Evening star., 1947-07-16
Eisenhower-in-1o48
Debated at Conference
Some at Farley of Governors See
Dewey's Fear of General
Bv Doris Fleeson

Dewey's Fear of General
By Doris Fleeson
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah. July 1s.-The
availability Of Gen. Eisenhower in 1s48 con-
tinues to be hotly debated here at this politics.
laden conference Of the Nations Governors.
The official Dewey attitude is that he
assumes Gen. Eisenhower told the truth when
he assured a Missouri pleader that he would
.~Asun for President.
That supporter filled In a sizable group Of
Washington correspondents with a detailed
account of his Eisenhower conversations. 1t
checks with Gov. Thomas E. Dewey's state
ments; it is convincing. But unlike Gov.
Dewey, some of the reporters with him can't
swallow either Gen. Eisenhowers renunciation
or Gov. Deweys indifference to the Eisenhower
threat.
They think they see in Gen. Eisenhower's
many public appearances. his assumption of
the presidency of Columbia University. which
takes him out of the Army, and in his magnetic
personality, the makings Of BOOM They
have already heard enough on this trip from
politicians and taxi drivers to convince them
that Ike has only to say the word to start
prairie fire.
Has Political Warmth
They think one reason Gov. Dewey made this
trip to harangue his supporters on the neces-
sity for stampede-proof delegates is that he
fears Gen. Eisenhower, the natural-born baby
kiSser whom everybody takes to upon contact.
No candidate now in the field has such warmth.
In this connection they add that Gov. Dewey
has realistic sense of the danger to him If
Henry Wallace splits the Democrats and ths
Republicans no longer need New York, but can
nominate Henry Mencken's Chinese This
Dewey peril has been artfully linked to the
Eisenhower boom by Alf Landon, fact noted
and unappreciated by Gov Dewey.
Weighing such speculation, politicoes here
make these observations:
l. Eisenhower husband soon-pass the word
along in strategic places that he will CO. after
all. There is no such thing as a spontaneous
draft. Clever operators can give the appear
ance of one, as Wendell WILKES did But
years intensive labor in key business circles
all over the country preceded the famous Phila-
delphia gallery I'VE want Willkie" yes.
No Military Prejudice.
2. The American people will not be preju-
diced against the general because ne is mill
tary man.
3. Cen. Eisenhower's friendness toward the
Red Army, which worked SO we'll with him dur
ing the war, may not be a handicap to him.
4. Eisenhower talk persists partly because the
American people are tired of the same old faces
in their politics. They are bone-weary of the
New Dealers; they are getting somewhat bored
with the same old crop of Republicans. Ameri
cans like new movies, new cars, new clothes.
If an impresario like Belasco or Zanuck we're
putting on the 48 campaign, he would without
hesitation, ditch the present cast and choose
new stars. Gen. Eisenhower would be natural
and make great campaigner. president Tru-
man would have to give way, too, under such
a dispensation. naturally
The politicians conclude wryly that the party
organizations are also made up of familiar faces
and are allergc to new discoveries unless abso-
lutely needed to win an election. The Republi-
cans this time don't need an Eisenhower, they
suggest.
(Released by the Bell Syndicate, Inc)