Evening star., 1952-11-06
The Political Mill
Eisenhower's S Victory
Seen Personal Tribute !
At Some Time 1t Wos Rebuke
To Trumun Administration
The Political Mill
By Gould Lincoln

W 90Ut0 stttSVtU
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. elected by
the greatest vote ever given an Ameri-
can, Is President OF the whole United
States-no section Of the country voted
solidly against him. His triumph in
States of the South, traditionally DEM
ocratic, was not marred by religious
issue, as was that. of former President
Herbert Hoover. who In 1928 carried
i've Of the Southern States. $50
His victory was great personal trib-
ute to the man who led this country
and its allies to victory in the Second
World War. At the same time, it was
o rebuke to the Truman administration.
The people felt. indeed. that it was slime
for change" and they acted accord
ingly. The mess In washington and the
mess In the Far East they blamed on
the Democrats. They gambled for
cleanup at home and for o better ap-
proach to peace. They turned to Eisen-
hover as the instrument. &A
Eisenhower's victory was accomplished
with the support of large number Of
independents and diSgruntled Demo-
Gratis. He carried with him to victory
Republican candidates for Senate and
House seats. That he is far stronger
than his party, however, is demon
strated by the fact the political division
In the House and Senate Is extremely
close. Ordinarily, a presidential candi-
date who wins such sweeping victory.
in both the popular and electoral vote Of
the States, finds himself with big work.
ing majorities-o his own political faith
lin the two houses of Congress.
Obviously His Own Man.
Throughout his campaign, Gen. Eisen-
hover described himself as mo deal
candidate" Obviously. he is his own
man. The attempts to picture him as
the captive" Of any group-particularly
Of the Old Guard Of the Republican
Party-fall fiat.. No one now can deny
that he Is the most influential man in
his party-and In the country. In view
of the great vote he received from the
Democrats of the South, 1t is apparent
he will be supported In Congress In his
foreign policy. No group in the Senate.
even If it tries, will be able to hamstring
him. It seems doubtful that such an
attempt will be made. Gen. Eisenhower
has demonstrated many times in the
past his ability to get conflicting groups
to work with him. One Of his most
recent achievements was his success in
getting his own party to unite in the
recent campaign.
The Republicans have an opportunity
to administer the Federal Government.
They have for years insisted they could
do better job than the Democrats. It
remains to be seen. They can, with
benefit to the American people, curtail
expenditures and waste. They can call
q halt to the centralization Of Govern
ment In Washington and leave to the
States many functions which the Demo-
Gratis have strongly urged be handled
by the Federal Government. They will,
however, make grave mistake II they
try to turn the clock back. Gen. Eisen-
hover has given pledge there viii be
no such attempt.
Glass Hatreds Developed. u.
For 20 years, under Democratic leader
ship, class hatreds have been developed
to q degree that never existed previously.
The Republicans have been pictured as
the party Of big interests and the Demo-
cratic Party as. the party Of the common
man. The Democrats have maintained
they are the party Of human rights.
against Republican Party Of property
rights. The Republican Party has the
opportunity to dispel this idea, II It will.
It can seek a better understanding be-
tween American labor and American
business management. It can take
lead In improving the labor laws-which
the Truman administration declined to
do, during the last four years. hoping to
make major issue Of the Taft-Hartley
Act as 1t did in l948. The run-of-the-
mine workers, organized and unorgan-
ized, apparently would not 60 along with
this issue, in spite Of what the leaders
of the unions ordered.
Gen. Eisenhower has promised labor
q square deal That he will 60 through
with that promise there is no reason to
doubt. He has promised fight against
the infiationary policies Of the Truman
administration, and a fight to reduce
taxes. He has q personal mandate from
the people to make good on these prom
ises. II his party in Congress does not
back him up. Republican Party success
will be short. lived. z