THE PRESIDENCY: The Search for Clues

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Dwight Eisenhower's discussion of his thoughts on running for a second term has been so candid that the U.S. believes him when he says that he has not made up his mind. But, as the mid-February date approaches when the doctors are to make their report on the state of his health, an impromptu debate is raging through press, radio, the barbershops, banquet halls, and even the inner sanctums of Washington over what Ike's decision will be. Millions of self-appointed analysts are probing his character, his past, and oracular statements already on the record.

Most of the discussion revolves in four areas: the personal influences that are working on Ike to quit or run, the lifetime devotion of Old Soldier Eisenhower to a duty higher than personal influences, the correct direction of duty when a President knows his physical condition can be a hazard to the orderly processes of Government, the possibility that Ike might well be able to carry the load of the presidency if it were trimmed of nonessentials. In all of these areas the President himself has provided the hottest clues for both sides:

Personal Influences. Months before the heart attack columnists buzzed that Mamie Eisenhower adamantly opposed a second term; since the attack, the stories added that Major John Eisenhower was opposed as well. Asked a reporter at a recent presidential press conference: "Do any members of your family object to your running again?'' Replied Ike: "No." But did that solve anything? One band of soothsayers was more certain than ever that Ike would run because he was unrestrained by family pressure. But another band believed the "No" was a gentlemanly way of shielding his family.

Then the columns whispered that Ike was so frustrated around the house at Gettysburg in November that he decided the presidency could not be half so taxing. Asked a reporter: "Did you miss the bustle of the presidency while you were there?" Said Ike: "Anybody who has been busy, when he doesn't have immediately something at hand, has a little bit of a strange feeling. Now, but to say I was bored to death at Gettysburg—there are so many things that I have to do—I have piled up stacks of books ... I, as you know, daub with paints; I like the actual roaming around the farm. I love animals, and like to go out and see them ..." Certainly this could be a restrained verification of Gettysburg frustration meaning "I'll run, all right." But the New York Times's James Reston began his report: "This was a bad day for the Republicans. President Eisenhower . . . sounded wistful about those Black Angus cattle in Gettysburg."