Evening star., 1952-06-01
Eisenhower's Ordeal
Nothing to Worry Him
Writer Finds General Able
To Face Rigorous Compoiqn
By Fronk R. Kent


To Face Rigorous Compoien
By Fronk R. Kent
How General Eisenhower, who win
arrive here by air today, survives the
'ordeal" Gas it is journalistically FASH
ionable to call it, through which he Is
to 60. no one really knows. However.
the idea that what he says or does is
greatly to affect his candidacy for the
Republican presidential nomination one
way or another does not seem well
founded.
True, the forces opposed to him are
planning to interpret whatever he pub
licly says to his disadvantage He will
be subjected to q terrific barrage of
questions by Senators. newspaper cor
respondents and others and there will
be unleashed against him vast volume
Of hostile propaganda. Preparations on
a large scale are being made to smear"
the general. Already two expensive
newspapers in tabloid form full of rather
filthy lies are being printed and cir.
culated about the country. The Eisen-
hover managers have done what they
could to discredit these publications but
they are not the kind to be deferred by
denials or denunciations. Eager as Sem
ator Taft and his aides naturally are to
embarrass ike" with pointed queries
on explosive issues, it is only fair to
say that they have nothing whatever to
do with supplying either the money for.
or the contents Of, these thoroughly
nauseous sheets.
&a -
particularly vicious racial and religious
groups and are only mentioned here to
indicate the sort Of stun which IKE"
may expect after he takes his uniform
of and the campaign gets hot. The rea-
sons his friends are not too deeply dis
turbed by either the printed lies, the
efforts of the Taft people to force the
general to take positions sure to lose
him votes or by the big press confer
ences with their traps. trick questions
and opportunities to blunder. are very
simple. One, Of course, Il that these
things are characteristic Of all cam
paigns. They differ in degree but not
fundamentally. Every candidate for high
Office experiences them. There Is nothing
really new about them.
Another reason is that they have
great confidence in their candidate.
True enough he is not q politician but
he isn't q boob either. He isn't afraid
Of politicians or reporters or people. He
has had q good deal Of experience In
dealing with all Of them-and, in fact,
likes them. He is accustomed to using
his mind and making decisions. He isn't,
they are convinced, going to say or do
anything unnatural or hypocritical or
foolish. The chances are he is just go
ing to be himself. And that. say his
friends, is enough. A third reason the
Eisenhower managers are not appre-
hensive is their belief that the senti-
ment for their man Is not the kind to
be shifted by attacks on him. foul or
fair. To the multitudes who are now for
Eisenhower he is the man they want to
be President and it does not make much
difference what he says or does not say.
The fact is it would take really some
thing big to swing an Eisenhower man
or woman away from Eisenhower now.
just as it would take something pretty
big to swing Taft man or woman away
from Taft.
What the general says in his forth
coming speeches and at the inevitable
press conferences. Of course. will be
fiercely debated. lauded by his friends.
denounced by his foes. However, it is
doubtful whether they will change Taft
people into Eisenhower people or Eisen-
hover people into Taftites. It Is pos
Sible the general may find himself un-
able to cope with the correspondents and
the politicians-possible, too. that he
may make some devastating mistake.
But neither seems likely. One advantage
the general will have from now to the
day the Republican convention acts is
that he does not have to strain himself.
He can be himself. He does not have to
step out Of character. He wants to be
President but not badly enough to pay
too high price for 1t. That should
keep him out Of trouble by relieving him
from having to compete with other can
didates in both parties in promises to
special groups and pressure organiza-
tions supposed to swing great blocs Of
voters.
One Of the very things that makes
him so strong In the country is that he
is not tied up with any such groups.
For 10 years we have had Presidents
who subordinated their administration
to the leaders Of these groups and were
subsequently linked with them person.
ally and politically. There have been
many indications that the people as q
whole are sick Of this state Of servility
and want some one In the White House
wholly uncommitted and free. No small