Evening star., 1953-03-29
Former RivoIs Pull Together
BohIen Case Proves Eisenhower Got Break When Taft
Took Over Important Post of Senate Majority Leader
By ]. A. OIeon


A year ago Senator Taft Of
Ohio was battling Gen. Eisen-
hover for the chance to be-
come the first Republican Presi-
dent in 20 years.
Today. they are pulling, to-
gether as the most effective
team in the new administration,
as evidenced by the whopping
victory they won in the Senate
fight over the Bohlen nomina-
ton.
There is no denying the part
the Presidents own popularity
played in rolling up the vote of
IA to 13, with eight absentees
indicating they also would have
voted for the new Ambassador
to Russia, Charles E. (Chip)
Bohlen.
But if Senator Taft had not
been at the helm as Majority
Leader and going down the line
for the White House the result
might not have been so decisive.
The outcome of the Bohlen
contest demonstrates that it was
a break for Gen. Eisenhower
when his chief rival of a year
ago decided to take the Senate
floor leadership.
Would Not Have Picked Him.
Some of the Republicans who
voted for Mr.. Bohlen made it
clear they were not doing so
enthusiastically. And Senator
Taft himself said early in the
fight that he would not have
picked Mr.. Bohlen for a policy
making post in the State De-
partment. The Ohioan took the
view that in Moscow Mr.. Bohlen
would merely be reporting infor-
nation to the State Department.
But the Ohio Senator believes
In party responsibility and acted
accordingly, even though the
small opposition group included
some of his strongest supporters
for the presidential nomination
last year.
Senator Taft said yesterday he
does not think the detection of
IL Republicans on the Bohlen
nomination signals a perma-
nent division in G. o. P. ranks.
He said he disagreed with the
objectors because he did not be-
lieve the appointment of an am
bassador to Russia involved any
issue Of future foreign policy.
The majority leader said some
other differences may arise dur
ing the session on specific issues,
such as the amount that should
be spent for foreign aid, but l
don't see any fundamental diff
ference that would justify call
ing it a split"
Others Raised Question.
The Ohio Senator also told re-
porters that Senator Mccarthy,
Republican, of Wisconsin, did
not originate the opposition to
Mr.. Bohlen. He said other Sem
ators had raised questions about
the nomination before Senator
Mccarthy began inquiring into
whether the State Department.
new security officer. r. w. Scott
Mcleod, had cleared the nomi-
nee.
The name of Chip Bohlen, a
career diplomat with "a years of
experience, was submitted to the
Senate by President Eisenhower
on February q. -
The first question that comes
to mind in reviewing the case is
why it took a month to get him
confirmed. with only 13 out of
96 Senators in the opposition
camp.
The answer lies partly in the
fact that the Senate does not
yet have a calendar of important
business ready for floor debate,
and has been meeting on an
average of three days a week.
Had the nomination been sub
mitted at a time when the Sen
ate had other urgent business
waiting, it would not have spread
out the debate from Monday to
Wednesday and then to Friday.
The chronology of the case
may be boiled down as follows:
February 28-The nomination
reached the Foreign Relations
Committee. The committee has
a new rule that all diplomatic
appointments must lie over for
six days, but that rule was not a
factor in this case, because
nearly three weeks elapsed be-
fore the committee voted on Mr..
Bohlen.
March 2-Mr. Bohlen was
called in for the first hearing on
his nomination. It was a closed
session, but the testimony made
public later disclosed that the
committee questioned him about
every minute detail of the Yalta