A Bunt for Salty

Around the White House. Massachusetts' sad-faced Republican Senator Leverett Saltonstall is held in high regard. Said one presidential aide recently: "No one wants to see Salty get into any trouble. He's too valuable." But Saltonstall is in real trouble in his bid for re-election this year. He is opposed by Democratic State Treasurer Foster Furcolo, an aggressive, proven vote-getter. Clearly, Salty needs help. One day last week the White House did its bit.

At Press Secretary James Hagerty's news conference, reporters found a complete stranger sitting front and center. With a Little Jack Horner smile, Hagerty introduced his guest as Vernon Bradley, a real-estate man from Springfield, Mass. Bradley had come to Washington to see Dwight Eisenhower and to announce that he would run for Congress in Massachusetts' Second District. Added Hagerty: "The President wished him well."

Surprised, the reporters immediately began checking into this unusual (for Eisenhower) political fillip. The Second District seat is held by Democrat Edward Boland of Springfield, who was so sure of re-election that he planned to spend most of his time campaigning for Furcolo. G.O.P. planners reasoned that entering an Eisenhower-blessed candidate against Boland would ease the pressure on Saltonstall and bring a few thousand extra Republican voters to the polls. No one really expected Bradley to win his own election, but G.O.P. strategists were counting on him for a sacrifice hit. This intricate piece of planning, with White House blessing, was evidence of a new kind of political consciousness on the part of Dwight Eisenhower.

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