Rabb Slated to Be New U.S. Envoy to Italy; Rostow is in Line to Head Arms Control and Disarmament Ag

— Maxwell Rabb, a New York attorney long prominent in Republican Party ranks, is slated to be the new U.S. Ambassador to Italy, and Eugene Rostow, a Yale University professor, is in line to head the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, White House sources said.

Rabb, 71, has been active in Republican politics since he served as the administrative assistant to Massachusetts Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge in 1937. He was an assistant to President Eisenhower and Secretary of the Cabinet in Eisenhower’s Administration. He was also an administrative assistant to Massachusetts Republican Senator Sinclair Weeks and was a legal and legislative consultant to Navy Secretary James Forrestal in the Truman Administration. Rabb was a delegate to several Republican conventions and was prominently associated with the GOP presidential campaigns since 1952.

Rabb has been honored by numerous national organizations and served with the United States commission to UNESCO in 1959-60. He was chairman of the U.S. delegation to UNESCO in 1958. His affiliations have included the NAACP, United Jewish Appeal of which he was government division chairman for five years in the 1950s, and Temple Emanu-El in New York of which he is president. In 1958 he was decorated with the commendation ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy.

Rostow, who is a former dean of the Yale Law School, was reported to be a “potential competitor” of retired Army Lt. Gen. Edward Rowny for the post of administrator of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Rowny was the representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) for President Carter.

Rostow, 67, was Undersecretary of State from 1966 to 1969 in the Johnson Administration. Although a long-time Democrat, Rostow supported President Reagan in the last election campaign.