Going Strong

As he strode into the Executive Office Building's Indian Treaty Room last week for the 24th press conference of his Administration, President Eisenhower was beaming with confidence and good humor. At the conference's end, 35 minutes later, he was still going strong.

The President had a New Year's wish for the reporters. "I hope," he said, "that all of you get the New Year's raises you deserve." Merriman Smith of the United Press shouted: "Can we quote you on that, sir?" Ike said they could, if they thought it would do any good. Then he got down to business.

A question about "must" legislation prompted him to define his feelings about his legislative program. There are certain things, he said, that have to be done by the Congress. There are certain other things which he believes are for the good of the country . . . and he is going to fight for them where he thinks they are important. He is not making recommendations to Congress just to pass the time away or to look good. Everything he sends to Congress he believes to be for the good of the country, and he is going to work for its enactment. Make no mistake about it, the President added, wagging his head and pounding his fist on the desk in emphasis, that is exactly what he is here for and that is what he intends to do.

Why the Constitution? President Eisenhower's declaration led to an obvious case in point: the controversial Bricker amendment to curtail his treaty-making powers (TIME, Jan. 18), which has brought his Administration to the brink of open warfare with Congress. Defending his opposition to the amendment, Ike went back to the Constitutional Convention and put a question to the reporters: Why was the Constitution formed to replace the old Articles of Confederation? Then he answered his own question.

Each one of the states under the Articles of Confederation had a right to repudiate a treaty. The founding fathers . . . provided [in the Constitution] that a treaty properly ratified should take precedence over any state law, including its constitution. The reason for this, Ike explained, is so that a representative of the U.S. . . .

can represent one government and speak with that much authority. To represent 48 governments would be an impossible task.

President Eisenhower was willing to swallow broad compromises for the Bricker amendment, but--and here the President leaned forward with his hands flat on his desk and spoke with utter earnestness--when you come down to this, that we have to go right back to the general system that prevailed before our Constitution was adopted, then he certainly never shall agree.

Too Much Sense. In an afterthought, Ike added that the Bricker amendment need never worry his Administration. It takes a long time to get an amendment passed, and the Bricker amendment, he was quite sure, would not affect the next three years. He was making his fight out of his belief and concern for what is good for the future of the U.S. The three-year reference inspired the United Press' alert political reporter, John Cutter, later in the conference, to ask if that meant that Ike was announcing himself as a one-term President. Ike grinned, flushed and ducked. That, he said with considerable embarrassment, was one subject he never should talk about.

A newshen's query about the possibility of a woman becoming President drew a smile and a smooth riposte from Ike. Out of his deep respect for women's intelligence, he said, as well as his admiration for their many other qualities, he might reach the conclusion that they had too much sense to want the job.

Last week the President: P: Sent the Senate a list of 119 nominations, nearly all of them appointed during the congressional recess. Topping the list were Chief Justice Earl Warren and Labor Secretary James Mitchell. P: Announced that Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia would visit him in May. P: Wrote a letter to the Associated Press's Ernest ("Tony") Vaccaro on the occasion of his election as president of the National Press Club. As an "elected official," Ike wrote, Vaccaro must realize that the members would demand a program for reducing dues while balancing the club budget and providing bigger and better meals at lower prices. Vaccaro would have to ponder on how to do this. "If you find out," Ike wistfully concluded, "please let me know."

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