For Second-Termers

Reporter Sarah McClendon of the Camden (N.J.) Courier-Post and a mixed bagful of other newspapers had a special press-conference question for President Eisenhower. "It looked for a while as if Congress might wag the White House," she said, "but now it looks as if you have the power . . . to work your will on Congress. It also looks as if you were winning the propaganda war, sort of, between the Democrats and the Republicans. Would you give us some idea of how, what system you employed to do this?"

A wave of laughter swept over the sweltering press conference, and the President himself had to control a grin before answering; coming from Constant Critic McClendon, a staunch friend of House Speaker Sam Rayburn, the question was akin to awarding Ike the ears and tail of a brave but lifeless bull.

"I don't admit for a second that all the allegations you make [are] fact," replied the President. "When you come down to it, I am trying to do what will be good for the country. I don't enjoy vetoing bills [see below]. I don't believe that there is any validity in such expressions as 'government by veto.' I am part of the process of legislation and . . . I, who am the only official, along with the Vice President, who is voted into office by all the people . . . think I have got a special responsibility to all the people."

"i Am Finished." Clearly, Ike had been giving some deep thought to his role as the first President to be limited (by the 22nd Amendment) to two terms of office. And he seemed, in a way, to be trying to lay down a code of conduct for second-term Presidents who would follow him in office. "I'm not thinking so much of public images as I am the public good," he said in response to another question. "I call your attention again [to the fact] that I cannot be running for anything. I am finished with public life when . . . 18 months are over.

"It seems to me if any man has almost the compulsion to think only of the United States of America and its citizens rather than any political image or political ambitions, well, then, I should be--or any President who is in his second term today should be--such an individual."

From that vantage point the President casually walked through thunder, lightning and political booby traps, as he answered a barrage of miscellaneous questions. Items:

Red Threats: Nikita Khrushchev's swaggering promise to "burn" U.S. tanks and launch rockets if the U.S. supports its position in Berlin--threats transmitted through Democrat Averell Harriman (TIME, July 13)--brought a scornful rejoinder: "I don't believe that responsible people should indulge in anything that can be even remotely considered ultimatums or threats. That is not the way to reach peaceful solutions." And to Khrushchev's suggestion that he might come to the U.S. to talk things over with Ike, the answer was an ambiguous maybe: "I would never rule [it] out of the realm of possibility."

Geneva Conference: "We are ready to talk and discuss anything because we certainly do want to find some way of reaching a solution that will not keep the whole world on edge." But "the unmovable stone" in the U.S. position is "that of respecting our responsibilities and making certain that we retain our rights with respect to Berlin."

Racial Segregation: Any segregation that "interferes with the citizen's equality of opportunity in both the economic and the political fields" is "morally wrong"--a judgment that seemed to carry the President slightly beyond his previous down-the-middle position that his job is to enforce the law of the land without making moral pronouncements.

Steel Strike: He planned no new move to avert a strike "other than to continue to urge both sides to continue negotiations." Both sides should "keep before their eyes what the United States needs."

Catholic for President: "My vote would never be changed on the basis of . . . religion," but he was unwilling to speculate on a Roman Catholic candidate's chances of being elected in 1960. "I have no opinion whatsoever," said he. "Al Smith was nominated, and he was defeated. I don't know whether the thinking of the country has changed."

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