Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-04-07
BY CHARLES BARTLETT
Star Special Writer

Star Special Writer
National leadership is for the
moment a waiting game. and
officials who view the pause as
both healthy and hopeful are
puzzled by less sanguine inter-
pretations which have begun to
blossom in the press.
Washington journalism tends
to run in patterns. and the
emerging pattern depicts the
President and his aides as
gripped by stalemate and frus-
tration. defensive and out Of
sorts. Actually nothing could be
further from the truth.
The poet Samuel Cole spoke
OF welding "the power that
waits and wins" and Disraeli
wrote that everything comes
If a man will only wait" The
thesis has been modernized in
a Jingle: Everything comes to
him who waits - If he waits in
a place that's meet. But never
wait for an uptown car on the
downtown side of the street"
Waiting Not Unpleasant
Top officials Of the admins
tration feel strongly now that
they are waiting on the right
side Of the street for events
that are moving in a favorable
direction. The act Of waiting in
these circumstances is not dis
tasteful. The act Of waiting in
these circumstances is not dis
tasteful. It is infinitely prefer
able to some Of the postures
which can be imposed upon
political leaders in a volatile
world.
1t is conceivable that the
President can view his situation
with some gratitude as he looks
around the world. He can GER
tainly be glad that he is not
Mr.. Khrushchev, beSet at home
and abroad by powerful under
tows in the tide of communism.
Gen. de Gaulle has had his
fling, and its effects may linger
on but he did not stir the broad
response for which he clearly
hoped and his popularity is
being impinged by economic
strains within his country.
Mr.. Macmillan and Mr.. Ad-
enauer have lost their thrust
at home and have settled into
a waning instead Of a waiting
game. The Canadians and Ital-
isns are headed into elections
which seem unlikely to afford
any decisive mandate for power.
Mr.. Nehru is widely demeaned
as a leader whose lifetime has
outlasted the validity Of his
basic doctrine Of non-align-
ment.
UnwOrried by Poll
The observers diScernment
Of Illustration within the Ken
nedy administration rests heav-
lily upon the 10 per cent drop
in the Presidents Gallup stand
ing, which currently reflects
support by 66 per cent Of the
voters. But the professional pol
iticians do not take a gloomy
view Of this decline. They know
that the post Cuban crisis rat
ings were unrealistically high
in a Nation where sentiment is
closely divided between the
major parties and that the gap
between Mr.. Kennedy and any
Republican candidate is bound
to narrow as the election nears.
The nature of the waiting is
the key to the mood which ac-
tually exists. The tax cut is the
essence Of the legislative pro-
gram. The proposal is not pop
ular In the country. and its
enactment is coming slowly; but
officials are almost unanimous
ly confident that it will be
passed after the long parade
Of witnesses has finally ceased
and that it will add new steam
to an economy already showing
some momentum.
The wait may be longer for
a resumption Of the European
integration blocked by Gen.
deGaulle but a broad confidence
also exists that the French
President has misjudged his
capacity to turn all Europe to
his national purposes. He can
delay indignation and make it
more difficult but he seems to