NEW CIA BOSS IS RECOGNIZED FOR SOLID ACHIEVEMENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100080089-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 14, 1999
• Sequence Number: 89
• Publication Date: April 18, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

Sani`~tized- Approved For Release :
Etard "c6i.t
2cne - t'nno Pai~o j,
HOUSTON, TEXAS
CHRONICLE
E. 226,598
S. 265,358
is H11, -5 -5
BY ROBERT HILBU RN
Chronicle Washington Bureau
Washington-The nation's new
master spy Is a gullible fellow,
by his own account.
In the spy business, this i
not the most salubrious of traits,
and for retired Vice Adm. Wil-
liam F. Raborn Jr., it might
give a leg up to the opposition.
It might, that is, if this weak-
ness of the director designate
of thi. Central 1-.ntel'4igence Agen-
cy extended bis o id his hobby,
which is growing roses. As any
hobbyist can attest, gullibility in
pursuit of the ultimate is no
vice.
Raborn, 59, who soon will take
over command of the cloak-and-
dagger corps, bit once and bit
hard in his zeal to coax a crop
of champion rose blossoms into
bloom.
Bit for .Fish Story
Someone told him (with happy
malice, it later developed) that
spading old fish heads into the
soil would work wonders.
Raborn promptly paid a call
upon a seafood'eatery and from
CPYRGHT
its perplexed management or-
dered two barrels of left-over
ish crania, then hired t h r e e
orkers to help with the fer-
ilizing.
It was a hot day. The aroma
of worse the longer they toiled.
11 wo of the workers, overcome
ith nausea, retired to the alley.
aborn and the other finished
e'job.
The admiral went to bed that
fight dreaming of rosebuds, but
est was not to be his lot.
Went to the Dogs
Growling and snarling, a pack
onsisting of all the neighbor-
ood dogs descended on the rose
It was not only the end of and
CPYRGHT
one who could still get things
done.
Although he gained distinction
as a brave and gallant World
War II flat - top commander,
his biggest naval achievement,
was the Polaris submarine.
which today remains one of the
prime deterrents to nuclear war.
It was Raborn who was chosen
late in 1955 to head the Navy's
special projects office, w h i c h
was charged with developing an
underseas ballistics missile.
Raborn brought to the project
not only zeal but a persuasion
technique. that became known
as the "Raborn Rededication
Treatment."
He delivered pep talks about
the country, at every plant and
subplant that had anything to
do with the far-flung program.
f
i
Beat tie Schedule
a w
ser rose gardener as
WILLIAM F. RABORN JR
ell. I'l
.
Roses Are His Hobby
The treatment and a mana-I
'
gerial system he evolved-now,
Boss
of Polaris
idel
d th
h
d
R
b
tor, then a submariner and now,
w
y. use
roug
out in
us-
try-got results
The first Pola
-
a
orn, a native of Decatur
(Wi
C
t
No. 1 snooper.
.
r
is submarine became operation,
oun
se
y), tell this yarn on
imself
Th
f
t
h
In a profession well larded
al in 1960
three years ahead oZ
.
e
ac
t
at .he can-
d d
t
ll
with pomposity, Adm. Raborn
,
schedule
-
oes-
e
s quite a bit about
is seadog who became
i
achieved an early reputation as
.
"He had the knack." one of
11
an av
a- a good-humored.nice at, with
his subalterns of fhiv perind ro,,;.
Owtinued
Sanitized'- Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001.R000100080089-2
 Sanitized -Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 ROOO1OOO8OO89-2
CPYRGHT
calls, "of getting people/to do
things because they wanted to.
"It never occurred to' any of
us that we were not working
'on, the most important project
it vas possible , ; for us to be
working on on this Earth."
Says another: "We worked all
the harden just to prove you
don't have to have an S.O.B.
running a program like this."
occupied the post in the early
1950s).
On the credit side, in addi-
tion to his eminence as a "can
do" man, Raborn was respon-
sible for maintaining the sec-
recy of the Polaris program and
the studying of foreign nuclear
weapons development.
Besides, his mind is inventive
and. open to suggestion.
scientists, engineers and physi- but evidence is lacking t h a t
cians supporting the-Democratic they were particularly c 10 S e
standard bearers, friends.
Raborn during the show ridi- Although he was born in Tex-
culed Johnson's opponent, Bar- as, Raborn was brought up in
ry Goldwater, saying the former Oklahoma .and went from there
Arizona senator was "just not to the United States Naval
smart enough to be President Academy at Annapolis.
of the United States." Despite this, the 59-year-old
The admiral, of course, had warrior remains proud of the I
an acquaintance with Johnson state of his origin. He lists San
vhen the latter was a senator. Antonio as his official residence.:,
Succeeds Dour Man "I am not the kind of man,":
Gregarious and down-to-earth, he has been quoted as saying,
Raborn Will bring this same set l"who when he puts his pants
of talents to his new assign-on in the morning thinks the
wlic le..world, is dressed."
In the end, though, it report-
edly was Raborn's popularity
that led ;President Johnson to
tap him for the job.
He is well thought of on
Capitol Hill, and the same ap-
plies at the Pentagon from De-
fense Secretary Robert S. Mc-
Namara on down the line.
Campaigned for LBJ
perience in intelligence activi- What may have clinched it for
tics, and there are those who Johnson was that Raborn ap-
feel a military man should not peared, on a paid . television
have charge of the CIA, al- show last year in behalf of the
his manner will stamp a sun-
nier image of the CIA in con-
Isast to the somewhat dour im-
pression left by his predecessor,
John A. McCone, who is retiring.
But just how well Raborn's
acknowledged -,abilities w,i 11
serve him in the spy field has
led to some criticism.
Not Without Experience
lie has had no significant ex-
though there is precedence ;for Johnson-Humphrey ticket.
this. (Gen.. Walter Bedell Smith The show was sponsored b
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R0001 000800.89-2