At the Commodore

The mighty job of readying a new Administration went forward intensely, strenuously, on the sixth floor of Manhattan's Hotel Commodore, Dwight Eisenhower, like the rest of his headquarters staff, arrived each morning between 8 and 8:30. Some nine hours later, the President-elect emerged from the heavy daily round of callers and conferences; one evening, just before stepping into his limousine for the drive home to Morningside Heights, he smiled for the inevitable waiting cameramen, and remarked: "First time out today."

A Quiet Holiday. On the last day of the old year, Ike gave the staff permission to knock off at noon. Newsmen pressed him for a New Year's message to the nation, but he declined, on the ground that a formal statement was the traditional function of the President and not the President-elect. But the news microphones were there as Ike emerged. Cheerily waving his brown felt hat, he wished a "Happy New Year to everybody everywhere." Then he was off to a holiday with his family, a champagne toast to see the New Year in, and a quiet Jan. 1, enlivened by the chatter of his grandchildren romping and rolling up a snowman in the yard of the Columbia University residence.

A Harmonious Lunch. The week's No. 1 conference took place around Ike's luncheon table at the Commodore. For 2 1/2 hours the President-elect talked things over with the new Republican high command in the Senate: Ohio's Robert Taft, New Hampshire's Styles Bridges, Massachusetts' Leverett Saltonstall, North Dakota's Milton Young. The purpose of the get-together was to establish firm working liaison between executive and legislature and to straighten out patronage procedures.

Ike led off by saying that the immediate and long-range aims of his Administration must be the ending of the Korean war and the achievement of peace; everything else must take a back seat. Nobody disagreed. Then a general understanding was reached on a wide range of back-seat matters: cut spending before cutting taxes, consult with Congressmen before making appointments, let the Senate deal with its own rules on filibustering. Senator Young had a particular gripe; he had heard that Ike's Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Benson would not support a 90% farm parity program. In no time at all, Eisenhower's Attorney General Herbert Brownell had Benson on the long-distance phone and talking with Young. The Senators all came away from their luncheon in good humor.

Among other callers at the Commodore:

P: Paul G. Hoffman, ex-ECAdministrator and now Ford Foundation head. ("We had quite a go-around." said Hoffman, "on international economic problems . . . A substantial increase in our flow of world trade is needed.")

P: John J. McCloy, ex-High Commissioner for Germany and now Chase National Bank chairman. ("The President-elect," said McCloy, "was rather surprised that some people felt he was less concerned with Europe than with Asia.")

P: Edgar Hoover, FBI chief. (He slipped away without talking to reporters.)

P: The Rev. Edward L. R. Elson, pastor of Washington's National Presbyterian Church, where Ike will worship. (They discussed a pew. Eisenhower was inclined to favor a front-&-center spot, instead of 1) the side-aisle pew used by Jackson, Pierce, Polk, Buchanan and Cleveland, 2) another side-aisler used by Grant, 3) a center-aisler used by Benjamin Harrison.

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