Derwinski Seen as Intelligent, Affable, Likable

Edward J. Derwinski, President-elect Bush’s choice to head the new Veterans Affairs Department, is an affable, corpulent former Republican congressman whose main interests in government have been in foreign affairs.

For this reason, Derwinski, now 62 and a trouble-shooter for the State Department, never figured heavily in speculation about who would direct the new veterans’ agency.

But associates said that what may help him most, aside from his service in the Pacific during World War II as an Army technician, are the warm friendships he established with members of both parties during his 24 years in the House.

“He’ll get along well on Capitol Hill,” a friend said. “He’s exceptionally bright and it’s impossible to dislike him.”

Veterans Pleased

Initial reaction from veterans’ groups and others was positive. Rep. G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery (D-Miss.), who sponsored the legislation that upgraded the Veterans Administration to the 14th and newest Cabinet department as of March 15, called Derwinski “a fine choice.”

Derwinski, a Polish-American politician from Chicago, is married and has two children. He has spent most of his adult life in government. After serving a term in the Illinois Legislature in 1957 and 1958, he ran successfully for the House in 1958 and was reelected to 11 more two-year terms.

When he was defeated in a Republican primary in 1982, President Reagan kept him in Washington by appointing him as a top State Department lawyer and trouble-shooter.

One of his first major assignments was coordinating the work of federal and state law enforcement agencies in connection with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He was involved in projects dealing with Micronesia and helped arrange a salmon treaty with Canada.

From his years in Congress, Derwinski developed a healthy cynicism about federal bureaucrats, even though he became one of them. He told an interviewer earlier this year that his biggest problem with the Los Angeles Olympics was “keeping well-intentioned federal bureaucrats out of the hair” of Los Angeles officials who were planning the games.

Agriculture Department inspectors, he said, wanted “to check animals coming in for the equestrian events for hoof-and-mouth disease. They figured that would be an easy little trip to Los Angeles.”

Similarly, he said, some officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency felt they should be prepared if an earthquake occurred during the games. “Every FEMA officer wanted to go to Los Angeles for three weeks,” he said wryly.

As a self-described “sports nut” and “walking encyclopedia” of sports knowledge, Derwinski has been a season ticket holder for 40 years to Notre Dame football games and an avid fan of the Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears professional football teams.

But he learned several years ago that spectator sports can be dangerous.

When he attended a trap-shooting meet in the Washington area to watch his wife and son display their skills, his wife’s shotgun accidentally discharged and sprayed him with 250 pellets. He was hospitalized for six weeks and still picks an occasional pellet out of his abdomen or thigh.

“Frankly, his considerable, er, lard, saved his life,” said a friend who helped him recuperate.