The Last Lap

Barred by the 22nd Amendment from a third term, Dwight Eisenhower is keenly mindful that, whatever pleasant or unpleasant surprises may lie ahead of him in 1960, one element of the future is certain: in January 1961, another man will be inaugurated as President of the U.S. That certainty was much on the President's mind last week. Said he, in a brief speech to an Advertising Council meeting in Washington, a yearly rite: "I find now, as some eight years ago I was doing things for the first time. I am doing them now for the final time. As President, I will not again have the privilege of greeting you."

Just Two Chairs. With only ten months of his presidency remaining, Ike maintains ever closer contact with Vice President Richard Nixon, is increasingly concerned with preparing him to take over if he wins in November. But only last week did the President depart from his self-imposed decision to refrain from endorsing any G.O.P. presidential hopeful in advance of the nominating convention.

As every President must each year, Ike attended the Gridiron Club's white-tie dinner. The affair is private, and newsmen who attend are supposed to keep mum about what they see and hear, but next day the word was all over Washington. Ike had offhandedly endorsed Richard Nixon for President. Noting that next year a new President would be occupying his place, the story went, Ike said it would save a lot of bother just to move the distance of two chairs. Sitting two chairs away, his face a well-controlled mask: Vice President Nixon.

Inevitably, newsmen asked the President about the Gridiron Club plug at his midweek press conference. Said Ike: "If anyone is wondering whether I have any personal preference or even bias with respect to this upcoming presidential race, the answer is yes, very definitely." As if that was not clear enough to all present, another newsman asked later on if the President had meant Vice President Nixon. Retorted Ike: "Was there any doubt in your mind?"

Just Two Proposals. Running the last lap of his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower is remarkably robust for a man of 69 who has outlived a heart attack, ileitis and a stroke, and his buoyancy continues to amaze his staff. But he has no notions about capping his presidency with any radical new programs. He is preoccupied with foreign relations--the currents of international communication set in motion by his trips abroad, Charles de Gaulle's visit in April, the summit meeting in May, his trip to the U.S.S.R. in June, and the renewed disarmament negotiations that began last week in Geneva (see FOREIGN NEWS). On the home front. Ike last week sent two items of legislation to Congress. They were probably the last major proposals of his presidency. Urged Ike:

P:Amend the Sugar Act so as to give the President discretionary authority to alter the import quotas assigned to foreign sugar-producing countries--a measure that the President might find useful in dealing with Castro's Cuba (see BUSINESS).

P:Amend U.S. immigration laws so as to 1) double the overall limit of immigration from quota countries, from the present level of 154,000 a year to 308,000 a year, and 2) base national quotas on the relative numbers that immigrated into the U.S. from various countries over the past 35 years rather than on the makeup of the U.S. population in 1920. The amendments would greatly increase immigration from Asia, Africa and Southern Europe (Japan's quota would rise from 185 to 1,859, Italy's from 5,666 to 19,945, etc.). As the end of Dwight Eisenhower's presidency draws near, Washington increasingly speculates about how it will feel to him to leave the White House for the comparative obscurity of private life. No man can surrender the pomp and power of the presidency without a sense of loss, but the President's aides are convinced that, on balance, he will welcome his freedom. "He's delighted that there's a 22nd Amendment," says one presidential confidant. "He thinks eight years is enough."

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