Mr. Carter Comes Acourtin'

He had billed himself as a man who could grab Washington by the scruff of its neck and shake some sense into it. But when Jimmy Carter left the capital last week after a hectic two-day visit, the self-styled "outsider" smiled and allowed, "I feel at home here." Washington seemed to feel at home with him.

Carter managed to minimize the inevitable awkwardness of his visit to President Gerald Ford, who was still smarting from the first electoral defeat of his career. While waiting for his guest at the south portico of the White House, Ford stood unsmiling and he did not indulge in his customary banter with the press. But Carter eased the tension by kissing Betty Ford warmly on the cheek. Seated on apricot damask wing chairs in front of the fireplace for an hour, the two men discussed the nation's problems, including the possibility of Carter's meeting with world leaders shortly after his Inauguration. Carter felt that a summit meeting on economic affairs would be useful.

The Fords put up the Carters in Blair House, the Government's official guest quarters. The Georgians were undemanding guests, going their own way from their farmerly rising at 6 a.m. and making only one special request: they asked for dinner one night on 15 minutes' notice. The staff, trained to fulfill the whims of princes and potentates, whisked filet of beef onto a table formally laid for twelve. Half of Washington would have crawled over broken glass to dine with a President-elect, but the Carters simply called in some wide-eyed young staffers to enjoy the meal.

While Rosalynn looked over the nearby public school that nine-year-old Amy may attend,* Carter held court in the red, book-lined library on the second floor of Blair House. He was briefed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Treasury Secretary William Simon, HEW Secretary David Mathews, Director of the Office of Management and Budget James Lynn and, lastly, Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns, the crusty monetary conservative with whom Carter will have to learn to live in the months ahead. The visitors gave Carter good marks for asking "the right questions," but they felt that the one-hour sessions were too brief.

Wise Enough. If the Cabinet officers came to Carter, the President-elect was wise enough to make his own pilgrimage to Capitol Hill. "Pennsylvania Avenue is a two-way street," he said.

To the Democrats, Carter said: "If I fail to meet you more than halfway, I can't be a successful President, and if you don't come halfway to meet me, I can't succeed. In this room rests the future of our country." As if that were not flattering enough, Carter gave top Democrats his unlisted home telephone number, urging them to call any time they wanted to offer advice. Said he: "A Secret Service man will answer, and you can tell him I told you to call me."

Carter was equally politic with the Republicans. He asked them to recommend candidates for Cabinet posts. He also impressed the Republicans with his vow that he would balance the budget.

The economic goals for next year announced on the Hill by the President-elect did look conservative enough at first glance. He said he hoped to reduce by 1.5% the current unemployment rate of 7.9%, and to increase the gross national product by 6%. Those goals are not as modest as they may appear, however, and some of Carter's economic advisers are telling him that if he hopes to reach his targets, he will have to give the economy a quick stimulant when he takes office. One sure, swift way to do that, of course, is to cut taxes--but despite a post-election statement hinting strongly at a reduction, Carter has not made up his mind on that issue as yet. He is caught in a dilemma. A temporary cut would have to be rescinded some day--and that action would then seem like a tax increase to the voters. On the other hand, a permanent cut would reduce revenues and thus complicate Carter's drive to balance the budget by the end of his four-year term.

No matter how Carter decides on taxes, however, he made it clear to Democrats and Republicans alike that he would not push immediately for budget-bending programs like national health insurance, welfare reform or a large-scale effort to create more jobs. Liberal Democrats were put off by this. "We ought to be able to do better than that," said Tip O'Neill, the next Speaker of the House, of Carter's unemployment goals. But O'Neill was already sounding like a man who knew he would have to defend Carter against the criticism of impatient liberals. Said he: "We'll have to give him time."

Even so, Carter does intend to push hard for his still undefined scheme to restructure the Federal Government. Indeed, he told congressional leaders that if they did not cooperate with him on that effort, he would hit them where it hurt the most--with the voters back home. Noting that he could go on television whenever he liked, Carter said: "I can talk to your constituents easier than you can." He laughed disarmingly, but even so it was not the sort of remark that wins friends on Capitol Hill.

Carter also told Congress that he planned to announce some of his choices for Cabinet positions within a couple of weeks. Aware that the talent hunt is beginning to resemble David O. Selznick's search for a Scarlett O'Hara, Carter said: "I'll be a little slow and a little more methodical about the selection of Cabinet members than has been the case in the past." He also said his appointments would be "a good balance of newcomers combined with Washington experience." The one probable appointee whose name trickled out last week belonged unmistakably in the newcomers' category (see following story).

A Hint. In part, Carter has himself to blame for what is now being described as a faltering transition. He conveyed the impression that if elected he would be better prepared to assume the presidency than any man in history. Says the press secretary-designate, Jody Powell, who at week's end remained Carter's only definite appointee: "We're confident that everything is going to work out well. We were probably never as far ahead as it may have looked a few weeks ago, and we're not as far behind as it may seem now." Carter last week named 131 people to work on details of the transition. Perhaps as a hint about future appointments, his choices were relatively young (average age: 34), about one-quarter were women, and they were fairly liberal, with a sprinkling of the kind of activists and advocates who have been outspoken critics of the Government.

In most respects, the President-elect's visit to Washington was a vintage Carter performance. He made no unqualified promises and foreclosed no options. He left some listeners convinced he would do one thing, others convinced he would do exactly the opposite. He reassured his critics, but without going quite far enough to alienate his supporters. As for the sizable number of skeptics who do not yet know what to make of Jimmy Carter, he left most of them still straddling the fence--and waiting for more evidence.

* Half a dozen blocks from the White House, the Stevens Elementary School has a student body that is 92% nonwhite, including American blacks and the children of foreign diplomats. Although the school is in a high-crime area, the Secret Service does not believe it will pose any unusual security problems.

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