The Man in Charge

For nearly a year after he took over at SHAPE headquarters in France in 1951, General Dwight D. Eisenhower was quiet and unassertive. He listened to his staff, he listened to the leaders of Europe, he asked questions. Some of his associates grew impatient. When was he going to show that he was in charge of the defense of Western Europe? One day, at a full-dress conference on the big picture in Europe, he answered their question. After listening to repeated reports on Soviet strength, he abruptly announced that he was damned tired of hearing how helpless the West was before Soviet power. With eyes flashing, he told the men of SHAPE: "We are here to build the defenses of Europe, not to wring our hands at how bad they are ... I want to know from day to day what each one of you is doing about it. I want to hear from you how the defenses of Europe are increasing to meet the situation which paralyzes all of you."

With that, General Eisenhower strode toward the door of the conference room, grabbed the knob, flung the door open and stalked out, his back set like a fixed bayonet. As he left, the SHAPE staff--Americans and Europeans alike--broke into applause and then began to cheer. The door reopened. Eisenhower stood there, smiling. He bowed slightly and closed the door again. After that, there was no doubt about who was in charge.

"Sensing" the Job. The scene in postwar France, recalled last week by an officer who was there, illustrates a basic personality trait with which Eisenhower's staff officers in SHAPE in World War II also were familiar. Eisenhower is a slow starter. He likes to surround a problem, to watch, listen, absorb and learn all he can. Then he acts decisively, firmly. This was his method of operation in planning the invasions of North Africa and Normandy. It was his technique in the presidential campaign last year. He now recalls, with understandable enjoyment, the much-quoted August 1952 Scripps-Howard editorial which declared that his campaign was "running like a dry creek."

This month Dwight Eisenhower came to the end of another great period of preparation. He had spent nearly a year, as one aide put it, "sensing" the job. While he was doing so, many a politician and editorialist asked: When is he going to take charge? In Washington last week, there was no doubt that President Eisenhower was the man in charge.

One public indication of the change was the President's United Nations speech, in which he forcefully seized the initiative in the world's effort to live with the atom (TIME, Dec. 14). When he called in Republican congressional leaders to outline a legislative program last week, he clearly showed that he meant to lead in the privacy of the conference room as well as in the public eye.

The Details of Every Problem. To the surprise of some, it was Dwight Eisenhower personally--and not his staff--who outlined his program to legislative leaders. He did so from his head, with only a few documents to illustrate his points. Said one conferee: "It is absolutely amazing what the President has learned in the last year. He knows the details of every problem--farm, water, power, conservation, taxes, social security, anything . . ."

When the three days of conferences were over, the President announced that "in virtually every instance it was agreed by all to press for enactment" of the proposals he had presented (see box on next page). His'program, said the President, was based squarely on the 1952 Republican platform. He listed as its guiding principles: "11) Use as a measure of every element of American foreign policy the one, simple rule: Does it advance the interest of America? In that vein, it is clear that we must continue to strengthen the unity of the free world to resist aggression. 2) Present a domestic program that will give our people a guarantee that they can depend on this Administration to protect the security, the welfare and the economic stability of each individual citizen." There is no certainty that the old heads on Capitol Hill are going to follow, but Dwight Eisenhower has clearly demonstrated his determination to lead the way. He expressed his mood crisply when he told the G.O.P. leaders from Capitol Hill: "Now let's get to work."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.