Evening star., 1951-11-18
SAYS Eisenhower Wants
9. 0. P. Nomination
Writer Sees General Available
By Next Summer
By Fronk R. Kent


support Gen. Eisenhower for the Demo-
cratic nomination in 1852 and of the
generals implied rejection because Of
his distaste for the New Deal-Fair Deal
domestic policies, as related by Arthur
Krock, now has been measurably alb
sorbed.
Reverberations still are felt. but
enough time has elapsed to permit an
estimate of results. One interesting
fact is that. despite the Truman denial
and the secondhand one Of the general,
scarcely any one in politics doubts there
Is sound basis of truth for the Krock
report. Partly this is due to Mr.. Krock's
high reputation as an able, honest and
restrained reporter; and partly TO the
well-recognized habit of politicians to
deny facts embarrassingly made public
The vehement denials Of the Hopkins
"tax, tax, spend. spend. elect. elect
statement are shining example.
The late Mr.. Roosevelt practiced such
denials frequently and shamelessly In
this case, conceding the truth Of the
report, Gen. Eisenhower. who is not a
politician. had no alternative. After
the Truman denial, he hardly could con-
strongly insisting that the offer was
made and was rejected, Mr.. Krock says
that it may have been made by an
intermediary" and not face to face.
This is reasonable and also would lend
some justification for the denials. The
Intermediary idea seems now generally
accepted and, of course. there is vast
speculation as to his identity. Numer-
Gus guesses have been made, some quite
wild; others highly plausible.
AS to the results-still accepting the
offer as having been made-there are
several views. One group holds that it
eliminates Ike" as the Republican
nominee, the argument being that any
one acceptable to Mr.. Truman would
not be available as Republican candi-
date. Another argument is that his
opposition to the Truman domestic
policies makes him unacceptable to the
professional liberals" of the Ameri-
cans for Democratic Action type and
the CIO bosses. A second group con-
tends the offer makes it clearer than
before that Mr.. Truman will not run;
that his idea now is to nominate a man
who can win. A third group insists the
net effect will be to help Senator Taft.
as doubt is cast on Gen. Eisenhowers
republicanism and his Republican sup
porters are confused.
Obvious reasons for dissent from these
theories exist. 1t is easy to shoot them
all full Of holes and there seems more
sense in the contention that this un-
precedented incident has not really
changed anything. AS to Mr.. Truman,
1t has strengthened the view of those
who had thought he would not run, but
it has not changed those who have felt
he must run. AS to Gen. Eisenhower.
three things are emphasized by the
Krock report: ID That he does not want
the Democratic nomination; 90 that
he is Republican,; CD that if next
summer the military situation in West
ern Europe is such that he can, without
risk to the national interests, turn his
Job over there to some one else and the
Republican convention nominates him.
he will accept.
Certainly. the general has done MOTH
ing to discourage those he knows are
working for him with great vigor and
enthusiasm. True. they did not like that
first Washington remark that he had no
political aspirations. To them that was
not only unnecessary but unconvincing.
However what he said later satisfied
them. He knows exactly what they are
doing. At no time has he said anything
comparable to the Marshall utterance:
Il am not now available as q candidate
for any elective office-nor will I ever
be-" So long as he does not say that.
they know he is not only availabTe-but
wants the nomination. The only risk
they take is that the military situation
next year may preclude his running It
may be that his sense of duty will compel
him then to eliminate himself. But his
friends do not think so. They take that
risk with wide-open eyes and full knowl-
edge. Senator Duff, who appears to be
managing the Eisenhower candidacy, IL
nobody's fool in politics or anything else.