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332 THIS DIFFICULT INDIVIDUAL
bility of freeing him. George Stimpson, founder and former president
of the National Press Club, conducted a series of coffee
seminars at various cafeterias each day. Rex introduced me to him,
and he was very interested in the Pound case. He told me some
behind-the-scenes stories about it that cannot yet be set down, and
promised to make some inquiries.
George occupied a unique position in Washington. The most
respected newspaperman in our capital, as Time Magazine termed
him, he exercised great influence, and had obtained positions
for Lincoln White, State Department press officer; William Hassett,
White House press officer, who was with Roosevelt when he
died, and many others. For thirty years, George's hobby had been
Congressmen. His closest friend was Sam Rayburn, and he had
helped Tom Clark, Fred Vinson and Lucius Clay when they first
came to town.
At my behest, George asked Clark and Vinson about the Pound
case. They both said that nothing could be done, and that any
move at that time would generate tremendous counter-pressure.
Of the two, Vinson, who was then Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court, was the more optimistic. He thought the heat would be off
in about five years. It actually took eight years. Clark told George
that it was hopeless, and that Pound could never be released from
St. Elizabeths because of political pressure.
I said nothing to Pound about these gloomy predictions, but
continued my efforts. At George's suggestion, I went over to see a
member of his "breakfast club", crusty Congressman John Rankin
of Mississippi. I mentioned Pound's name with jaunty assurance
and was shocked when he said that he had never heard of him.
When I told him that Pound was locked up in St. Elizabeths, he
launched into a reminiscence of his early days in Washington.
During his initial term as Congressman, just after the First
World War, he received a complaint from a constituent that her
son was being illegally held in St. Elizabeths. Rankin checked the
story, and found that it was true. A crooked lawyer had formed a
conspiracy with a policeman and a judge to arrest veterans. If they
were receiving any sort of pension for wartime service, the judge
would promptly commit them to St. Elizabeths. He would then