Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-27
Anthony Eden: The Perfect Diplomat
By Crosby S. Moves
For,ium eowospondona q The sscE.

In the RfeaL TSCSpClOu 11dAS ocFcA al
hundred people. dressed IN their
party clothes, stood silently staring
at Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov.
Mr.. Molotov, his hand sunk in the
rocket Of his dinner jacket, stared
hack unSmiling through rimlesS
pince-nez. BY his side, United States
Secretary of State Dulles hdgeted
nervously, glancing back over nus
shoulder.
There was a long, embarrassed
pause. Then the sound OF Laughter
drifted out of the adjacent dining
room. A tall, immaculate figure APP
peared in the doorway, flashed q
radiant smile at the assembly ana
started confidently across the room.
Suddenly the ice was broken and
everyone was talking again.
Dear Anthony" murmured one
enrapt matron. $50 reaSSur1ng.
thought he'd simply never get here"
With much the same feeling Of
impatience many Of his countrymen
waited this week for Robert Anthony
Eden to step into the highest politi-
cal Office in Great Britain, that Of
Prime Minister. To his admirers,
Mr.. Edens inheritance Of Sir
Winston Churchill'S mantle is long
overdue. More than two years ago
Gallup polls showed a majority OF
conservative voters favoring him as
prime minister. Today, despite the
rivalry of such up-and- coming Tories
as Chancellor of the Exchequer r.
A. Butler, he is still very much the
heir apparent. For months, the
press has carried almost daily specu-
lation about when the changeover
will come. And az the successive
dates pass uneventfully, the impa-
thence grows.
The boy Seems Near
ettll, In the Inevitable order Of
things, the day must come. The
latest word here IL that Sir Winston
cannot much longer carry on the
responsibilities Of his job and Is
under the strongest pressure to re-
sign. And 50, at Berlin and again
at Geneva, western leaders have
been taking q hard new look at the
man who in all probability will be
Britain's next prime minister.
One Of the striking things about
Anthony Eden L. that in over a
quarter century Of more or less con-
spicuouS public service, no very clear
idea Of the man himself has i'm
pressed itself on the public. There
is q kind Of anonymity about him
only partly explained by his long
association with the towering figure
Of Winston Churchill.
AS one associate put it: "The
trouble with Eden is that he's not
really q person at all but an in
stitution."
Those who watch him in action
today are inclined to agree. To an
extent that only an Englishman can
be typical of anything, Anthony
Eden is typical Of the service which
he has headed on and of since 1896
that starchy, elegant and face
lessly efficient outfit known as the
British Foreign Office.
For years he has worked with
more than common devotion to fit
himself into the mold Of the perfect
British foreign secretary. Like an
actor who has devoted lifetime to
perfecting q single role, the per-
Torrance is hawless down to the
smallest detail. At the same time it
is understandable If today the man
himself can hardly be distinguished
from the job.
Polished Technique
When 1t comes to pure technique,
Mr.. Eden makes his Big -Four col
leagues look like amateurs. Having
cut his diplomatic teeth at Geneva
in the 1930s, diplomatic conferences
are his natural element. Observers
at Berlin were shocked by Mr.. Eden's
haggard physical appearance re-
fleeing long months Of illness and
recuperation. But they were quick
to pay tribute to his peculiar languid
kind Of energy, the graceful ease
with which he approached his task
and his technical mastery Of the
business at hand.
In the palatial surroundings OF
the Russian Embassy, only Mr.. Eden
seemed entirely at home.
HE came down those marble
stairs nodding right and left at the
Russian sentrieS as If he owned the
place." one delegate recalled. ut was
superb. In the lobby, there was
brilliant smile for everybody as aides
rushed up with his overcoat-a full
length, lined job. belted at the
waist. Eden never walked out. He
swept out to glttering Rolls Royce.
And the procession, complete with
British and Russian jeeps filed with
tommy-gunners made quite a regal
procession as it got under way"
In the conference sessions them
selves, Mr.. Eden was no less impress
Sive. The technique, acquired
through a thousand debates on the
government bench of the House of
Commons, swas in startling contrast
to Mr.. Dulles savage doodling, Mr..
Bidault'S birdlike alertneSS, Mr..
Molotov's furious note-taking.
CosuoI but Precise
For all the average observer could
tell, Mr.. Eden was asleep. Slumped
in his seat, eyes half-closed, head
back Ito catch the whispered words
of his private interpreter) there was
often little to indicate an active
mind at work. When it came time
for him to speak, the act continued.
With an air of great abstraction.
Mr.. Eden would remove his horn
trimmed spectacles. 1t was quite
clear that he had never seen them
before. The strange objects would
be studied infinitely from all angles
held to the light, busted critically
and finally readjusted carefully on
the ministerial nose.