Clear Sky at Augusta

Behind Dwight Eisenhower were the long, tiring campaign and the weeks of international strain. Ahead were the demands of rebuilding the Western alliance, a visit from India's Prime Minister Nehru, the inauguration ceremonies and the State of the Union message. In Augusta last week the President of the U.S. prepared for what lay ahead by relaxing from what lay behind.

Ike needed a vacation. During the Middle East and Hungarian crises he had developed a nervous habit of awakening at 4 or 4:30 a.m. to jot down on a scratch pad the ideas that were flickering through his mind. When he first arrived in Augusta the wind was chilly, the skies were grey, and his golf score--usually a good thermometer of his physical and mental tone --was infuriatingly high. He suddenly realized that he was very tired, and planned a careful schedule to replenish his strength. By last week the clouds had cleared, the temperature rose into the 70s and the golf score descended toward the 80s.

Protected from the curious by a fence surrounding the Augusta National Golf Club, the President left the grounds only to drive to church. He was up most mornings by 7:30, had eaten breakfast* and was in his small office above Golf Pro Ed Dudley's shop by 8 o'clock. There Ike worked with Secretaries Ann Whitman and Helen Weaver, received Washington reports delivered by his staff secretary, Colonel Andrew Jackson Goodpaster. Only top business got attention: routine matters were put aside until the return to Washington.

By 10:30 the President was usually ready for the practice tee with Ed Dudley, thence to the 400-yd. first hole for a tour of the front nine (he walked half the way, rode half in his golf cart). After a locker-room lunch (a medium-size steak and a glass of milk or cup of Sanka), Ike traveled Augusta's back nine, returned briefly to his office, rested and joined Mamie for dinner (a big steak) in the dining room recently added to her Augusta cottage. Some nights the President played bridge--but the lights were nearly always out by 10:30.

It was a pleasant vacation, although certainly not duty-free, and about the best the President of the U.S. could expect. He therefore decided to extend it, waiting until this week to return to Washington.

*Ike was letting others do the cooking--and there was one indication that his own may not be all it has been cracked up to be. Said his sister-in-law, Mrs. Edgar Eisenhower of Tacoma, Wash., at a women's club meeting: "I know the President's cooking is all bluff. He turns the knob on high, burns it to a crisp, and that's all."

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