Evening star., 1953-01-11
Eisenhower
Every One Agrees
He's Growing Up
By Crosby S. Noyes

ElSeIluOWeI NEW 1OTk ued0QudIC CeIo
these days is: my, how the man
has grown up since the last time
we saw him."
The intention Is usually meant a.
q compliment to the President-elect.
Gen. EiSenhower's political stature
has undergone some spectacular
fluctuations since last spring, in. the
eyes Of observers attached to his
camp. Right now. for number
of reasons, he is looking more inn
presSive than ever.
Confirmed Ike-likers will take it
as mild heresy that the general
should ever have been measured in
anything less than heroic propor-
tions. From the outset. they be-
lieved him more than capable Of
shouldering the complex responsible
tiles of the presidency. 1t is the
recently skeptical who are talking
about the change which seems to
have taken place. Something. they
say, has happened to the man who
once struck them as occasionally
lacking in decision, confidence and
common political savvy in the
course of the campaign.
Victory Portly Accountable
1t is change that is not entirely
explained by the fact of the election
itself. Victory at the polls is, Of
course, a powerful restorative. as
more than one faltering candidate
can testify. But the SkepticS still
had to be shown that Gen. .Eisen-
hover would recognize and seize the
freedom of action which the voters
gave him on November 4.
The doubt has been largely dis
PEELED by what the President-elect
has done so far in building his
new administration. Whatever else
one may feel about the men chosen
for the top executive jobs. it's q
safe bet that no one else would
have chosen the same group. For
better or worse, the new cabinet
will be neither q Taft cabinet nor
a Dewey cabinet. And distinc-
lively Eisenhower cabinet is ons
clear sign that the general Is TAX
ing hold on his job.
No group, certainly, can claim to-
day to hold the general as cap
tive, willing or otherwise. One of
the things that has added several
cubits to the Eisenhower stature
is the feeling that he is in the
drivers seat and evidently plans to
stay there.
Two Mystery Foctors
For those Immediately connected
with the New York headquarters.
two other factors have helped. One
of them is the security with which
all PreSidentS-elect are surrounded
The other, growing out Of these
precautions, IS Gen. Eisenhower
new isolation.
The job of protecting their charge
in his hotel headquarters is APP
parently giving the Secret Service
nightmares. Old White House
hands say the routine set up is
tighter than anything they have
seen in Washington. 1t goes far
beyond the precautions considered
adequate at the White House.
reaching the point of concealment
--or at least attempted conceal
ment-of the fact that the general
is there at all.
For reasons, of their own-and
doubtless they are the best of rea-
sons-the Secret Service men guard
ing the Commodore Hotel don't like
to tell visitors which floor the head
quarters is on. Any elevator boy will
tell you. but the Secret Service men
won't. Except for official visitors, no
one is supposed to know which room
serves as the generals Office. No
one is supposed to know when he
comes and goes.
A Profound Effect
Impressive enough in itself, this
new routine has had profound ef-
feet on the members of the Eisen-
hover press corps, and even on
members of the generals own staff.
During the campaign, reporters
saw the candidate constantly in the
course of most days. There were
endless appearances, speeches and
even occasional press conferences Of
varying degrees of formality.
Now, If reporters get up early
enough, they may glimpse the
President-elect as he reaches his Of
flee at $3.50 in the morning. They
can see him step into. the elevator
around in the afternoon. Occa-
sionally. he will pose for photog-
rapherS with some specially favored
visitor The rest of the time. the
general might as well be in Podunk.
for all the reporters see of him.
Informed Sources Are Mum
This new sphinxlike quality Is
not limited to the head man. 1t
applies almost as much to the more
important members of the adminiS-
trations inner circle-the Informed
sources" that featured SO promi-
nently in prediction dope stories.
Today they have been drawn firmly
into the web of organized isolation
with which, as matter of policy,
Gen. Eisenhower has surrounded
himself.
Contrary to the popular notion.
reporters do not just drop in on
Gov Sherman Adams or Herbert
Brownell or Arthur Vandenberg, jr.,
to pass the time of day and find out
what's going on. There was time
when they could have. Now Ques-
ton for one of these gentlemen
goes through channels, and the
answer, when it comes, is likely to
be pretty innocuous.
This recital is not aimed at arous-
ing, sympathy for frustrated news
men. It is an attempt to explain
the seemingly ungracious conclusion
that Gen. Eisenhower's political
stature has varied inversely in pro-
portion to the amount of talking
he has done.
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