The Secretary's First Week

Short hours after President Eisenhower nominated Christian Archibald Herter as his second Secretary of State, Chris Herter's old friend, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman J. William Fulbright, began canvassing fellow Senators to line up swift Senate confirmation for Herter to correct any impression that there is "some division of opinion." Fulbright's point: the President's preoccupation with the illness of John Foster Dulles and his three-day delay in naming Herter (TIME, April 27) had blown up a world williwaw of speculation that the President was less than enthusiastic about Herter's appointment.

As soon as the President sent Herter's name to the Senate, Fulbright was ready to deliver. Vote for confirmation: 17 to 0 in the Foreign Relations Committee, 93 to 0 on the Senate floor. Time of confirmation: 4 hours 13 minutes, in contrast to the usual seven-day minimum.

At the White House next day, the President himself did his best to correct any impression the world might have that he was cool toward Herter. He mustered the entire Cabinet for the swearing-in ceremony, said that Dulles and he were one in considering Herter "the man best qualified to take over the office." Said Herter: "I appreciate your confidence in me, Mr. President." Said Ike, gripping him at the elbow: "You certainly have that." And when Herter got back to the State Department, he found waiting to greet him on the steps some 600 State Department staffers. Said he: "All I can say is that this is completely unexpected, and I can't tell you how touched I am. I only wish I had time now to shake hands with every one of you."

Week's only sour note for Chris Herter was struck on the Senate floor when Florida Democrat Spessard Holland noted for the record that many were "fearful" about Herter's "resolution and firmness," urged Herter to meet the "challenge." Before the week was out Herter:

P: Bounced back the latest Soviet complaint that the West was trying to sabotage the coming East-West talks (by sending planes along the air corridors into Berlin above 10,000 feet, by rearming West Germany, etc.) with the stinging word "hypocritical."

P: Ordered Deputy Under Secretary of State Robert Murphy to call in British Ambassador Sir Harold Caccia, notify him that the U.S. was weary of continuing British complaints about the high-level flights--flown in the interests of the West--and intended to continue them.

P: Made final preparations to fly to the Western Big Four foreign ministers' meeting this week in Paris. As a final note he invited the ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--Democrat Fulbright, Wisconsin Republican Alex Wiley--to accompany him to next month's foreign ministers' conference with the U.S.S.R. at Geneva. Fulbright was skeptical, since he regards the foreign ministers' meeting as a working-level session, but hinted broadly that he would like to go to the summit.

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