Evening star., 1953-04-26
Eisenhower Wins Over
Hostile News Writers
Columnist Says President Coins
In Fuyor With Former Critics
By Fronk R. Kent

Not long ago there was good deal
in the newspapers about the strained
relations" between President Eisenhower
and the Washington newspaper corre-
spondepts. It is doubtful whether Mr..
Eisenhower ever knew that these rela-
tions really were strained. Certainly,
neither publicly nor privately did he
give any such indication. Mostly these
reports emanated from correspondents
who had been pro- Roosevelt and pro-
Truman.
These were the individuals who highly
publicized the fact that the majority Of
the newspapermen on the Eisenhower
campaign train were for Mr. Stevenson.
They did not think it worth while to
mention that, they also had been
strongly New Deal and Fair Deal for a
good many years. After the election
considerable number of these persons
continued to feel very diSgruntled, in
deed They lost few opportunities for
hostile comment and criticism of the
new President and his cabinet. Some
still are at it, magnifying the inevitable.
but so far insignificant, mistakes and
minimizing the material administration
achievements. Not long ago Senator
Taft declared that many of the news
paper columnists and radio commenta-
tors were consistently and unfairly hos
tile to the Eisenhower administration.
Undoubtedly there still is considerable
truth in this charge. There remain q
few who regularly and with relish. refer
to the Eisenhower cabinet as composed
~ twas Nd yHIpr nHorO.
who, though never offended by the
extraordinary number OF Roosevelt trips
to Hyde Park and Warm Springs or the
frequent Truman visits to Key West,
keep harping on the fondness Of Gen.
Ike for golf, as though that were a
breach Of the Constitution or, at any
rate, a major misdemeanor. For a
while, too, it was almost routine for the
anti-Eisenhower columnistS and COM
mentators to harp on his lack OF lead-
ership" and to picture him as 'be-
wildered boob" surrounded by lot OF
bumbling amateurs in politics. And
now. with no real foundation a break
between the President and his Secretary
of State, Mr.. Dulles, is being featured.
It is only fair to say that in the last
few weeks this sort of sniping has
greatly diminished. 1t several times has
been stated in print that a number OF
correspondents who started out dis
liking general Ike had changed their
attitude completely and now are
strongly disposed toward him. There
are several reasons for this. One Is the
candor, good temper and complete
truthfulness with which he conducts
his weekly press conferences, which IL
was inaccurately reported he would not
continue. It was said that he dlsllKeo
to be questioned and would not be able
to cope with his questioners. This has
been completely disproved. Not only
are the Eisenhower conferences highly
productive of news but 1t is agreed that
the President handles himself extreme
ly well. For one thing, he neither lies
to the newspaper men nor patronizeS
thenl-which is a real change.
Another reason for the shift in
journalistic sentiment is the fact that
so many Of the forecasts Of trouble
have turned out baseless. The best
example is the prediction that Mr..
Eisenhower and Senator Taft inevitably
would split; that they never could be-
come either personal or political
friends. Actually, they have achieved
mutual liking and respect which
seem to increase as time goes by. Still
another reason is the clarity with which
1t has been shown that the Eisenhower
popularity in the country remains as
strong as ever and that people gen.
orally are rather bored with the small
ness of the hecklers. Finally, there was
Mr.. Eisenhower's very great speech Of
last week which literally rang around
the world. The praise and approval
here and abroad were overwhelming.
Democrats and Republicans Joined In
paying the President tribute and the
dissenting voices were lost in the
chorus.
Nevertheless, the notion should not
be cherished that the Eisenhower
charm has swung over all those who
have been sniping at him. Some will
continue bitterly to the end. An in
stance is the journalistic gentleman
who, conceding that his recent speech
was a great one, sourly said. do you
suppose Adlai Stevenson wrote 1t for
him?" And that alleged witticism was
widely printed. This sort Of thing, Of
course, is expected from the profession
al politicians and propagandists Of the
opposing party. That Is their business.
But why supposedly independent news
paper men should lend themselves to
It is hard to understand.
invented in any country or age Of the