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In his second-hat role as chief of the Republican Party, Dwight Eisenhower last week undertook his first political expedition since the November election. Occasion: the New York Republican state committee's $100-a-plate fund-raising dinner in Manhattan. With the President of the U.S. as the star attraction, the committee got more $100 customers (3,900) than any hotel ballroom could hold, so it hired two hotel ballrooms, one at the Astor and one at the Waldorf-Astoria. Ike agreed to give his speech twice--"pitch a doubleheader," as he put it.

The President planned to make the trip in a DC-6 chartered by the committee (he insisted that the presidential plane Columbine should not be used for traveling to a Republican Party affair), but rain and fog kept him grounded. Instead, he rode in a special train (paid for by the G.O.P.). Missing out on the $100 banquet fare (turtle soup, filet mignon, ice cream, New York State champagne), he dined on the train, then changed into his dinner jacket to face the microphones.

As speeches at $100-a-plate political dinners go, the President's speech was notably unpolitical. Speaking from sparse notes printed on cards, he delivered not a tub-thumping pep talk but an earnest "account of what has been going on in Washington." The Administration's "great objective," he said, is to create "a government whose honor at home commands respect abroad." Other notes:

Korea. Any peace the U.S. makes must be "fair to the Korean people" and to the war prisoners who are "seeking political asylum."

Foreign Relations. U.S. policy "cannot merely be a succession of reactions to someone else's actions."

Taxes. It is "illusory" to cut taxes unless "national bills are paid."

The Economy. The Administration is "alert to the dangers of going too far in the direction that could be called deflationary."

After his repeat performance at the Waldorf, the President followed his Secret Service convoy to Pennsylvania Station. The presidential train pulled out shortly after midnight, spent part of the night at a quiet siding in New Jersey, pulled into Washington's Union Station at 7:30 a.m. Ike's first White House appointment of the day was scheduled for 8:15.

At week's end, he was back at Union Station again. This time, he and Mamie were bound for a weekend as guests of younger brother Milton Eisenhower, president of Pennsylvania State College. Ike arrived at Milton's big grey-and-white house at 8:15 a.m. By 9 a.m., he and Milton were headed for the nine-hole Centre Hills Country Club. At noon, the brothers went back to the house to grab up fishing tackle, then set off for an afternoon's fishing (dry fly) on a nearby private estate. In five hours, the happy President hooked and landed 20 trout (brown, rainbow, brook). He threw back all but the five biggest, which were duly photographed, cooked and eaten.

In Washington last week, the President: P: Conferred with Cabinet officials and military chiefs on the latest Communist truce proposal (see WAR IN ASIA).

P: Met for two days with 49 governors (44 states, 5 territories), whom he had summoned to the White House for closed-door briefings on foreign policy. It was the first time that a President of the U.S. had called together the state governors since Franklin Roosevelt conferred with them on economic problems in 1933. P: Appointed russet-haired Catherine B. Cleary, 36. trust officer of Milwaukee's First Wisconsin Trust Co. and president of the National Association of Bank Women, to be Assistant Treasurer of the U.S.

P: Played host to Canada's Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent (see THE HEMISPHERE).

P: Received Greece's Economic Coordination Minister Spyros Markezinis, who brought to the White House 1) a gold medal designating the President an honorary citizen of Athens, 2) a 2,400-year-old bronze helmet, 3) an 8,000-year-old ceramic flask, 4) a necklace, made of ancient Greek coins, for Mamie. P: Accepted the resignation of New York Investment Banker William Henry Draper Jr., 58, as U.S. Special Representative in Europe. Wrote Draper: "[You have given promise] that under your leadership the world will be spared the horrors of a third world war." Replied the President: "You are leaving behind you a heritage of great achievement." P: Attended the yearly dinner of the White House Correspondents Association, grinned unfalteringly through a skit burlesquing his golf ("Be thankful he ain't a bowler"), a prolonged wink from Songstress Ethel Merman (I Get a Kick Out of You), a running patter of Comedian Bob Hope. Some Hope-isms: "It is a great pleasure to be here, entertaining our President. Of course, I had to sell all my Paramount stock before I could go on ... We were supposed to have smoked tongue for dinner tonight, but Senator Morse was not available . . . I see Senator McCarthy is here tonight [he wasn't]--with his food taster ... I first met the President ten years ago in North Africa, where he was a general. He had some authority then . . ." Said Guest of Honor Eisenhower, just before his exit: "I can't remember having a nicer time than I have had this evening."

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