THE NATION: Steps Toward Peace

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Toward the end of President Eisenhower's first new-term press conference last week, a TIME correspondent asked him to name three or four major goals of his second Administration. Ike's answer was worth the attention of the U.S.'s bruised friends, allies and enemies alike:

"Look. Everything else fails, fades to unimportance beside this one: that we do make progress toward better world understanding—achieved, I would say, in several steps.

"First, a better understanding among the free nations of the world—that is, better and stronger confidence among them; the certainty that their economic and military strength is equal to the test.

"And after that, particularly better understanding with the Russians, the Russian government.

"And, finally, agreements in which we could all trust them."

To make certain the world understood that the U.S., until the final step was achieved, would continue to deal from strength, he phrased this course of action another way. Said he, commenting on the Defense Department's record peacetime military budget of $38 billion for fiscal 1958: long-range spending for planes, missiles and military research will continue "until we have some certainty that we have reached agreements that are enforceable. That is, where there is good faith on both sides, demonstrated good faith. Now after that happens, then I would expect long-range programs . . . and expenditures to come down markedly. But until the world can feel safer, I can think of nothing more foolish than to weaken our defensive structure."