Most of the respondents in this study believed that Adams' reputation as a “hard boss” and “a difficult man to get along with” was well earned. Their relations BE with him were formal and cool strictly business. Nevertheless, they had a profound respect tor him and they marvelled at his ability to get work done and make decisions. In retrospect, they felt that his work habits. were justified. As one of his closest assistants said, “He could. get the most out of a man. Ike could not have anticipated that Adams would have such a talent for chief of staff work, but he was excellent. He knew how to work people.”
Although it is impossible to discuss the complex Eisenhower staff organization in detail, four aspects of it do deserve special attention. One of the innovations of the Eisenhower years was the development of a special office to manage the clerical staff, handle correspondence, and, most important, handle national security and intelligence communications. The first two aspects of the work of this office had been handled by a career man, William Hopkins, under the title of Executive Clerk since the days of Roosevelt. Hopkins continued to work in the office but he was under the direction of the Staff Secretary. Although Adams supervised the work of this office in a general fashion, it was largely the province of the Staff Secretary, a position held by two very able Army men, Col. Paul T. Carroll and Gen. A. J. Goodpaster. In particular, Adams was not involved in the military and intelligence communications coordination of this office which went directly from the Staff Secretary to Eisenhower. The Staff Secretary also handled arrangements for conferences between the Joint Chiefs and other military personnel and the President.
A second aspect of the White House Office organization that must be discussed involves White House efforts to coordinate national security matters.. Eisenhower formalized the work that had been handled by Clark Clifford for Truman. He had two assistants who were primarily responsible for coordination of national security policy matters in addition to the Staff Secretary who handled communications. The Special Assistant for National Security Affairs served as an adviser for the National Security Council and its various machinery and a Special Assistant to the President served as the President’s representative on the Operations Coordinating Board. The first position was held by a senior staff member, and the latter was held by a more junior member of the staff.
The work of these two assistants was not within the sphere of influence of Sherman Adams. They reported directly to Eisenhower and received their assignments Directly from him. They worked closely with the Staff Secretary and these three staff members usually saw the President daily. The following description by one of the national security staff members of his relationship to Adams would be an accurate one for all of the men who held these positions: “I seldom saw Adams except in the White House Mess at lunchtime. He may have been 'Assistant President' for domestic affairs, but he had no influence over national security matters.”
The task of coordinating national security and foreign affairs matters was a very important one and Eisenhower apparently made a clear decision early in his Presidency that the coordination had to come from the White House. Eisenhower used the National Security Council regularly and seriously. It was an important apparatus of coordination for him. He developed and announced all of his national security and foreign policy decisions in its meetings so that each department and agency involved knew “how he made the decision, why, and what the rationale was.” Eisenhower, working closely with Dulles for whom he had great respect, exerted his greatest influence as President in the national security and foreign policy areas.