Evening star., 1953-09-27
Eisenhower Considered
A Man Undismuyed
Writer Finds President CoIm
In Fuce of Difficulties
By Fronk R. Kent

By Fronk R. Kent
It is fortunate thing for President
Eisenhower that he. does not have time
these days to read the newspapers
even those on file at the White House
His aStute and discerning secretaries
do make brief abstracts of editorial
and news pieces to which they think
his attention should be called and
which are essential to keep him
informed.
But it is reliably stated that he
spends far fewer hours week reading
the papers, himself, than did either
Mr.. Roosevelt or Mr.. Truman. One
reason for this is that despite the silly
talk about his golf and bridge he is
considerably buster than they were,
has larger and more critical problems
to handle and to a greater extent makes
his own decisions. One result is that
he lacks the time, inclination and
opportunity to acquire the journalistic
grudgeS which his predecessors so
deeply cherished and which were
evinced by Mr.. Truman in the form
of personal and abusive letters and by
Mr.. Roosevelt in even more unSavory
and revolving ways. So far as Mr..
Eisenhower is concerned he seems to
have taken on no hates" either polit-
ical or personal. This does not neces-
sarily mean that he likes everybody.
It may merely mean that he is normally
a good tempered man with a tre-
mendous job to do and knows hating
people is a handicap.
In his situation not reading the stuff
written about him today Is certainly
the part of wisdom For, not in the
memory of the oldest observer here
have there been so many writing men
and women in Washington wholly alb
sorbed in the business of telling the
American people what the new PreSi-
dent has been doing, what he is doing
and what he is going to do. One
learned group Of columnistS and, COM
mentators specializes in making clear
the things which Mr.. Eisenhower has
in his mind-but should not have.
Another equally erudite group stresses
the many things which he does not
have in mind-but should Then there
is a third group which ticks of every
Qdy OF SO CI10 NCOAoAOAo
which he must make before the Con-
gress again convenes, emphasizing the
alleged fact that a blunder on any
of these problems will certainly wreck
the administration, probably the coun-
try and possibly the world. All these
groups solemnly admoniSh the Presi-
dent that. frightful crises impend and
unless ne acts promptly and with great
wisdom and courage, all is lost
If. taking them seriously, he read all
these analysts and admonishers he
probably would go crazy. OF course,
he would know that as to what is in
his mind and what is not none OF them
has any first-hand knowledge at all.
The best any of them have is second.
third or fourth hand-maybe not that.
Many of them seem under some sort Of
compulsion to write or speak authorita-
lively about the generals innermost
thoughts, feelings and intentions.
though none of them appears to have
the sort of intimate personal relation
ship that would lead him to conflde
in them. Most of them grew up in
the old New Deal school and in the
last campaign leaned strongly toward
the good Adlai. They are not openly
hostile to Ike (and have no reason to
be- but they have not gotten over the
disappointment of last years election
and are not used to having flrst-class.
sensible, reasonably unselfish men in
the important public Offices.
X
Their disposition is to believe that
the present situation can't last and
that, despite his undiminished popu-
larity, Gen. Ike is bound to go wrong
with all these sinister men Of big busi-
ness around him. And then the good
old "eggheads" will come marching
back again with the good old labor
bosses high up in the front pews and
all this nonsense about cutting down
expenditures and reducing waste will go
"out the window" Perhaps they are
right and the people do not really want
the sort of administration they are
getting nor the sort of effort which is
now being made by the sort of man
who is making it. Perhaps they have
changed their minds since last Novem-
ber and the Democratic propaganda
about big business taking over and
the Eisenhower promises being broken.
etc, may be effective.
But there are no indications of it at
the moment. On the contrary the
speech he made in Boston Monday
night gave evidence that the President
believes nothing of the kind. Unde-
tered by the conflicting advice from
hordes of volunteer advisers and un-
moved by name-calling charges, such
as came from Senator Johnston of
South Carolina last week. he presented
picture of deeply sincere and tre-
mendously earnest man trying to do
his best in the toughest job in the world
and though fully aware of the for
midable obstacles in his way, entirely
undismayed.