Trial by Press Conference

The biggest corps of newsmen ever to cover one man in the U.S. swarmed into Abilene, Kans. last week. More than 500 reporters, radio, TV and newsreel men (divided into groups with colored badges) sent out close to 500,000 words on General Eisenhower's homecoming, his first speech as a presidential candidate, and his first political trial by press conference. Ike himself was well prepared for the test. Early last month ten top Washington reporters held a mock press conference and Ike's headquarters sent the questions they dreamed up on to Paris so Ike could prepare himself. After he landed in the U.S., Governor Tom Dewey had his own press aide, James Hagerty, throw tricky questions at Ike in a long session.

Despite the number of newsmen, there were gaps in the homecoming coverage, largely because many of the Washington newsmen are more accustomed to punditing than to sharp-eyed reporting. Publisher William R. Hearst Jr. spotted the biggest gap, wrote in his own Sunday column: "There was one phase of Ike's homecoming that, to my mind, was terribly under-reported . . . That was his first public appearance in Abilene . . . dedicating the Eisenhower Memorial Foundation . . . This speech hit me so hard that I tried all afternoon to get a transcript of it ... Some of America's best-known newspapermen didn't even bother to cover the event . . . I think they missed out on a whale of a human document."

But every last newsman did turn out at the press conference in Abilene's Plaza Theater, along with some 200-odd Ike supporters. To the dismay of newsmen, the supporters applauded every.time Ike handled a tough one, although applause at a press conference is frowned on.

There was only one big hitch in the arrangements. Ike's aides had promised newsmen there would be no TV coverage of the conference, but TV cameramen moved their equipment in anyway, and, since there was no way to get them out without a row, they stayed.

When the 45-minute conference ended, there was no doubt from columns and editorials the next day that Ike had passed his examination A-plus. Sample reactions:

P: Columnist Stewart Alsop: "His is the most effective political personality to emerge on the American scene since the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt."

P: [Washington Star: "A magnificent performance . . . General Eisenhower was made for this role."

P: New York Times's James ("Scotty") Reston: "General . . . Eisenhower has demonstrated here that what he does naturally and spontaneously is politically effective ... He was the greatest master of the press conference technique since Franklin D. Roosevelt."

P: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "The soldier-turned-candidate did not have all the answers. That in itself is refreshing . . . Dwight Eisenhower has lots more to say . . . that means lots more to learn. But he learns fast. . ."

P: Columnist Doris Fleeson: "It was an attractive performance . . . What he said and how he said it will help him."

P: Columnist John O'Donnell: "Dwight Eisenhower . . . played his first inning in big-league political press and radio conference today and wound up with one hit, no runs and no errors. There was no question about the hit he made with his charm, folksy friendliness and his easy answers."

P: The Christian Science Monitor: "He convinced the Washington reporters that he is a worthy antagonist in question-and-answer infighting."

P: Columnist Walter Lippmann: "This is the Washingtonian model of the presidency. It is the style of the Washington who managed for so long and in a most critical period of our history to keep both Hamilton and Jefferson in his cabinet."

At week's end Ike held his second press conference with some 150 newsmen in Manhattan. When an eccentric jumped up and began to bait Ike (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS), he was greeted by jeers. After Ike calmly answered his question, reporters themselves broke into the same spontaneous applause and cheering that had offended them at the first conference.

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