"It Concerns Secretary Dulles"

President Eisenhower winced at the task before him. Responding to an overnight message asking him to telephone Secretary of State Dulles at Walter Reed Hospital, Ike climbed the stairs to his vacation headquarters above the golf pro shop at Augusta, sadly ordered the call put through. When Dulles came on the line, the President asked: "Foster, how are you?" Secretary Dulles replied: "I'm not getting better enough, and not soon enough, Mr. President." Then he added: "I believe we ought to move now." Slowly Ike answered, "I agree."

They talked for a few moments more, and then Ike said: "I think I had better go down and tell the reporters here." "Yes." said Dulles. They said goodbye. At the President's instruction, Press Secretary James Hagerty alerted correspondents, meanwhile passed the news to Vice President Richard Nixon, then to members of the White House staff in Washington, who told the State Department.

In the Colonial Room of the Richmond Hotel in Augusta, 30 newsmen gathered with TV and newsreel photographers. The President walked in, his eyes moist. In the din he said: "What I have to say concerns Secretary Dulles." A reporter asked: "What was that, Mr. President?" The room hushed, and Ike repeated: "It concerns Secretary Dulles. I had a conversation this morning with him, and in view of the findings the doctors have made . . . he has definitely made up his mind to submit his resignation." The medical findings, the President added, "are not of the kind, so far as I am aware, that make him helpless. He is nevertheless absolutely incapacitated so far as . . . carrying on the administrative load, in addition to assisting in the making of policy. So I have asked him to remain as my consultant." (Later, Ike asked that the word "absolutely" be cut from the transcript.)

Courage. His clenched fists very tight against his hips as he spoke, the President bowed his head thoughtfully. Now and then he wet his lips; once he mopped his brow. In a moving little talk, he said: "I personally believe he has filled his office with greater distinction and greater ability than any other man our country has known--a man of tremendous character and courage, intelligence and wisdom."

As to whether Under Secretary Christian Herter would succeed Dulles, the President, patently still shaken by the news from Washington, said confusingly that "no final decision" had been made, that "there are a number of people . . . who have particular talent in this field, and there are all kinds of considerations to be studied."

"I can't tell you," he concluded sorrowfully, "how much regret I feel about this, and I am quite sure that the U.S. will share that feeling. Goodbye and thank you." With that, the President turned, got his hat, and went out to his waiting car. Slumping grim-faced in the back seat, he said: "It is like losing a brother."

Challenge. After the first day's headlines about Foster Dulles' resignation, speculation began to bubble over the President's noncommittal remarks about Herter. Early in the week, he had named Herter to represent the U.S. at the Paris foreign ministers' meeting this month. Now anonymous "Washington officials" began to leak their worries that Chris Herter's position would be undercut at a critical time if he did not have Ike's clear backing and confidence. At first, White House staffers explained that the President had only wanted to focus attention on the great friend who lay ill at Walter Reed Hospital; there would be time later for a Herter announcement. But as two days passed and no announcement came, Washington tension grew so taut that at last Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen announced that Herter's nomination was assured.

At week's end, sure enough, President Eisenhower had Herter brought to Augusta by helicopter from his South Carolina vacation spot (see below). After a private conference in Ike's office, the President introduced Herter to the press, announced that he would submit his name to the Senate early this week. Another reason for the delay in making the announcement then became clear: Ike had asked Herter to get on with a thorough physical examination at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins hospital to be sure that he was really up to the strenuous physical demands of the office. The favorable report from the doctors was now in hand. In President Eisenhower's estimation, Christian Herter was ready and able to meet the challenge given him.

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