Passings

Thomas E. Stephens; Aide to Eisenhower

Thomas E. Stephens, 84, appointments secretary to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and a moving force in the campaign to steer the Republican presidential nomination to New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. After Dewey lost to Harry S. Truman, Stephens helped persuade Eisenhower to accept the GOP presidential nomination bid in 1952 and subsequently joined his staff. He left the Eisenhower White House in 1956 to work on the reelection campaign but came back as appointments secretary in 1956. Known for his gags, Stephens grew tomatoes in the White House rose garden and distributed paint-by-numbers kits to such Republicans as Nelson A. Rockefeller, Clare Booth Luce and Eisenhower and then hung the results in the White House. In Clearwater, Fla., on Sunday.