitation to be part of his family. Ken Matsumoto has spoken for all of us in his lovely personal essay, ed"Uncle Don." Fritz Allis shows another dimension of the McLean family in his piece, “One tile for the mosaic of the man."

For me 30 years of family friendship with Martha, Donny, Ruthie, John, and Barbie adds a compelling reason for this book. Scatter geographically now from Andover, Massachusetts to Silverton, Oregon, from Portland, Maine to Lincoln, Massachusetts, to Denver, Colorado, they offer a friendship and family unity which is wondrous to witness, even more pleasing to enjoy. Good humored also. They have always been a major part of the McLean story.

For these reasons, therefore, I aimed to tell the story of a uniquely constructive man. Twenty-four men and women have told it.

———————-

In the gathering of these tales I am grateful to many people. First of all to the authors, each of whom responded both to the initial request and often to additional desires for further material or changed emphasis. Humorous moments have been part of this gathering such as the telephone call from John Moore relating the hilarious story of the international psychiatrist in the Irish pub, which tale John put on paper. Or the 3 AM telephone call from Ken Matsumoto in Tokyo who forgot all about the time differential and wanted to be sure I knew his contribution was enroute. Moreover Jim Burke has added a unique touch with his gently good-humored account of a "special" institution at work and play!

Edith S Myers, Don’s secretary who went with him from Socony Mobil to the Rockefeller offices in room 5600, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, has shared many a thought and memory as she always shared her great and quiet skills for all of the McLean projects and people. Not only did she render personal advice, but she has added perspective about the important home office support for many Rockefeller-McLean projects. And she has proofread all these pages.

Arthur Palmer is in another to whom I owe a special gratitude. As a personal undertaking he has gone through many of Don McLean's files, pointed out the important steps taken, and somehow managed to bring together the central elements of Don's widespread World War II service in his essay.

Several individuals in the Andover Office of Academy Resources have made special contributions. Pat Edmonds has known the McLeans for several years and worked with Martha on at least one common project and with me on this book; Joe Mesics became Secretary of the Academy shortly before Don's death, but only after being interviewed by Don; Ann Parks has provided her usual high-quality service in the graphic design of this book; Christine Pool who for years deciphered both me and my penmanship as my secretary has put the entire volume through her typewriter and word processor.

Then there are the Trustees of Phillips Academy. Early in the contemplation of this book, I raised the question of how it might be published and by whom. Without hesitation, Trustee President  Mel Chapin, Senior Trustee Tim Ireland, and Headmaster Don McNemar told me to go to work. It was a generous admonition, and both the tone and the substance were pure McLean advice, "Let's get on with it." It has been a very pleasant mission! 

Beyond what I have already said about Martha there is a special appreciation I feel for her partnership in moving this volume from mere idea to tangible reality. More than anyone else, she identified the areas of Don’s greater interest and the people who could tell all of them. As the contributions arrived I shared them with her, and she displayed wonderful objectivity in leaving the editing to me while at the same time making coaching comments about the flavor or the facts of a given situation.

Finally a word about Fritz Allis. He has really been co-editor. He has read every manuscript, carried out a significant amount of editorial improvement, monitored my grammar, and provided the finest sort of balance. In order to pull these many threads together, I isolated myself for three days in our house and New Hampshire's White Mountains. Time and again I smiled at Fritz’s penned editorial directives, even twice turn to talk or laugh with him about particular points. A professional historian who has both personal feelings for our subject and professional objectivity in the ordering of these papers. In short, a friend.

Now, on with the story.

Frederic A. Stott

Andover Massachusetts

May 1986

Frederick a Stott, Andover, Massachusetts, was closely associated with Don McLean in all his Phillips Academy work 1956 to 1981.

The only young Republican we knew

Gerhard A. Gesell

We first met at Andover and came together again at Yale Law School in 1932. He had not followed the usual track to become what he called a “Boola Boola Boy.” At law school we belonged to Corbey Court, met girls, drank some applejack and needle beer, played cards, went to movies, and struggled with the law. It was a serene and privileged time. Graduation from Law School in 1935 brought us face to face with reality - the depression, bread lines, few if any legal jobs.

We both had a little "pull" where it counted in Washington and luckily we got work there, Don at the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and I at the Securities and Exchange Commission.  We rented a basement apartment on 19th Street, NW, just north of Pennsylvania Avenue.  It had a small fenced yard and was dark, relatively cool, and affordable.  We were each earning $2,000 a year. 

It is difficult to describe those early days. I was a "New Dealer." Don was a Republican.  We saw each other intermittently, except at breakfast.  Many nights one or both of us worked, as many young lawyers usually did in those days, and we were at our offices Saturdays and occasionally Sundays.  Don was one of the best breakfast companions I have ever known. The other was our Andover classmate Tom Mendenhall.

We would take off from the morning newspapers, each scoffing at a favorite phony. If I took after one of Don's heroes of the moment, I was in danger!

Life was simple.  The trolley car tool us everywhere, even into the country for picnics featuring watermelon soaked in gin.  At many such gatherings Don was the focus of attention, a rare phenomenon - the only young Republican we knew.  He took the joshing well and held his own although always outnumbered.  We went together to important Congressional debates, courtesy of his father, a Republican Congressman; attended some major Supreme Court arguments, and both shared many new acquaintances.  In a bit over a year I got married.  Not long after, Don brought Martha to Washington. Peg and Martha each approved of both of us and we went on.

Don was a friend for keeps. If you liked him - and who couldn’t - and he liked you - he was selective - there could never be a gap in your friendship. Later, even if several years had passed and we came together again, it was if we had seen each other the day before. Ours was a solid friendship that grew as our paths crossed and recrossed over the years after he left Washington to try his luck in New York. It was his loyalty, his consistency, his unfailing good humor, his curiosity and interest in peopled events that made it so natural and enjoyable to be together at any time.

Don was not given to argument in any depth. Rather he would use a quip, a sally, a few words. You knew where he stood but all the reasons remained submerged. He was always his own man. All his life he grew, and more and more he revealed in being useful. He never let his high standards slip. It was his innate integrity that drew others to him and made him so effective.

Gerhard A. Gesell ]r, Washington, DC, was an Andover and Yale Law School classmate on Don McLean’s, as well as Don’s roommate in Washington, DC after law school. He was a United States District Judge, appointed in 1968, after practicing law for many years. Prior to going on the Court he also served on several important governmental or congressional committees. Mr. Gesell came to national prominence presiding over a number of landmark cases including Watergate, Iran-contra, the legalization of abortion, and the release of the top-secret Pentagon Papers, 

His comment upon giving a lenient sentence to Oliver North, “I believe you still lack understanding of how the public service has been tarnished. Jail would only harden your misconceptions." 

McClure

J. Alfred Guest 

McClure was a pragmatist, with a good mind, a sense of humor, and an engaging laugh. McClure? I do not know where Donald H. McLean, Jr. acquired this name, but I believe it started at Yale Law School. There is a small group of Don's friends who often used “McClure,” including Martha when she talked with us

My first experience with Don’s sureness and compassion goes back 55 years when Don was on the Committee of Seven at Amherst College. This committee was selected by the president and the Dean to supervise and administer compliance with the rules of the college, not always written down. The Committee, with the aid of the Dean, of which there was only one in those days, assessed violations of conduct and recommended “punishment," a form of supervision not tolerated in modern times. Don made the Committee of Seven function efficiently and fairly.

At Yale Law School Don's qualities ascertaining the fax, His friendliness, And easy conversation with both faculty and his contemporaries quickly led to his acceptance into the law school community and if you would into the selective beauty organization known as Corby Court. Until Don's arrival, not many small college graduates have penetrated this club. Thanks to his influence I was fortunate to be invited to join in the next year when I followed him to yell while school. Corporate court provided a setting for stimulating discussions of legal and world problems, and also for stimulating, often hilarious, parties on football and Derby day weekend.

We enjoyed it heartily supported the courtship of Donna and Martha. We attended their wedding at Martha's home in Canada on September 1, 1939 plunged into World War II after the Nazis invaded Poland.

McClure’s further experiences in law, banking, and wartime service followed. We kept in touch, with visits to Don and Martha second-floor $60 a month walk up to New York City. And the war years I had occasion to spend overnights at their home in Washington DC. I remember that breakfast started with a small orange cut in two, and a spoon to complete the difficult and slightly splattering task for the uninitiated. It was a proper Canadian wartime measure in the days before frozen juices

Our contacts thereafter were less, as careers changed and children multiplied. But we shall never forget the stories of Don and Martha’s trip to the Orient with Mr. and Mrs. John D Rockefeller, III including Phnom Penh, Saigon, Tokyo, and New Delhi and their survey of sites to establish an International House in Tokyo and the International Centre In New Delhi. This trip brought innumerable Japanese visitors to the McLean's, and once, in sufficient numbers so that Barbie, their youngest child, had to sleep in the linen closet. Years later my note to Don about our own proposed world trip in 1984, led to our staying at the handsome International Centre with the advantages of a fine dining room, library, and theater. 

Don't could always be counted on to respond promptly to a question or request. He did not put these on ice. Again, this sureness, pragmatism, humor, and compassion were at hand. And after his outstanding careers Don’s alma mater, Amherst College, in 1977 conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Laws which read in part,

Through all this, you have kept firmly in view first things first in your rich family life as husband and father. You once said of someone you admire, and we would like to give your very words of praise of you, “You are a man one can count on when it's snowing outside".

J. Alfred Guest, Amherst, Massachusetts, was a close friend of Don McLean at both Amherst and Yale Law School. For nearly 40 years he served as Secretary of the Alumni Council and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Amherst College.

You Two Are the Most Insubordinate Officers in the Whole Damn Army

Robert R. Bowie

Don McLean and I served together as special assistants to General Lucius D. Clay when he was Deputy Military Governor for Occupied Germany. Both of us had worked previously under Clay in the War Department in Washington in different capacities. I had been in the Legal Office for Procurement and then went as an assistant to Clay when he was shifted over to the White House as a deputy to James Byrnes, Head of the Office of War Mobilization about November 1944. Don had been in another division of the War Department.

Our designation came early in 1945, just after Clay himself was named Deputy Military Governor under General Eisenhower. We had about a month in Washington to familiarize ourselves with the relevant directives (especially JCS 1067 which had just been approved by President Roosevelt), before going abroad about the same time as Clay in April 1945. Since Clay was not to assume his duties until the war ended in Europe, we went first to Versailles, outside of Paris, using the time to educate ourselves on Germany, largely on the basis of excellent materials prepared by the British agencies planning for the occupation.

In Versailles we were billeted with General Clay in a small modern villa which had been built by a French industrialist for his mistress. A young captain from Arkansas, who was Clay’s aide, arranged for the meals. After about a week of pork chops and black-eyed peas, Clay asked the aide whether that was all the commissary had. “Oh, no,” he replied, “but I couldn’t imagine anything better.”

Shortly before the war ended on May 8^th, we had moved forward to headquarters prepared in Hoechst where many more of those assigned to Military Government assembled. Clay’s personal household was expanded to include General William Draper, who was to be in charge of economic affairs in the occupation.

Somehow or other, on the day of surrender, Don and I managed to get to Rheims and walk around the outside of the school-house (I think) where it was taking place. Thereafter, we made our way to Paris and joined with the enormous crowds surging along the Champs-Elysees. The French mood was curious - happy and relieved that the war was over, but somewhat muted as well, perhaps reflecting the French humiliation and defeat during its course.

Not long after, the Western allies finally arranged for their forces to take over the agree-upon occupation zones and for their Military Government authorities to move to Berlin which was an enclave in the Soviet Zone. In Berlin, Don and I joined General Draper in a house in the Wansee suburb of Berlin which was largely undamaged. General Clay explained to Don and me that while he was used to working from 7:30 am to 8 pm, Draper’s habit of pursuing unfinished business after dinner was too taxing - and led Clay to opt for living alone.

As assistants to General Clay, Don and I had a unique position in the staff. We had no formal title, no clearly defined duties, and no authority of our own. We worked directly with Clay, and simply did whatever he asked us to do. In general, we looked into specific matters that concerned him, prepared reports for him, checked for him on how the various Directorates were handling their tasks. The range of topics was as wide as Clay’s responsibilities, and required Don and me to inject ourselves into other peoples’ bailiwicks in getting information or checking for Clay. Don was especially good at this role: he was able to be persistent without being abrasive or creating undue friction.

Clay was extremely stimulating to work for. He had a remarkably sharp mind, was a rapid reader, and could absorb information very quickly. When given a report, he could almost scan it and identify the aspects worth discussing. He loved to debate issues and was aggressive and penetrating in such debate. Indeed his manner almost paralyzed some of his subordinates. Actually, however, he was eager for candid expression of views and conclusions, and expected us to argue strongly for the decisions we thought correct. With our background as lawyers, Don and I relished such give-and-take and took full advantage of the opportunity. Indeed once, as sort of a backhanded complement to our candor, Clay said to Don and me: “You two are the most insubordinate officers in the whole damn army.”

One of our first assignments after our arrival in Berlin was to plan and organize a two or three day program for the Military Government officers regarding the objectives and policy guidelines which were to govern the occupation during its initial phase. Clay thought it essential to have a common staff understanding of the basic purposes and policies in view of the inevitability wide desecration in carrying them out.

He gave Don and me a free hand in planning the program. For presentation we divided the directives among among for main aims - which we called the four D’s - to denazify, to demilitarize, to deconcentrate, and to democratize. Don located somewhere in the headquarters a small graphics team which prepared large posters illustrating each aim by cartoons. To involve the chiefs of the various divisions, we had each of them give the talks on their own area of responsibility. By requiring advance texts, and editing them with the speakers, we had a chance to go over with them the governing documents, including JCS 1067, the Potsdam Agreement, and other directives.

The year in Germany was a rewarding experience in many ways. Not the least was the association with Don and the chance to get to know him, and to become a firm friend. The challenge there displayed so many of his abilities and fine qualities. He was able to tackle unfamiliar subjects with confidence and to get to the heart of issues. He was flexible and innovative in proposing how to handle difficult or novel problems. By his integrity he won the trust and confidence of those he worked with. Beyond that he was an enjoyable companion, with a good sense of humor and a hearty and infectious laugh. He saw through pretense and hypocrisy without being cynical. Above all he had an unusual capacity for warm and loyal friendship.

Robert R. Bowie, Washington, DC, was Special Assistant to Gen. Lucius D Clay, Deputy Military Governor for Germany. A lawyer, he has combined several faculty positions at Harvard Law school and as the Director of the Center for international Affairs, with federal service as General Counsel for High Commissioner John J. McCloy (Germany), in the Department of State and the CIA. 

Lieutenant Colonel Donald McLean

Arthur E. Palmer, Jr.

With the surrender of Germany in 1945 and the installation of the international military government for that defeated country the United States Government was faced with a new series of problems. General Eisenhower had a military headquarters in Berlin which included a few officers trained as military governors to supervise the reorganization of captured areas and to provide enough order to make way for military operations. Yet those with vision knew that a primary need for the victors was reconciliation and a return to everyday life, not a continued military government. And the problem of dealing with a defeated Germany was made more difficult the fact that the “civilian” member of theArmed Forces, who had enlisted for the duration, wanted to go home - and go home right away!

As a first step in dealing with the problem of what to do with Germany, General Eisenhower appointed major General Lucius D. Clay, his deputy, to head the United States military occupation part of Berlin and Germany. According to Robert Patterson, the Assistant Secretary of War, Clay was one of the finest Army officers he had ever met - a man with the breadth to identify the necessary goals of the future.

General Clay, as Deputy United states Military Commander stationed in Berlin, took with him Major Donald H. McLean and Major Robert R. Bowie, both civilian lawyers, as a roving team to advise him on policy. McLean’s selection for this position was not by chance; he had worked for General Clay earlier in his Army career, and his service experience since 1942 fitted him admirably for his new post.

He had first served as a Captain in the International Division, Services of Supply, in Washington, where his work was supervised by General Clay; in 1943 he became a member of a General Staff division administering the planning of military governments and the development of policies for conquered or liberated countries, where his work was supervised by Major General John Hildring. 

Sensing the need for closer cooperation between general Hildring.s new command and General Clays supply responsibilities, the latter arranged with the firmer to use Captain McLean as a  personal deputy to each when dealing with common problems, acting as a working member of General Hildring’s office while still a member of general Clay’ command. As a result, he not only got to know both generals, but also learned a good deal about liaison work.

In July 1943 General Hildring’s Civil Affairs Division was given responsibility for all civilian problems in areas jointly controlled by the United States and Great Britain. It was at this point that McLean, now a Major, was appointed to General Hildring’s command. Late that year he wrote a friend: “I have been most fortunate for the past eight months, spending my time on papers concerned with problems presented to the army by the presence of civilian populations in operational areas, for and with Major General John H. Hildring - pleasant and thoroughly competent by any standards.”At the same time, he was also engaged in giving lectures to army trainees in classes in civil affairs problems at Yale University, Northwestern University, and the University of Virginia, the principal army Civill affairs Teaching Center in the U.S. Thus, when the end of the war came, Major McLean was well trained for his new position abroad.

Moving to Germany with General Clay in April 1945, McLean and Bowie watched the celebration at the end of the war in Paris on May 8, 1945. For the next year, the two officers acted as eyes and ears for General Clay, offering him advice on any and all problems of German Military Government. The pair also conducted a seminar for the American staff in Berlin on their functions in connection with Denazification, Demilitarization, Deconcentration, and Democratization, all in line with established Anglo-American policy. McLean described his work as “delving into all phases of the military occupation problems - you swing like a man on a flying trapeze from economics to public relations, to denazification, always hoping there will be a net somewhere.”

On August 15, 1945, while on duty in Germany, McLean, now a Lieutenant Colonel, was decorated with the Legion of Merit for his former services in General Hildring’s office in the Pentagon. On this occasion, he wrote General Hildring to thank him for the decoration as “something I shall always cherish as a tangible token of one of the most stimulating, pleasant, and interesting experiences of my relatively short career - it will always be a reminder of the hectic times we shared during 1943 and 1944.” But he did not stop there. The letter continues in a way that has been typical of McLean  during his career - he made warm friends of all the important men he worked with, treating them as honored equals, a feeling they reciprocated. Wrote McLean:

There is another aspect of which you are not aware. I entered the U.S. Army in the spring of 1942 with considerable misgivings as to weather a civilian of my age (which was 33) with no military background or specialized technical training could be of assistance to the U.S. Army. Working for you removed that doubt. There were times when my confidence was shaken during those early months when the nomenclature, the customs, and even the grammar were something I had never learned at Yale or in the practice of law. The award is more than adequate evidence to me that my original decision to go in was sound and that my wife did not live on the pay of a first lieutenant merely to satisfy the fancy of a confused and curious husband. She now has a tangible reward for her patience and understanding during the course of which she observed the wives of some of my contemporaries profit by the more tangible rewards available to my generation in recent years in the practice of law.

In addition, I received and invaluable supplement to my education. I have come to understand the army, its traditions, and its function in our national life. Our closed-door sessions in the early days were a liberal education few men ever receive. I have come to know, respect, and admire men like yourself and General Clay who have devoted their lives unselfishly to the public service.

At the same time he outlined, in letters to his army friends in the U.S., the personnel situation in Berlin as “impossible.” “The People here are becoming eligible for discharge, but are being held back while their friends in the U.S. are being sent home. What is needed is s first class office here in Berlin and in the U.S. to recruit competent civilian replacements. It is one of the most pressing problems today and the government is doing nothing about it.”

The United States Government in 1947 finally did something about it. It cut the Gordian knot when it made General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Secretary of State and when he in turn had General Hildring appointed Assistant Secretary of State with the responsibility of transferring administrative responsibility for the occupation of Korea, Japan, and Germany from the War Department to the Department of State.

Shortly after his appointment as Secretary of State in 1947, Marshall wrote a letter to Arthur Milbank, Senior Partner of McLean’s Wall Street law firm, asking that McLean be loaned to the Unites states Government for two months to work on a special project. Secretary of State Marshall wrote of McLean as follows:

Mr. McLean, during his service in the army, was for a considerable period Liaison Officer between General Somervell and General Hildring in their respective capacities as Commanding General, Army Service Forces and as Director, Civil Affairs Division. McLean became thoroughly familiar with the organization of the War Department and its methods of dealing with the planning and operational aspects of Military Government. He personally participated in the formulation of many of these plans and had a hand in working out techniques for their accomplishment. Moreover, throughout this period, Mr. McLean worked closely with the personnel of the Department of State on major policy aspects of occupied areas programming. He later served as an advisor to general Clay in Germany and in that capacity had constant opportunity to observe and participate in the field activities of Military Government.
In view of Mr. McLean’s unique qualifications, and particularly because of the great confidence which General Hildring has in his judgement and tact, I believe that if Mr. McLean were free to work on this project for a period of two months commencing about July 1, he could perform a great public service to the Department and to his Government. Accordingly, I should like to ask you to consider weather Mr. McLean’s services could be made available to the Department for this purpose without substantial impairment to his relationship with the firm and without incurring undue sacrifice on your part.
Faithfully Yours,  

G.C. Marshall 

Secretary of State

Needless to say, McLean’s law firm agreed, and in the summer of 1947 he carried out his mission to everyone’s satisfaction. The Armed Forces were glad to see the last of many, if not most, of the civilians who had served during the war. For the greatest soldier in the country to write and ask the help of one of them was a signal of honor indeed.

Equally as meaningful a tribute to Don came from General Lucius D. Clay who wrote to Don in 1946: “Thank you for your letter of January 8. Your faith and confidence always made me feel as if I could surmount any obstacle.”

As a sort of postscript to Don and the Army, he met and made friends with an unusual number of generals and the correspondence between them made it clear that they respected him, and none were surprised to find him already serving one, or even two other generals. As an army friends said: “He collected generals like a dog collects fleas, but with better results.”

Arthur E. Palmer, New York, New York, was a classmate of McLean in the Yale Law School (class of 1935) and a lifelong friend. He served in the International Division, HQ General Staff, of the Army during World War II. A partner in a New York law firm, he was involved both in investment banking and the administration of transportation for New York City.

Leaving them Alone

Peter J. Johnson

During the 1950’s - a time when John D. Rockefeller, III was most actively engaged in institution-building, sand Don McLean was his chief associate working on problems in connection with the Third World - they concentrated their efforts chiefly on two organizations. Those were the Population Council and the Council on Economic and Cultural Affairs. The latter was the parent body of the Agricultural Development Council and the JDR, 3rd Fund.

There was no simplistic or easy route to their objective, and they deliberately accepted a more complex and difficult way of attacking the problem of world poverty and its concomitants. They followed a policy of patience to allow for the painful accumulation of facts, the development of appropriate policies, and a cooperative effort with the Third World in order to produce change. At the most basic level this involved creating organizations able to deal with the issues, and then leaving them alone to do their work. The need for "leaving alone" is not understood by most people, and Don’s acceptance of the principal was one of his most important contributions to John D Rockefeller, 3rd and to the world.

Don’s primary role was to translate JDR, 3rd ideas into reality, and in doing that he worked most closely with the Population Council and the Agricultural Development Council. He carried out an infinite number of housekeeping tasks, such as providing and staffing offices, gaining tax exemptions, and handling visa problems for fellows. But, more importantly he had to secure strong and innovative leadership.

There were initial leadership problems with both organizations.  Fred Osborn, the leading layman in the population field, was aging and also had his own private agenda. J. Lossing Buck in the agricultural field had somewhat similar handicaps. Don was a strong advocate of Frank Notestein’s demographic approach to population; when the time came to replace Osborne at the Population Council, it was natural for him to turn to Notestein.

For the Agricultural Development Council Arthur Mosher was an absolutely inspired choice to become the head, and Don was the one who persuaded the very reluctant Mosher to accept the job. I heard a story of how it happened from both Art and Don. It's well worth the telling, as follows.

Both JDR, 3rd and Don believed that he exclusively biological approach of the Rockefeller Foundation to the problems of world food supply was both useful and necessary, but did not in itself provide a solution to the overall problem. Using the reasoning of William Myers of Cornell and Ted Schultz of Chicago, they argued for a parallel social science effort that would apply the theoretical breakthroughs of the natural scientists to the reality of Third World agriculture and society. They lost that battle within the Rockefeller Foundation and decided to attempt it on their own.

After creation of the Council on Economic and Cultural Affairs (CECA) JDR, 3rd and Don carried out their search for permanent leadership of the Agricultural Development Council. They eventually settled on Art Mosher as the most qualified candidate because of his long experience in agricultural economics in both Asia and South America. 

Don approached Mosher, who was most hesitant about accepting the position. Don was intrigued by his diffidence because, as he said, most people fell all over themselves when given the chance to work with a Rockefeller. Don pushed Art for an explanation, and he finally confessed his reasons. During his study of United States assistance programs in Latin America, he had looked carefully at IBEC/AIA, the combined business and philanthropic organization created and led by Nelson Rockefeller at the end of World War II. According to Mosher, Nelson would come up with a marvelous new idea  for instance something to do with the marketing of agricultural commodities - that he believed would remake the world in six months. Everybody had to stop but they were doing and go to work on the new project. But when the world was not completely done over in six months, Nelson would become discouraged and shift to some newer scheme. Then everyone would have to go work on that one.

Art Mosher said he could not accept interference from on high in the conduct of his work, and that it was essential his sponsors have the patience to wait for fifteen or twenty years, if necessary, before seeing evidence of progress and change. Don saw the wisdom of that philosophy, reported it to JDR 3rd, and persuaded him to accept it. 

Over the next twenty years both JDR, 3rd and Don we're consistently supportive of Mosher and the ADC, never interfering on matters of policy or personnel. Don's critical role in establishing the creative independence of the ADC may have been one of his greatest contributions to the public interest and to the welfare of millions in the Third World.

Peter J Johnson, New York City, worked with Don McLean in the late 70’s in the compilation of the record of John D Rockefeller 3rd.

To help meet some of the urgent needs

Arthur. T. Mosher

Soon after World War II Mr. John D Rockefeller, 3rd decided that he wanted a major part of his philanthropy to be related to Asia. He was quite clear about what he wanted to accomplish, but less certain about how to go about it. He wanted his activities to help meet some of the urgent needs of people in Asia. He also wanted to recognize, and bring to the attention of Americans, some of the cultural achievements of Asians.

What kind of the program would best serve those purposes? What kind of an organization could create that program?

It was at that point that Don McLean came into the picture and played a unique role. To reflect the breath of Mr. Rockefeller's interests in Asia. Work with Mr. Rockefeller in selecting an appropriate name - The Council on Economic and Cultural Affairs - to reflect the breath Mr. Rockefeller's interest in Asia. He played the leading role in selecting a Board of Trustees composed of persons who had had long-term personal acquaintance with Asia. He made the talent search to identify an appropriate Chief Executive Officer - one who would have the personal support of Mr. Rockefeller and the professional technical standing to develop and direct the council’s activities in Asia

When, after 10 years, Don perceived that it would be better to separate the cultural affairs of the Council from its economic activities and to give the latter a more descriptive name he played a leading role in creating the JDR, 3rd Fund to concentrate on cultural affairs and the Agricultural Development Council to concentrate on economic and human problems in in rural development in Asia.

In these various activities, Don brought a combination of skills not frequently found together. His training as a lawyer enabled him to give appropriate administrative structure to each proposed program. His close rapport with Mr. Rockefeller enabled him to interpret to him the significance of what professional technical people were proposing in the way of programs. His warmth as a human being contributed substantially to a productive camaraderie among staff, officers, and trustees of each organization.

Don became an elected member of the Trustees of the Agricultural Development Council in 1965 and President of the Trustees in 1974. He continued in that position until 1979, when he reached the councils mandatory retirement age for trustees.

Don had strong convictions about how an organization should be run. To him, the responsibility of a Board of Trustees was to select a Chief Executive Officer, and then either back or replace him; it was nothing Trustees role to participate in day-to-day administration.

His concept of his role in those Rockefeller organizations was consistent with that. "I am no expert on that" he frequently said, "but I know how to find and recruit the cooperation of those who are."

He certainly did! 

Art Mosher was Executive Director and the President of the Agricultural Development Council. At the age of 23 he went to India to become instructor in agricultural engineering, developing an extension service serving 500 villages. In the mid-1950s fifties he made an in-depth study of agricultural programs in Latin America. He has written many articles and consulted widely on programs of agricultural development.

Laughter with - but not at

Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.

I first met Don McLean in 1957. He was working with John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, and I had just joined the Agricultural Development Council, an organization Mr. Rockefeller had set up to strengthen the rural social sciences in Asia. During the early days of our friendship I learned that Don was warm, sincere, direct, honest, and unfailingly courteous with people from all walks of life. I marveled at his unassuming personality and his ability to subordinate his ego within the context of his role. He performed superbly, of course, providing wise counsel and advice at all times.

Over the years, a quality I came to appreciate particularly in Don was his great sense of humor. One of my many wonderful memories is of the story he loved to tell, dating from the early 1960’s. On a flight from United States to Asia, he had a chance to sit next to a new ADC visiting professor who was on his way to his university assignments abroad. The professor did not know Don. For the entire flight, Don quizzed and probed the professor about the Agricultural Development Council. What was it? What would the professor's role be? I can still imagine the twinkle must've brightened his eye: "So you say this is one of those do-gooder organizations of the Rockefeller's? Come on - what are they really up to over there? You don't really expect all this academic bushwah to fill peasants stomachs do you?"

And then how Don must have laughed with - but not at - his new acquaintance when he finally confessed who he was.

Don had an incomparable way with people, along with a knack for getting right to the heart of any problem or issue. Once he had made up his mind about something, he liked to put his decisions into action without delay. I would go to him for advice or to sound him out on some proposal proposed solution to a problem. "Okay, Cliff," he would respond. "Are we buying or selling?” And off we would go on our joint crusade. 

Don was with the "natural aristocracy” -the elite of intelligence, energy, and humaneness. He had several careers - with the ADC, the Population Council, the Asia Society, the Magsaysay Foundation, the Leahy Clinic Medical Center, his beloved Andover. In each he unfailingly distinguished himself. In his quiet way he made the world a little better place to live in. 

As for me, I respected Don’s talents, appreciated his support, treasured his friendship. I am the better for having had the privilege to know and work with him. Like so many others whose lives he touched, I miss Don McLean.

Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. was Vice President of the Agricultural Development Council. He has served on the staffs of several universities and agencies around the world, was President of Michigan State University 1970 - 1978 and since then he has been Chancellor of the 64 campus State University of New York system. He has written and spoken widely, and serves on the boards of several corporations as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Rockefeller Foundation of which he is past Chairman.

For 4,500 individuals of forty nationalities

Shigeharu Matsumoto

On October 5, 1982, the International House of Japan celebrated the 30th anniversary of its founding in Tokyo. More than 100 distinguished intellectuals and government and business leaders, all interested in the work of international cultural exchange, were present.

On that occasion, three American friends were our special guest: Blanchette  Rockefeller, representing her late husband John D Rockefeller, 3rd, Donald H McLean,Jr. and Martha, his wife.

The International House of Japan was incorporated under Japanese law on August 27, 1952, as a private organization devoted to the cause of international cultural and academic exchange. For the preceding ten months, a Cultural Center Preparatory Committee, with me as executive secretary, worked hard to find and acquire premises, deliberate on the legal format, devise a program of international cultural exchange, and prepare the financial bases for bringing it about. John D. Rockefeller and Don McLean, his chief associate, came to Tokyo in the autumn of 1951 and again the following spring for the discussions with me and the late professor Yasaka Takagi, my mentor.

Don and I were destined to meet almost every day. We had some twenty close discussions before we finally drafted our initial application to the Rockefeller Foundation for a grant. The planned cultural center, later named the International House of Japan, was something completely new to this country. The Japanese members of the Preparatory Committee were unanimous in insisting that the center must have its own premises, while the Rockefeller Foundation was resolute in rejecting any kind of grant application that included acquisition of real estate. The Foundation had been generous in making grants to universities, as well as the Diet Library, and naturally was particular about the kinds of application would consider. Meeting the requirements of the Foundation on one hand and the express advice of the Japanese committee members on the other, Don and I worked it out by mutual agreement as to the desired land and then secured its purchase. We of course had countless other problems to resolve before eventually agreeing on every point. At length, on May 31, 1953, Don left Tokyo with our application for a grant to the Rockefeller Foundation.

During these discussions, I found Don McLean a person of patience, of foresight, of warm sentiment and shining character. After this initial work was done, Don continued to be deeply interested in the development of the International House, even after he was no longer associated with Rockefeller. Our friendship continued, even deepened, after he became president of the Leahy Clinic Foundation. He was guardian for my son Ken when he was a student at Swarthmore; he was also guardian for my daughter Misao when she was a student at Vassar.

In my office, I have a magnificent picture of Don that greets me every day. I have been affiliated with the International House now for thirty three years. A day rarely passes that I do not think of Don and his friendship and many American friends I value none above him.

The International House of Japan, which in a real sense he help to make, is now well-established. Its membership numbers above 4,500 individuals of 40 nationalities. Its annual budget exceeds ¥1 billion, with income and expenditures in good balance. For a long time to come we shall remember the name of Donald H McLean, Jr. and his distinguished contribution to this organization

Shigeharu Matsumoto, was the principle Japanese citizen involved in the founding of the International House of Japan. An international journalist, lawyer, writer, and executive, he served as the first managing director of the International House.

Uncle Don

Ken Matsumoto

Don McLean begin visiting Tokyo office in the autumn of 1951 because of his work for the Preparatory Committee of the International House of Japan, work in which Doctor Yasaka Takagi and my father were also deeply involved. He occasionally came to our house and shared dinner with our family. His cheerful nature charmed all of us from the beginning. I was allowed to call this frequent guest Uncle Don, a privilege I enjoyed throughout our long relationship. My mother was greatly impressed by Uncle Don, and my father always praised him as one of the most exceptional man he had ever known, regardless of nationality. The three children, Hiroshi, Misao, and myself, could not speak English well but we were delighted when Uncle Don visited.

In the summer of 1954, I traveled from Japan to the United States to enroll at Swarthmore College, Uncle Don and his wife, Martha, invited me to stay at their home in Summit, New Jersey, whenever I want during my four years of college. They asked me to celebrate almost every Thanksgiving and Christmas with them. I also spent many of my summer vacations at their home. Occasionally my mother, my sister Misao, and my high school friend Yuji Ito joined us. The McLeans treated me with love and respect, like a member of their family. Those days were full of rest and enjoyment.

When I stayed in the McLean's home, I saw advice from Uncle Don. It was usually late at night, when he was just about to retire. He was never reluctant to listen and always heard me out with great patience. The problems I needed to discuss included academic matters and my future career. When I finish talking, he often said reassuringly, “Ken, I would not worry about it so much. You are doing okay." His words of encouragement strengthened my resolve to meet future challenges.

Because of my inadequate English, the academic requirements at Swarthmore were difficult. Years later, Uncle Don told me, "I was concerned about you in those early days because your English ability was not very good.” Indeed, without the warm and wise support of Uncle Don and his family, I might have failed in my studies

The McLeans provided me with a valuable introduction to American family life, ways of thinking, and culture. Since I trusted Uncle Don so deeply, I believed I could trust other Americans, too. He made me forget that he was American and I was Japanese. Uncle Don was a truly international man.

Late one afternoon in August 1958, I sat with Uncle Don in his office at Rockefeller Plaza in New York. I was scheduled to board a freighter in Brooklyn bound for Japan at 10 that evening. I had a problem: how to transfer my heavy steamer trunk weighing eighty pounds from McLean's home in Summit to Brooklyn. We had only a few hours before the freighter departed. Uncle Don’s station wagon was at his summer house in Québec, and no taxi driver was willing to transport such a heavy trunk.

Uncle Don called several friends in Summit and tried to borrow a station wagon. It wasn't easy to find, but he was persistent and eventually persuaded a friend to drive us to Brooklyn in his Jeep. Uncle Don accompanied me after work and we hurried to Summit by train. We then drove quickly and arrived at the pier in Brooklyn just in time. We carried the trunk into my cabin on the freighter. Uncle Don took a small box out of his pocket. It contained a set of cufflinks that he had purchased in Japan. “I'll give these to my friend who drove us here, I'll tell him they are a gift from you, so don't worry about any further obligation to thank him," Uncle Don explained quietly. I looked at Uncle Don silently, overwhelmed by his boundless consideration. He was indeed a noble man

One bit of uncle Don's advice that I recall from time to time is "First things first." He told me this when I was a freshman in college. When I attended graduate school in Tokyo five years later, I received a letter from Uncle Don in which she wrote, "I hope you are still putting first things first." He remained concerned with my personal development and achievements even after I returned to Japan.

In March, 1977, my wife Junko and I were preparing to leave Auburn, New York, where we lived for three years. I had worked as a board member of a small Japanese-owned steel mill. To attend our farewell dinner, Uncle Don and Martha flew in from Andover, Massachusetts. Uncle Don gave me a standing ovation for my farewell speech. He also wrote the two page letter describing the occasion to Dr. Takagi in Tokyo. In the letter, Uncle Don told of the good relations I had developed with my American colleagues throughout the company. It was Uncle Don who helped me to understand Americans and to be confident when working with them.

In September 1982, Uncle Don returned to Tokyo with Martha to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the International House of Japan, an organization to which he made immeasurable contributions. On that occasion, he presented me with a magnificent picture of himself upon which she had written, “To Ken, with pleasant memories of your days as a member of our family in summit. Don.”  Written or spoken, his words were always the expressions of sincere affection and encouragement to me.

He exemplified a man of high ideals. He was an inspiration to me and will continue to be so. My life has been influenced and enriched enormously through my association with him. 

I hope that I will be able to treat others in the kind way Uncle Don always treated me. My experiences with him we're blessings.

Ken Matsumoto was in effect of member of the McLean family while he was a student at Swarthmore College. An officer in steel companies in Japan and United States, he has,  since 1984, been director of the Fair Trade Center in Japan.

McCarthyism…the need for some counterforce

Robert W. Van de Velde

The Rockefeller Public Service Awards (RPSA) were a great and useful idea, and it was Donald H. McLean, Jr. who "invented" them.

I first met Don McLean early in 1957 when I became Faculty Secretary of the awards program which was administered by Princeton University. The director of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs introduced Don and me because Don was then, in effect, John D Rockefeller, 3rd’s chief of staff and the man on whom the philanthropist depended on to keep an eye on the program’s activities and progress. We formed, almost it once, a strong friendship and a trusting association. He was like that.

In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s a particularly vicious type of government-criticism and bureaucracy-baiting was taking place. Led by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, the forces of Know-Nothingism rose again and used the Cold War to throw suspicion and distrust on career public servants of the federal government.

Don McLean has seen enough of government and had known enough government people to be convinced that there were many, in all grades and in all agencies, who were intelligent, conscientious, and dedicated to the public interest of the United States. He recognized that  the effort, then beginning to be called McCarthy-ism, was dangerously undermining public confidence in our government and therefore eroding the morale of the men and women who conducted the day-to-day business of government in all his policies, plans, and programs. He was wise enough to see the need for some counterforce. The Rockefeller Public Service Awards were launched in 1952.

Two recipients come quickly to mind as notable examples of the sort of excellence government that the program hoped to recognize.  These two also exemplify the wide variety existing among government bureaucrats and the ways in which time-out from daily routines - a sabbatical - helped both to whet their abilities and to keep them from leaving government careers in the face of tempting monetary rewards in the private sector.

Rufus Miles, an awardee in 1956, was a human generalist administrator and the sort of key executive who keeps an organization going, almost regardless of what its primary function is. He served the United States for over thirty years, much of it in the Department of Health Education and Welfare (under seven secretaries of HEW) and when he retired he had achieved the top career position of Assistant Secretary for Administration. After retirement he became a visiting lecturer with the rank of professor at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Later he became a "senior fellow" there and still serves on its advisory council. He has written several books, including the widely acclaimed Awakening from the American Dream, and a number of articles for professional journals.

Louis M Branscomb, at the time of his award 1957, was in the National Bureau of Standards as the chief of its Atomic Physics Section. A dedicated natural scientist, he spent his year off at University College, London, doing research on physics and astrophysics. Return to NBS and rose in that highly respected agency until, in 1969, he was its overall director. He remained in government service for 15 years after his Rockefeller Public Service Award and retired in 1972. At that time he joined International Business Machines as its chief scientist.

For public consumption, of course, the awards were credited to Mr. Rockefeller. Don was too good a staff man, too supportive of his principal, and too personally loyal to JDR, 3rd ever to give any hint that the public version was not entirely accurate. But in the ten years that my association with these men continued, it became more and more evident to me how fully JDR, 3rd depended on Don’s wisdom and advice in this as in so many other of his good works.

The first phase of RPSA ended in 1959 after the Government Employees Training Act of 1958 began to make possible, with government funds, the sort of sabbatical year of reflection and study, pioneered by RPSA for particularly promising career public servants. The second phase - established to recognize and publicize a few outstanding public servants and to encourage them to write, for publication, on their experiences and satisfactions in the public service — ran from 1960 to 1966. Too many job demands on their time and energies prevented most winners from fully exploiting their awards.

But again, scores of the most highly placed and most thoughtful career bureaucrats, urged Princeton and Mr. Rockefeller not to terminate the program - even if its nature had to change, to keep some privately supported program alive and to continue to call it  Rockefeller awards - to recognize distinguished public service careers. Typical of comments were some made by Philip L. Graham, President of the Washington Post: “Any society maintains only those virtues which it honors and encourages…" and “This awards program was primarily created to remind the public of our democracy, that excellence did in fact exist in the Federal service - and to remind them further that such excellence was imperative to the survival of free government."

John Rockefeller wants both of the qualities he considered essential to greatness in public service. They were, he said, courage, sensitivity, and vision. I wonder if he didn't have his principal associate in mind too, for Don McLean had, and used, all three of those qualities. And in its way, Don's life was also one of public service.

He had more; he had a personal wit that could prick the balloons of pomposity, and he knew when to encourage and when to poke gentle fun at his colleagues - and himself. He was a grand human being to know and a great man to work with.

Robert W Van de Velde was faculty secretary of the Rockefeller Public Service Awards at Princeton University. Active in the United States Army before, during and following World War II, he joined the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton 1957.