"I Do"

Dwight Eisenhower recently set out from Gettysburg for a California vacation, but he made an important stop on the way. In his private Santa Fe railroad car at the Harrisburg railroad yards, he was host at dinner with Pennsylvania's Republican Governor William Scranton. They talked seven hours but newsmen did not get any of the details from Scranton until late last week--and then only after they promised to hold the story until after the mourning period for John Kennedy ended this week.

In short, Ike had asked Scranton to try for the 1964 presidential nomination. Said Scranton to reporters: "It was not a deep discussion about national politics. But he did point out that he believed--at this stage of the game --two things: one was that a great many people that he had talked with felt that I should be a major contender for the nomination. And he thought so too. And secondly, he knew that I didn't want to do this--I told him so several times. But he thought the time had come when I should give a lot of thought to it--and real deep thought--because it was highly likely that at some future date I would have to make a decision as to whether I would run or whether I would not."

Ike's request notwithstanding, Scranton said he still did not want to enter any state primaries, but he added: "I am remaining flexible. I admit that in the sense that I have said, if there were a real and honest draft, I would have great difficulty in turning it down."

The Governor said that he told Ike he was "flattered that he asked" but that he did not want to run. Yet when a reporter asked Scranton if he was qualified to be President, he seemed angry. "That's a very dirty question," he snapped. "Is anybody fully qualified to do every phase of the job? I don't suppose so." Then, more mildly, he said: "It's extremely variegated, heavily burdensome, but it's the most important job in the world. Do I think that I could do the job if I had it? Yes, I do."

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