Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-01

secret cabinet meetings and
said on historic occasions
when they were talking among
themselves and not for the
public. Some Congressman
complained that Mr.. Donovan
seemingly had been able to
get more information than
they could on certain crucial
subjects. With demands be-
ing made for the authors
sources and one White House
staff member refusing to ap-
pear before a congressional
committee, the matter was
still seething yesterday.
Mr. Donovan, a Washington
correspondent for the New
York Herald Tribune, brought
out last year The ASSaSSins,"
study of the twisted men,
talities back of the men who
have assassinated Presidents
or attempted to.
In his story of the Essen
hover administration, fMr.
Donovan has not been con-
tent TO sum up the public
record and comment on it, as
others have done.
He has gone back of this,
probing into why Mr.. Essen
hover reached important de-
clslonS, what happened at de-
cislve cabinet meetings, what
the President and his most
influential advisers said and
did at significant moments.
Behind the Scenes
The result is-or purports
to be-a record of what was
behind events we all know.
We can surmlse from all this
what was in the Presidents
mind when he made certain
decisions or allowed other
matters to drift.
AS to the accuracy Of this
inside narrative of the official
Size of the White House. we
can only take the word of
reporter OF high repute.
The account is not docu-
mented. Probably, under the
circumstances, this was not
possible. Sources of informa-
ton are not given. but Mr..
Donovan uses the informa ton
they supplied confidently. The
publishers tells us that Mr..
Donovan new material was
obtained through access to
cabinet officers. key men and
other sources. There are,
though, many excerpts from
the minutes Of cabinet meet
ln2s.
New Party Idea
Perhaps the most interesting
Of the author S disclosures is
the assertion that in the sum-
mer of 1858 Mr.. Eisenhower
was so frustrated with trying
to get along with the power
full right wing Of the Repub-
hcan Party and at the same
time maintain his more liberal
oDJectlveS that he nursed the
idea of a new political party.
The divisions within the
party troubled him deeply, and
he gave a great deal of thought
to what role he ought to play
in trying 10 heal the breach.
The President began to ask
himself whether. after all,
The Republican Party was
represented by men with the
vision and the understanding
of what was required TO lead
the United States through the
perils of the mid-20th CEN
fury" And he began asking
his most intimate associates
whether he did not have to
start thinking about a new
party
Such a party as he had in
mind, according to Mr.. Dono-
van. would have represented
those doctrines, international
and domestic, which he be-
lleved were best for the United
States and indeed for the
world. 1t would have attracted
those men and women of the
Older parties who believed as
he did and who wanted to
promote and preserve enlight-
ened and progressive policies.
Never Got of the Ground
But the idea never got be-
yond the stage of thought and
intimate discussion. Eventually
Mr.. Eisenhower, recalling that
third parties had never had
much luck in the United
States, decided to continue to
try to reconcile as best he
could the warning elements in
his party
These are among the more
significant things Mr.. Dono-
van reports:
MI Eisenhower was in
furlated" at President Tru-
mans remark that President
elect Eisenhower's trip to Ko-
Tea was "a piece of dema-
goguery."
on taking Office. Mr.. Essen
hover found that the Seventh
Fleet had been ordered both
to defend Formosa and prevent
the use Of Formosa as a base
OF operations against the
Chinese Communist mainland.
lie said in a memorandum that
tins had meant, in effect, that
the United States Navy was
required to serve as a defen-
slve arm of Communist China.
He soon changed the orders
The late Senator Taft. at a
budget meeting of the Presi-