THE NATION: New Leadership

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History, recording this week the end of one great period of U.S. political power and the beginning of another, could write down as fateful a burden of problems as any incoming administration ever faced. More than any of his predecessors, President Dwight Eisenhower had to grasp a world as well as a national leadership.

U.S. foreign policy was in crisis. Items:

THE KOREAN WAR. At a dead end, after 2½ years and 128,530 U.S. casualties, it required a resolute will to find a solution (see Strategy).

THE FAR EAST. A Korean solution would have to be fitted into a general, unified U.S. policy toward the Far East. The Truman Administration's failure to view the Far East as essentially a single problem caused catastrophe in China and deadlock in Korea and Indo-China.

THE MIDDLE EAST. U.S. prestige in the Arab world has declined further in recent months. The Kremlin, by its anti-Semitic drive (see INTERNATIONAL), is gaining strength in the Middle East. The U.S. will have to develop a policy or face the loss of this area to Communism.

THE NORTH ATLANTIC ALLIANCE. European rearmament schedules are lagging. NATO is losing the spirit that Eisenhower infused in it.

TRADE, NOT AID. The period of fruitful American handouts is ending. Europeans say they want "trade, not aid," but a major effort of U.S. leadership in fields of currency convertibility, tariffs and international investment will be needed.

In domestic affairs, the rock on which the world anti-Communist strength is built, the problems facing the new Administration include:

FISCAL POLICY. How soon and safely, if at all, could spending be trimmed, taxes eased, the inflationary spiral arrested?

GOVERNMENTAL EFFICIENCY. Government probably is giving the taxpayer nowhere near his money's worth. Eisenhower's administration is going to have to chop, prune and reorganize.

PRODUCTION & PROSPERITY. The flow of arms for defense and goods for civilians is the mainstream of U.S. strength; it has to be maintained and strengthened. Specifically, Ike has to keep the economy steady when arms orders slack off in a year or two.

To these tasks the new Administration brings Ike's own qualities for leadership, and an impressive Cabinet. It brings, too, the good will of the American people in a measure of unity which very few administrations have enjoyed.