National Affairs: Yes & No

Has something happened to President Eisenhower during his second Administration that prevents his matching his earlier personal performance? In the sense of some sort of secret illness, the answer is no. As he had from his heart attack and his ileitis operation, the President made a remarkable recovery from his stroke last November; his doctors say that recovery is now complete and that, beyond a bothersome cold, he has suffered no other illnesses. But in another sense the answer is yes: President Eisenhower is 67; the cumulative effect of his three major illnesses has sapped his second-term strengths. Chief result: even when at his Washington desk, the President has been forced to cut his daily work load by as much as 25%.

The problem is one of stamina. President Eisenhower's close associates say that he begins each day full of energy, tackling the hundreds of national problems that confront him with enthusiasm and efficiency. But after the first two or three hours of a long conference, he becomes visibly weary; at the end of a day his performance is admittedly below par. His staff realizes this and works mightily to pick up the load. The President realizes it, too, and has made allowances such as the deliberate cutback in his work load.

Because President Eisenhower's interests tend naturally to foreign policy, most of the work curtailment has come in the field of domestic affairs. One result is that he plays little part in the early stages of formulating policy. Example: the Interior Department has almost completed an antirecession public-works plan that will cost about $80 million. This would mean a major reversal of last year's budget-conscious policies. The plan will soon hit the President's desk, and he will make the final decision. But he has not participated in any of the earlier discussions, and there is even some doubt that he is aware of the proposal's existence.

"You do not have a sick, ailing old man," says one of the President's close associates. "The country can continue to put its trust in him on the big decisions." But if allowed to slide, small problems can snowball into major cases, e.g., the present economic recession, and it is in this area that the President's inability to ride constant herd is most felt.