Mission Completed

The U.S.S. Helena, bearing the next President and his advisers, coursed for Hawaii under a sunny tropical sky. The Pacific's mood was good for pleasant cruising, and the admiral's cabin an equally pleasant place for palaver and planning. No phones distracted, no callers importuned as the men who will lead the U.S. mulled things over in oceanic seclusion. ''We may never again have the opportunity to hold talks such as these aboard the ship," said the future Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. "They should pay dividends for many years,"

Dwight Eisenhower worked indefatigably on a broad framework of policy. The specifics will not be unveiled until his Administration takes office on Jan. 20, but newsmen aboard the Helena reported the wide-ranging area of discussion: what to do about the Korean war, how to make use of the Chinese Nationalists on Formosa, a way to coordinate governmental departments, the budget, questions of politics, reclamation projects, the upcoming inaugural address.

Ike radioed General MacArthur when he heard that the Old Soldier had a "clear solution" for the Korean war (TIME, Dec. 15). He suggested a meeting with MacArthur and signed the message "With personal regard--Eisenhower." MacArthur's acceptance of the invitation closed with a grateful "My best to you, Ike. As always, MacArthur." Then word reached the Helena of Harry Truman's outburst in his press conference (see below). Eisenhower quickly decided to ignore Truman's demagogic charge that Ike's trip to Korea was demagoguery. But newsmen found out how Ike felt: he was puzzled and shocked. An aide explained: Eisenhower believes the U.S. people want dignity restored to the presidency: they do not want their highest public office degraded by petty bickering and name-calling. Though Ike refused to become involved in a verbal brawl with Harry Truman, it looked as though future relations between the two men must be coldly formal at best.

Three Days of Golf. The heavy cruiser nosed up to Baker Dock in Pearl Harbor. Ike stood in the Hawaiian sunshine on the main deck. Tanned and fit, he came ashore to a rousing welcome, complete with honor guard, hula dancers, a lei of red carnations, and a motorcade tour of Honolulu.

Inside the officers' cottage set aside for him at the Kaneohe Marine Corps air station, Eisenhower shucked his tan jacket and cocoa-brown hat, changed into pink sports shirt, golf shoes and red baseball cap, and headed for Kaneohe's nine-hole Klipper golf course.

A letter from a young Hawaii housewife, blonde Mrs. Gordon Morse, touched the general to a quick and typical response.

"Dear Mr. Eisenhower," it read, "In the hustle & bustle of visiting the islands, we wonder if such a man as you doesn't get a little weary with the luncheons, teas and dinners? . . . If you have a spare hour or two and would like to relax, please consider our home as your own . . . We . . . would treasure the memory of your visit for a lifetime . . . We promise not to mention statehood for Hawaii, Korea, your Cabinet--or Mr. Truman. We will ask you about Mamie, your children, your grandchildren, and let you play with our six-months-old son . . . Hope that we have given a chuckle to a busy man with a big responsibility . . ."

Ike could not find time to drop in but he invited Mrs. Morse and her cub-reporter husband (Honolulu Advertiser) to dinner at the Kaneohe base. The dazed couple accepted, chatted with their host about painting (Amateur Artist Ike advised Mrs. Morse that one way to keep youngsters away from pigments was to threaten them with a scrubbing).

25,000 Miles. On the runway apron, beside the Air Force Constellation that would fly him to the U.S. mainland again, Dwight Eisenhower said, "The three days [here] have been wonderful. If my golf had been better, it would have been perfect."

There was a midnight refueling stop at Edwards Air Force Base, in California's Mojave Desert. Then, on an early Sunday afternoon, the Constellation came down at New York's La Guardia Field, completing for its chief passenger a round trip of 25,000 miles in 15 1/2 days.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.