Hard Words

General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower was addressing 1,100 Scotsmen at the annual dinner of the St. Andrew's Society of the State of New York, but he obviously meant his words to carry further. "Seemingly, somewhere along the line, we have lost some respect for mere thrift and independence," said Ike. In Jefferson's day a liberal believed that "the best government is the least government." Now, said Ike, a "liberal is a man who, in Washington, wants to play the Almighty with our money."

General Eisenhower also had hard words for the preoccupation of U.S. citizens with security. "Security, in the sense that we may live in slothful indolence and ease and stagnation, can never be achieved unless we do it as slaves of someone who directs us ... I have seen around the world many, many white crosses under which lie people of all our races of the Western Allies and of our own beloved country. They are there because they believed there was something more than merely assuring ourselves that we weren't going to be hungry when we were 67."

To the left-of-center New York Post, Ike was talking like a candidate for office, and the Post wanted it known that he "can no longer be regarded as primarily a retired military hero or university president. He is the central character in a big political play and he will have to endure public discussion and criticism on that level. 'Ike' will always be a warm and appealing figure. But he isn't politically immortal. He can't expect automatic salutes when he is standing on a gilded soapbox."

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