NEW ECONOMIC STABILIZER

Nominated last week by President Truman to succeed Eric Johnston as boss of the Economic Stabilization Agency: Roger Lowell Putnam.

Vital Statistics: Born Dec. 19, 1893, in Boston, son of a noted Boston lawyer and a descendant of New England's oldest settlers. A. Lawrence Lowell, president of Harvard (1909-1933) was his uncle; cigar-smoking Poetess Amy Lowell was his aunt.

Education: Noble and Greenough School in Mass.; Harvard magna cum laude (Math.) 1915.

Family: Married Oct. 9, 1919 to Caroline P. Jenkins of Glymont, Md. Six children: three boys (Roger Jr., 29; William, 27; Michael, 18), three girls (Caroline, a nun, 30; Anna, 24; Mary, 21).

Tastes: Does not smoke; weaves rope belts which he gives to friends; dabbles in astronomy for fun; saws wood to keep in trim.

Business Career. Got his first job working 72 hours a week for a New London, Conn. shipbuilder. Came out of World War I a Navy lieutenant, j.g. (served on the U.S.S. Mississippi). In 1919 went to Springfield, Mass. as a salesman for the Package Machinery Co. Became president eight years later. During the Depression, when many firms laid off men, Putnam's poured in money to develop new machinery, kept employment at a high level by going on a five-day week, pioneered profit-sharing, life-insurance and wage-bonus plans. He is comfortably wealthy.

Politics: Formerly a Republican, he voted for F.D.R. in 1932, has been a "consistent liberal Democrat" ever since. Elected mayor of Springfield in 1937. Re-elected mayor twice (1939, 1941). Ran for governor in 1942, but lost to Leverett Saltonstall. Putnam is almost unknown in Washington.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.