Evening star., 1952-09-27
General Ike's 'JoiIers'

General Ike's 'JoiIers'
An astonishing amount of nonsense is being
written these days about the capture" of
General Eisenhower.
If one chooses to believe all or even q part
of the message being pounded out by the
liberal tom-tom beaters, General Eisenhower
has surrendered to Senator Taft He has bent
the knee and been taken over by the McCarthys
and the Jenners And now it is being said that
Senator Nixon, in fanking maneuver, has
taken the general into camp. Before this
campaign is over General Eisenhower preslm-
ably will be relegated by these critics to the
role OF messenger boy with special attendants
to guide him on his missions
To the extent that this line of criticism
is sincere as distinguished from that which is
purely partisan, it reflects gross misunderstand-
ing OF our political system and how that system
works. To state, as Thomas L. Stokes did in
recent column in The Star, that General Eisen-
hover, through series of surrenders and
retreats Finally has become the complete captive
of the Old Guard wing of his party" is to ignore
or misconceive the basic realities of political
life
1t is true that General Eisenhower has made
his political peace with Senator Taft and to a
and Mccarthy. But it is nonsense to say that
he has become their complete captive. The most
casual reading of what General Eisenhower has
said demonstrates the falsity of any such
contention.
In his speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, a
speech that was deserving of more attention than
it received, the Republican candidate undertook
to explain what he is trying to do within the
party, and why. The true objective of leadership
In government, he said, is ito bring together
different points Of view into workable COM
bination for the good of ALL" Nothing could
"harm America more than to destroy her
traditional two-party system. To maintain that
system we must have that unity OF diverse
elements which our opponents deplore."
This happens to be true. It will not, Of
course, satisfy those who cry for repudiation of
the Old Guard, cost what it may. But it will
make sense to those who want to see d a
Republican victory in this election, and (2) a
successful Republican administration
How could General Eisenhower hope to win
if he were going about the country denouncing
the Tafts, the Nixons, the Jenners and the
McCarthys? And more important, even If he
might still win the election with those tactics,
how could he possibly hope for a successful
administration?
President-any Presdent-has to be able
to work with congress II ne is 10 accomplish
anything worth while. That, indeed, may well
be the No. requisite of a successful President,
and inability to work with Congress certainly
has been the prime reason for Mr.. Truman's
legislative program failures and for the similar
failures in the latter years of the Roosevelt
administrations.
@ One thing is certain. The Old Guard will
be back in the next Congress. There may be
new face here and there, but there is not likely
to be any substantial change in the lineup.
And the next President will have to deal with
the Congress, including the Old Guard.
General Eisenhower, in addition to trying
to win the election is trying to prepare climate
in which he can work to maximum advantage
with Congress If he wins. This does not mean,
as he has made amply clear that he approves
of everything the Old Guard has done, or that
he has substituted their principles for his prin-
ciples It does mean that he is trying to prepare
himself to do his job-"to work with these
representatives chosen by the people OF each
State"
If he were not willing to do this, the time
to have said so was before, not after, he decided
to become a candidate for the Republican nomi-
nation And those who condemn him now,
although many of them were cheering for him
in the preconvention fight, should realize that
the course they urge the general to follow would
lead in all probability to defeat in the election,
and, if not that, to pickering, futile and trus-
trated Republican administration.