Big Decision, Heavy Load

Dwight Eisenhower, alone, had made his decision: despite his 1955 heart attack, his 1956 abdominal surgery and his 1957 mild stroke, he would, barring the most outspoken medical strictures or signs of new illness, carry on as President of the U.S. He consulted with no one except, possibly, members of his family. No public announcement was made. But White House aides were convinced by the President's every act last week that he had privately resolved the question gnawing at the U.S. mind. Items:

P: He presided over both the Cabinet and the National Security Council meetings, although he had, soon after his stroke, authorized Vice President Nixon to stand in for him (TIME, Dec. 9).

P: He took turns with Nixon in presenting the Administration's programs to congressional leaders at long, wearing and not entirely successful White House conferences (see below).

P: He showed every intention of attending the NATO sessions in Paris. He was, in fact, irritated by the suggestion, accepted by the NATO allies, that Nixon might substitute. The only thing that might stand in Ike's way would be a definite medical veto; as of week's end the President's doctors were divided, and Ike, eager to tip the balance toward Paris, was preparing to undergo a complete physical checkup.

Nonetheless, with the President's blessing, White House Staff Chief Sherman Adams drafted a speech to be delivered in St. Louis, and in it made the most determined pitch so far for a constitutional amendment providing for orderly succession in case of presidential disability. Even while offering reassurances ("The President is back in the saddle. His grip on the reins is tight and sure"), Adams gave warning: "In these times it takes no imagination at all to think of a situation where delay of a presidential decision due to incapacity for a day, or even for a few hours, could have grave consequences."

Almost everyone could admire the President's decision to carry on. But the President's closest friends are increasingly aware that those demands are greater than ever today, partly because of the lack of active leadership during Ike's previous recuperative periods. One of the brutal facts of life that Ike must face is that today's accumulated burdens will tolerate nothing less than a day-to-day leadership more strenuous than at any previous time during his term in office.

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