Word: beaverbrook
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...knack for administration was uncanny: he showed an instantaneous grasp of personnel problems, gave subordinates snappy decisions which constantly left them with an awed "why-didn't-I-think-of-that?" feeling. He handled his bosses with equal ease. The day he learned that peppery Lord Beaverbrook was taking over the Ministry, young Franks mourned to a friend that "that awful little man" would wreck the organization. Then he had a second thought, and added: "I think I'll look into the office over the weekend...
...doubtless calculated, Beaverbrook, bristling like a new broom, also showed up at the office on Sunday morning, demanded to know who was on the job. Oliver-on-the-spot had a long talk with the Beaver, instantly and deeply impressed the new boss. Thereafter, Beaverbrook rarely turned a wheel without consulting Franks...
Once, when Beaverbrook did act without consulting Franks, he got himself into difficulties. The Beaver turned up at a cabinet meeting with a set of inaccurate labor figures, which Franks and his statisticians could have told him were wrong. Bevin, who loathed Beaverbrook, was quick to spot the error. In the cabinet meeting they started quarreling and Churchill had to intervene saying: "I really can't have two of my cabinet ministers carrying on like this," "Well,", said Bevin, "I won't accept those figures from Beaverbrook. I'll accept them only from Franks...
...Riviera, Amateur Painter Merle Oberon dropped into Lord Beaverbrook's villa to show one of her seascapes to Amateur Painter Winston Churchill. "What are those little white specks?" asked Churchill. "Sailing boats," replied Merle, unabashed. Said Churchill, recovering gallantly: "You have a nice eye for color." Then the two looped arms and went off for a swim...
...would cut down the amount of goods Britain would be able to buy in the U.S.) now cried that U.S. prices were too low; British manufacturers could not compete with them. Other Laborite headlines: "Stop the Sneers," "Warning to Americans," "They Are Slinging Mud at Britain." Tory Lord Beaverbrook's Daily Express had its own summary of these goings-on, and it was all but unique in Britain: "Judging by the undignified outburst of hysterical resentment...it looks as though all we can take today is dollars. But criticism? Never...