Evening star., 1952-11-21
Building the New Cabinet


Eisenhower has acted as fast as he has in
choosing John Foster Dulles to serve as Secretary
OF State and Charles Erwin Wilson as Secretary
of Defense
The speed of the action is exceptional In
contrast to Franklin D. Roosevelt-who 20 years
ago waited we'll over three months between his
election and Inauguration before naming any of
his cabinet choiceS-General Eisenhower has
waited little more than two weeks. There is
reason for this, of course. The problem of the
presidential interregnum in 1852 is severer than
In 1882. The issues-especially the international
ones that concern the State and Defense Depart
mentS-are much graver and much less post
ponable now, and there is therefore a pressing
need for an orderly, non-upsetting transfer of
governing power from the outgoing Democratic
to the incoming Republican administration
1t is in obvious recognition of this need that
General Eisenhower, besides revealing his selec-
ton OF Governor Douglas Mckay of Oregon for
Secretary of the Interior has lost no time in nam
Ing the men he wants in the key posts at State
and Defense. What is important about the
action is the fact that as a result of it the
President-elect, between now and his inaugura-
tion on January TO- will be able to count on Mr.
Dulles and Mr.. Wilson-with the cooperation of
Secretaries Acheson and Lovett-to help him
effect smooth administrative transition in two
OF the most vital areas of our Government
AS far as the quality of his selections is con-
cerned, future performance must still be the
final test, but General Eisenhower has good
reason to feel that he has chosen well. Certainly
as the following brief evaluations indicate, he
has made an auspicious start building a
cabinet designed to merit both national and
international respect.
.. John Foster Dulles
AS the most politically prominent of the
three new Secretaries designate, Mr. Dulles needs
little or no introduction to the American people,
Indeed, he needs little or no introduction to the
world at large-least of all to the Soviet Union,
where the Kremlin'S propaganda machine has
long been dealing with him as one of its prime
targets.
For Mr. Dulles-who has the distinction of
being named to an office once held by grand
father of his, and later by an uncle-has played
q leading role in our international affairs for
many years past notably since the end of the
Second World War. Republican adviser to
Democratic Secretaries Byrnes Marshall and
Acheson, he has engaged in some of the most
important meetings of the Big Four. In addition,
to mention but few of his other foreign-policy
activities, he has been a key American figure in
the deliberations of the United Nations; power
full advocate of bipartisan support for such his
toric projects as the European Recovery Program
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and
the chief architect of the Japanese peace treaty.
On the strength of this record-which is
here only Sketchily outlined-it may safely be
said that very few Americans are as well equipped
as Mr.. Dulles to take over the tremendous
responsibilities of Secretary of State. Author
of the foreign policy plank in this years Repub-
lican platform-a plank agreeing in all essentials
with that adopted by the Democrats is
unquestionably one of his party's, and one of the
hocf in hic fo1d oh
during the recent political campaign, in his
ardent advocacy of General Eisenhower, he spoke
loosely about Korea confuSingly attacked the
alleged moral" failure of the anti-Soviet con
tainment" program which he himself helped to
bring into being and had lot of vague things
to say in favor of more affirmative" policy to
promote a crack-up of the Red empire. But
these are at most minor criticisms that do not
detract from the overall excellence of his many
fine international achievements.
In sum, wholly apart from the great service
he can render General Eisenhower during this
difficult transitional PERIOD there can be no
doubt, all things considered that Mr.. Dulles has
the makings of top-notch Secretary of State
one who can be relied upon to revive bipartisan
ship in foreign policy and hold to steady course
aimed at keeping the free world free.
=. Charles E. Wilson
The demands of modern defense mobza-
tion calling for many-faceted skill beyond
that of purely military nature, make the selec-
tion of Charles Erwin Wilson as the next Secretary
of Defense particularly fortunate choice.
Mr.. Wilson is an engineer by education and
profession. But early in his distinguished profess
sional career he assumed responsibilities much
broader than those contained in purely tech
nical field. In 1928 he became vice president of
General Motors Corporation, dealing chiefly with
the company's industrial relations and business
planning. He succeeded to the presidency in 1941
when the late William S. Knudsen resigned to 60
into wartime Government service. Under Mr..
Wilson'S direction, General Motors became the
largest single producer of wartime "f1repower,"
delivering more than $40 billion of war materiel
in four years
Aside from directing his company to trail
blazing industrial achievements, Mr. Wilson pio-
neered with dramatic success in the field of
employe relations. In 1850, he signed with the
United Automobile Workers precedent-setting
five-year contract containing the first coSt-of-
living escalator clause in its wage rates. increased
fringe benefits and guarantees of uninterrupted
production The action was accompanied by an
explanation of the high principles of labor
management relationship which Mr.. Wilson
applied in negotiating the agreement.
AS Secretary of Defense, one of Mr.. Wilson's