Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-04
Peaceful Coexistence
The f1rSt session Of the

The firSt session Of the 84th Congress
was not remarkable for It's legislative
achievements. It did the things that had
to be done. And it did very little more.
This, however, does not tell either the
real story or the really interesting story.
For there were at least two noteworthy
developments in the session just ended
The first, politically speaking, was
the emergence Of form of peaceful
coexistence. The political cold war which
President Eisenhower foresaw in one Of
his campaign extravagances did not ma
terialize. II all was not serenity itself, a
Democratic Congress and a Republican
President managed to achieve degree of
harmony which, If 1t could be duplicated
In our international relations, would be
received with songs of thanksgiving. The
other significant development was the de-
cline Of the Republican Extreme Right
and the rise within the congressional
g. O. P. Of the Eisenhower men.
What were the reasons? Perhaps the
foremost was the absence Of issues and
an inability to create issues which could
be translated into votes. OF all the Skin
mishes and trial runs, only the Dixon
Yates affair seems at this stage to hold
any partisan hope for the Democrats.
And this tissue" in all probability will be
political dead duck by November, 1855.
Certainly there is not the slightest in
dication that the Presidents personal
popularity has suffered in any significant
degree. As things stand now, he is an
overwhelming favorite to win If he runs
again next year. So what could be more
logical than for the Democratic leaders
to Shun obstructionism and assume the
role Of loyal opposition? If they cannot
regain the White House, they may hold
on to the Congress.
What happened to the Republican
Right Wing? Why has this faction,
which once doomed as a threat to the
Presidents leadership, come down to
Senator Mccarthy, Senator Jenner and
perhaps Senator Malone? The answer,
once again, is that they have not been
able to ind payon ISSUE The position
OF these Senators rules out an acceptable
settlement with the Communist world,
Necessarily and inherently, although
these Senators don't say so, their posi-
ton Is based on the assumption that a
showdown is inevitable. What the future
Will bring in this respect remains to be
seen. But the emphasis Of the moment
Is on peaceful adjustment. The Presi-
dent and the people are betting on it, and
the Right Wing has no place to 60.
One more thing might be mentioned.
Only short time ago the President was
under the guns. He was being denounced
for not declaring open war on his Re-
publican opponents. He was being urged
to crack the whip over Congress. He was
being told that President who didn't
lead would become a doormat. But It
hasn't worked out that way. The Presi-
dent today, politically at least, is sitting
on top Of the world. His Republican OPP
position Is at its lowest ebb. Congress,
without any whip-cracking, has done well
enough by him. His party is begging him
to run again, and II he does run there
viii be very few bets against him.
Perhaps all Of this can be explained
away on grounds Of pure luck Maybe the
future will show that we have been living
for three years under hypnotic spell of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS our longing
for peace to blind us to the imminence
OF war. But as Of this writing it looks as
though. the Eisenhower formula, despite
his critics, is pretty good political medi-
cine.