R.V. S. a 8 Aq 57 JX1706 NOMINATION OF MAXWELL H. GLUCK TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1957 The CHAIRMAN. Next is the nomination of Maxwell H. Gluck, of Kentucky, to be Ambassador of the United States to Ceylon. Is Mr. Gluck here? Mr. MARCY. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Each of you has in your folder a short statement about Mr. Gluck. (Mr. Gluck entered the committee room.) The CHAIRMAN. You know you have been nominated to be the Ambassador of the United States to Ceylon. Mr. GLUCK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And we will be very glad to hear from you. STATEMENT OF MAXWELL H. GLUCK, NOMINEE TO BE AMBASSADOR OF THE UNITED STATES TO CEYLON Mr. GLUCK. My qualifications generally are a varied business background. Ever since boyhood, I have had a great general experience in industry, commerce, business, finance, and so forth. I have never been in the diplomatic service before. I have had great experience with people of all kinds, at all levels and all stations, I believe; have employed thousands of them, been associated with people at all levels; and I have quite a desire to serve where I am able to, and to do a good job in whatever field I am placed, particularly in this one. The CHAIRMAN. You have never been to Ceylon? Mr. GLUCK. Never in Ceylon. I have been all over Europe. The CHAIRMAN. You have been to Europe? Mr. GLUCK. Yes, sir; and every State of the United States. Mr. GLUCK. Some German-a little, not very much any more. I did, at one time. I have met with former Ambassador Philip Crowe a couple of times, and he seemed to be of the opinion that one of the dialects would not be of very much value there, because there are so many of them, and he seems to think that English generally is used and spoken in Ceylon. The CHAIRMAN. What does your family consist of, that would go with you? Mr. GLUCK. Just my wife and I. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Wiley, any questions? Senator WILEY. You have stated that you have quite a business experience. That was in Ohio, was it not? Mr. GLUCK. I founded the business about 26 years ago, of retail stores. We have about 140 of them throughout the United States. 1 I founded them, and built them up until we have, today, around 140 of them. I have been in every State in the United States, and, if it has any bearing, I also breed racehorses. Senator SMITH. That is in Kentucky? Mr. GLUCK. Yes. Senator WILEY. I see that you are a member of the World Development Corp. What is that? Mr. GLUCK. That is the beginning of an attempt to promote industry and finance undertakings in different countries. Senator WILEY. No further questions. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Fulbright. Senator FULBRIGHT. How is it that your residence is in Kentucky, rather than New York? Your business headquarters are in New York. Mr. GLUCK. Yes, I have a farm in Kentucky and, for the last 10 years or so, I have devoted Senator FULBRIGHT. Do you spend any time there? Mr. GLUCK. Yes; I spend a great deal of time in Kentucky. We have a good-sized farm. I think we have one of the good farms in the United States. We breed very fine horses. Senator FULBRIGHT. Is it a large farm? Mr. GLUCK. 510 acres. Senator FULBRIGHT. How much did you contribute to the Republican Party in the 1956 election? Mr. GLUCK. Well, I wouldn't know offhand, but I made a contribution? Senator FULBRIGHT. Well, how much? Mr. GLUCK. Let's see; I would say, all in all, twenty or thirty thousand dollars. Senator FULBRIGHT. Twenty or thirty thousand dollars? Mr. GLUCK. Through different ones, either nominations or- Mr. GLUCK. Well, not as much. I would not remember, but a fair amount. Senator FULBRIGHT. Well, you are a businessman, you pay attention to your money. Mr. GLUCK. Yes. Senator FULBRIGHT. You handle your own money. Mr. GLUCK. I would say The CHAIRMAN. Would you look it up? Mr. GLUCK. Certainly. Senator FULBRIGHT. You can guess now about how much. Mr. GLUCK. Offhand, I would say around $10,000. Senator FULBRIGHT. If you contributed $30,000, don't you think Ceylon is a rather remote post for that? The one who went to Belgium only contributed $11,000. Mr. GLUCK. I don't know about that, but I don't think that is the only reason. Senator FULBRIGHT. You don't think that is a pertinent reason for the appointment? Mr. GLUCK. I don't think it is the only reason. Senator FULBRIGHT. It is the principal reason; is it not? Mr. GLUCK. I don't think I want to admit that is the principal reason. Senator FULBRIGHT. What do you think is the principal reason? Mr. GLUCK. Well, my interest in trying to find something in Government life that I would like to do, which contributed Senator FULBRIGHT. Why are you interested in Ceylon? Mr. GLUCK. I am not particularly interested only in Ceylon, but I am interested in a Government post where I can do some work and do some good at it. Senator FULBRIGHT. What makes you think you could do that in Ceylon? Mr. GLUCK. Unless I run into something that I am not aware of, I think I ought to do a fairly good job in the job I have been nominated for. Senator FULBRIGHT. What are the problems in Ceylon you think you can deal with? Mr. GLUCK. One of the problems are the people there, not necessarily a problem, but the relationship of the United States with the people in Ceylon. I believe I can I think I can establish, unless we-again, unless I run into something that I have not run into before a good relationship and good feeling toward the United States. Senator FULBRIGHT. Are they not friendly with us now? Mr. GLUCK. Well, I think they are both. I think they are a people who are friendly and unfriendly, and I may be able to Senator FULBRIGHT. Did you notice that recent report of the committee, sent by the United Nations, on Hungary? Mr. GLUCK. On Hungary? Senator FULBRIGHT. Yes. Mr. GLUCK. No, I did not. Senator FULBRIGHT. You have not read that in the papers? Mr. GLUCK. I don't remember the report. Senator FULBRIGHT. Did you notice who was on that committee that made that report? Mr. GLUCK. No, sir. Senator FULBRIGHT. Have you followed our relations in the Far East very closely? Mr. GLUCK. Well, just generally. Senator FULBRIGHT. Do you consider we are on friendly relations with India? Mr. GLUCK. Well, I think it is more I think a lot depends on who is there, and what they do. I don't think we are on the friendliest relations with them, but I believe it can be straightened a little more in one direction, or a little more in another direction, depending on what is done in that country. Senator FULBRIGHT. Do you know our Ambassador to India? Mr. GLUCK. I know John Sherman Cooper, the previous Ambassador. Senator FULBRIGHT. Did you support him in his race? Mr. GLUCK. Yes; I did. Senator FULBRIGHT. And you do not know our present Ambassador? Mr. GLUCK. No; I do not. Senator FULBRIGHT. You do not know who he is? Mr. GLUCK. No. Senator FULBRIGHT. Do you know who the Prime Minister in India is? Mr. GLUCK. Yes; but I can't pronounce his name. Senator FULBRIGHT. Do you know who the Prime Minister to Ceylon is? Mr. GLUCK. I have a list Senator FULBRIGHT. Who is it? Mr. GLUCK. His name is a bit unfamiliar now, I cannot call it off, but I have obtained from Ambassador Crowe a list of all the important people there, and I went over them with him. I have a synopsis of all the people, both Americans, ambassadors, and officials from other countries, and I have from him also a sort of little biography or history of them, with what his opinion of them is; and so Senator FULBRIGHT. That's all, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further questions? Senator SMITH. Just one occurs to me. I note that you are on the board of directors of the World Development Corp. Could you conceivably have any conflict of interest there, with the ambassadorship? Mr. GLUCK. No, sir; not the slightest. Senator SMITH. There would not be any conflict? Mr. GLUCK. No, sir. I have no plans of any kind for personal gain or profit, not any. Senator SMITH. That is all. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. (Mr. Gluck departed the hearing room.) You may be excused. Senator FULBRIGHT. Mr. Chairman, he is a nice man in his business, but I think wholly unsuited to this or any other post. I don't want to raise any cain about it. We have had this up before. You wrote a letter about it. I don't think I can vote for him. I don't think we should pick him out, but I think it is ridiculous to send man with so little preparation to an area where these people are a sensitive and strange people, and I think it will do us no good. However, I am not going to raise cain. I know it is an old and evil custom that afflicts us. Senator WILEY. I know the attitude of the Senator on these things. I start out first with the presumption that when the nominee comes from the Executive, there is back of that nomination a satisfactory conclusion; at least, that he is a man of character and ability and so forth. That was No. 1. No. 2, the distinguished junior Senator from New York came to me yesterday. I did not know this man, and he talked to me about this fellow and he said: "I want to tell you, he is a man of great ability." I said: "What do you mean, just making money?" He said: "No; he has a faculty of handling people. He is a man that has made a success of his own life and a man of good character," and he said: "I know him personally, and I hope that you can see that he is reported." Now, under those circumstances, in view of the fact that he is a graduate of the schools in Pennsylvania, he is married, he has established a business-and I want to tell you, these businessmen have got the energy to create. He has created a big business and done well. Therefore, I move he be reported favorably to the calendar. Now, I have lived through a number of years when the Democratic President nominated folks that had made contributions. I didn't think that disqualified them. I thought it kind of qualified them, because it showed they had an interest in their party and an interest in their Government; so that-I move he be reported favorably. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Smith, any remarks? Senator SMITH. Only this comment: I saw this person yesterday. I had never met him before, but I saw him at the request of Senator Cooper and Senator Javits; and, after talking to him at some length, I felt prepared to go along with his nomination, although I was somewhat troubled that he knew nothing about the area. That may not necessarily be a liability. It may be that a man going in there with a fresh outlook can accomplish quite a bit. He is a man familiar with business, and one who can size up things from scratch, and he may be a very valuable man. I am prepared to second Senator Wiley's motion to report him favorably. Senator FULBRIGHT. I want to say, in answer to the Senator from Wisconsin, that I certainly did not wish to leave the impression that the Democrats do not do the same thing. I still think it is a bad practice, and I can only say that I have often voted against the Democratic nominees, too, back in those days. I think this one is unusually innocent of any knowledge of not only the area, he has not the vaguest idea who is the Prime Minister of Ceylon, India, or anything about it. The CHAIRMAN. India, he said he had Senator FULBRIGHT. He could not pronounce his name. I did not want to embarrass him by asking him to spell it, but, anyway, I am not going to make a big fight about it. I am simply saying thatfollowing up the chairman's letter, I think the Department ought to be a little more concerned about sending-especially to India and that area, Ceylon-a man with no qualifications. That ought to be a position there for a professional man. I will grant that sending a man like that to Belgium can't do much harm, because the Belgians know us, and can overlook those things. I don't think the Ceylonese or Indians will overlook a man who is totally unaware of things that are important to our relations with them. I do happen to think that the appointment to India was one of the best they have made. Goodness knows, I am grateful for it. Mr. Bunker is an extremely well-qualified man. Senator WILEY. You never can tell how far a frog can jump until he jumps. Senator FULBRIGHT. I don't have anything special for him, but I cannot vote for him; and I must express my disapproval of this kind of appointment. I would like to ask the chairman to remind the Department of State that he wrote them a letter about this subject not too long ago. I think it is material, in the face of our letter, that they continue to do this. I don't know what to do about it, to stop it; and I hope we stop it, whether it be a Republican or Democrat. I did not want to make it a partisan matter in any fashion. |