Conant briefly analyzed his post as might any man trying out a new job. As Harvard's president for two decades he was successful particularly as an administrator in putting the finishing touches to the house system, in placing a new emphasis on the autonomy of the various graduate schools; as an educator, his greatest single achievement was the General Education program.
With this preparation he noted that "there is a remarkable similarity between what have been my tasks here at Bonn and my work as president of Harvard. In both cases, I am an administrative officer responsible for a considerable budget and a large personnel, and any administrative officer, whether in academic work or in a diplomatic mission, is dealing with human problems. Furthermore, in both cases I was operating in full view of the public, and what went on in the institutions was always subject to reporting and comment in the press."
Conant pointed out that he has had to adapt himself, however, to two distinct changes. The greater of these is that in Bonn the important events come much more rapidly and the questions have to be answered much more quickly. "The pace perhaps is about five times as fast."
The other difference he experiences in the new position is one which is inevitable in the departure from an academic pose. "I miss my contact with students. There is no equivalent for that part of my Harvard work and this one aspect of my assignment at Bonn I greatly miss."
Perhaps as great an influence as any in preparing him for this huge administrative task was his war-time work of organizing personnel within the Atomic Energy Commission and particularly his job with the Manhattan Project. The process of bringing into co-operation professional people of competing interests under the pressure of a mobilization schedule and directing their efforts within such a field in a complex task which in significant aspects is closely akin to the situation into which he was plunged at Bonn.
Conant's academic achievements, particularly his scientific eminence, have been a big factor in his success in Germany, a country which has a great deal of respect for both the academician and the scientist. But the activities of the past eighteen months have required him to forego these pursuits. In fact, he said, "as long as I remain the President's chief representative in Germany, my interest in education will have to remain dormant." Asked how long that would be, he replied as long as he was wanted.
Contrast With Harvard
The visitor to the campus-like surroundings of the "HICOG" office is strongly aware of the contrast with the wainscoting and small-pane windows of Massachusetts Hall. At a beautifully-landscaped estate on the bank of the Rhine, the offices occupy several large buildings of the same design as Harvard's Commons. The only thing missing is the World Tree.
Enclosed in one shell of cold plate glass and modernistic concrete blocks, the offices of Conant, his assistant and secretaries luxuriate in thick carpets and panelled walls. The physical plant seems intended to accommodate important events at a pace "perhaps five times as great." It is worlds apart from the comfortable tradition that pervades his former Cambridge office. In fact the only fixture that would look quite at home in either place is Conant himself, for he is among other things a Harvardman, and the great versatility that goes with that label will likely stand him in good stead no matter where his political fortunes lead him.