Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1951-06-15
TRUMAN ON
OFFENSIVE?
BY James Marrow


talk around here now that Presi-
dent Truman is going to start
fighting back at the critics of
his administration. If he does, it
viii be a sort of change of pace.
This talk seems to have sprung
up after a White House announce
ment he would make a radio-TV
speech to the nation Thursday
night, urging that price and wage
controls be continued by Congress
beyond June 30.
It will be the Presidents first
major speech to the nation since
April IL when he took to the air
to explain why he had just fired
General Macarthur. Fighting
talks by the President in the past
year or SO have been infrequent
in facts, talks by the president
even explaining policies have been
fairly infrequent leaving a big
vacuum that has provided plenty
of room for his critics.
In the past year or SO criticism
has piled up on his administra-
ton. It reached climax with the
public acclaim given Macarthur
when he returned home.
And since then Mr.. Truman's
Republican critics in particular
have continued to sharpshoot al
him and members of his admins
tration. The tone of that criticism
gets less polite as time goes on
with words like dishonest" being
thrown around.
When the history of these times
is written it may show the Tru.
man Administration went on the
defensive when Senator Mccarthy
Wisconsin Republican, began max
ing broad charges of communism
in the state department, with sec
retary of State Acheson the par
ticular target of his attack.
What a sustained counterattacl
by the Trumanites might have
accomplished will have to remain
one of the unanswered question!
of history. But there certainly ha'
been no attempt at such counter
attack.
There's been some commen
here that Acheson, in his testi
mony at the Senate inquiry int
MacArthur's firing, was aggres
sive, for a change. He answered
questions firmly but it's debat
able whether that could be callet
aggressive.
President Truman seemed pleas
ed with Acheson's performance
He publicly pronounced a BLESSING
of well done and said Achesol
would remain as his Secretary o
State.
Compared with the attack
made on him, Acheson's answer
were mild indeed. It's possible h
doesn't feel he should reply Il
his critics with the same tiers
toughness they turned loose o.
him, for at one place he said:
Criticism is something hav
to bear as an occupational haz
ard and / am quite ready to bea
it,
Mr.. Truman himself certainly
capable of vigorous answers a
he demonstrated when he success
fully carnpaigned for the presi
dency in 1948. Since then he ha
been quieter.
It may have been his deliberat
policy to stand back and say com
paratively little, believing the crit
icism would blow itself out of il
own accord in time. Certainly tn
public uproar over Mccarthy
charges has died down.
!. And there's less interest eviden
now in the Macarthur inquir
than in the first week or SO G
1t. The public has been drenche
in the 100000 (M) words {
testimony, spread over five week
. of hearings.
In a country like this, Wher
sensation seems to follow ser
sation each In turn submerge
! in the language of argument y
it may be that the public lose
interest in one sensation as
turns to another.