"Just Trying to Get Along"

Beaming and looking fit in his civilian tweeds, General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower emerged from a 40-minute conference at the White House. Newsmen waylaid him. Ike greeted them genially. "Get out the cross and let a guy mount it," he grinned. Ike had been summoned by the President to discuss the job which Harry Truman had in mind for him. The job: Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic pact forces in Europe.

Reported Ike: "There was no definite decision." It was a technical hedge. The conference of North Atlantic defense ministers had not yet got to the point of recommending that the U.S. supply a commander. When they did, there was no question that the nominee would be Ike; the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff had obviously settled on him (TIME, Oct. 16) and so had the defense ministers. Would he accept? "I'll not do anything to try to duck the job," he said. "The President knows that I am ... always ready to do what I am called upon to do. That's why they gave some of us old soldiers permanent rank*--so that we could be called back when we were needed."

Would the appointment have any effect on Ike Eisenhower's plans for 1952? The man whom Tom Dewey had named as his candidate for the Republican presidential nomination flushed bright pink.

Said Eisenhower: "I have no intention of doing anything in 1952 that I'm not doing now . . . just trying to get along, working as hard as I can at the things I think are important."

* Under the law creating the rank, a five-star general or admiral is, in effect, permanently on active duty.

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