A Question of Zest

In his second post-coronary White House press conference, Dwight Eisenhower last week smoothly fielded every conceivable variation of the great question about his political future. When one reporter asked him to list the factors that would influence his decision on running for a second term, Ike made the obvious reply that it was primarily a question of health, of "the zip and zest that you can take into conferences when you have to get something done for the good of the U.S." Asked whether any members of his family objected to his running again, Ike goodhumoredly answered "No," thereby confounding the innumerable "reliable sources" who have reported that Mamie wants him to retire to Gettysburg. Another newsman who wanted to know just how the announcement of Ike's decision would be made got a grin and the response "Well, I suppose it will be just as dramatic as I can make it." In answer to the question "Would you favor Vice President Nixon as your running mate again?" Ike said: "I have never talked to [Nixon] under any circumstances as to what his future is to be . . . and until I confer with him I wouldn't have anything to say," then added a glowing tribute: "Never has there been a Vice President so well-versed in the activities of government. He has attended every important meeting. He has gone to numerous nations, been widely and favorably accepted in those nations."

When a reporter asked how he felt about Chief Justice Earl Warren as a possible Republican presidential candidate, the President's reply was so outspoken as to squelch the Warren fans (who have had no encouragement from Warren): "We shouldn't get too great a confusion between politics and the Supreme Court."

Despite all the speculation, the week brought no news on Ike's decision. Ambassador to Italy Clare Boothe Luce, after a 30-minute talk with him, told a reporter: "My woman's intuition tells me that the President has not yet made up his mind --and a woman always knows when a man has not made up his mind."

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