Two Old Soldiers

The first big item on Ike's calendar, after his return from Korea, was Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur had let it be known that he would be glad to call on Eisenhower to tell him his ideas about Korea, but Eisenhower tactfully suggested that he and his former commanding officer meet elsewhere. So the two men had lunch in John Foster Dulles' narrow, four-story town house on Manhattan's sedate East gist Street, just off Park Avenue.

It was a meeting of two authentic national heroes, two military leaders who had won great victories for the U.S. Eisenhower, ten years MacArthur's junior, had served as his chief of staff (1935-37) in the Philippines when MacArthur wore four stars and Ike was only a lieutenant colonel. In recent years, their relationship had not been close, and during the campaign, MacArthur, a Taftman, spoke not a word in Ike's support. But when the old soldier and his new commander in chief emerged from their meeting, after two hours and 15 minutes, there was no sign of strain between them. Arm in arm, they faced a crowd of reporters, curious passersby, nursemaids and poodles. Said Ike: "We had a very fine conversation on the subject of peace, not only in Korea but in the world in general." Then he invited his "old commander" to say a word. Douglas MacArthur, looking affectionately at Ike, obliged: "... I haven't seen him for nearly six years. It is a resumption of an old friendship and comradeship that has existed for 35 years."

Later in the week, Ike spent several hours with congressional leaders, including Joe Martin, who will be Speaker of the House; Indiana's Charles Halleck, who will be majority leader; and Illinois' Leslie Arends, who will be majority whip. Martin bore a happy grin when he left the conference. Said he: "There'll be very close liaison between the President and Congress." Arends chimed in: "You'll see the finest cooperation ... in many, many years. That will be a refreshing change." Some specific decisions: 1) Ike promised to confer weekly with congressional leaders, 2) the President's powers to reorganize Government agencies by directive will be extended a year, 3) reduction of Government spending will be the first order of business. What about patronage? asked a reporter. Replied Joe Martin headily: "We're up in the intellectual heights. We don't care about patronage."

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