Ready for the Fight

"I've never seen him more cheerful or more energetic," said a member of the White House family last week of President Eisenhower. "I wish I knew all the reasons. It's definitely a change of mood." Whether the President's get-going fettle was brought on by complete recovery from his stroke, or by the feel of spring, or by other causes, it showed unmistakably in stepped-up work done (TIME, April 14), in showings--at press conferences and at his desk--of a new jauntiness and zest for issues.

Last week the new spirit surged notably because he had made up his mind to wade into the middle of the liveliest fight since he stepped into the White House. Already the lines were forming in opposition to his Defense Department reorganization plan, designed to simplify the ever-lengthening lines of the U.S. military webwork and give new powers to the Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff. Already it was clear that the principal foe was the U.S. Navy, its civilian allies, and its longtime friends on Capitol Hill.

"The Idea!" So eager was General Eisenhower for battle that he forswore his customary distaste for a news conference, and stayed in town to hold one last week. When the reorganization questions popped, he poured it on. First off, he knocked down the recurrent complaints that the new plan (TIME, April 14) would make a czar out of the Defense Secretary. "Let's look at the built-in constitutional guards that there are," said he. "A commander in chief over the Secretary of Defense [who in turn] is certainly not going to be very effective if four chiefs of staff are not supporting him very definitely. The Congress is there every day for making the money available or not making the money available . . . The National Guard . . . The Reserves . . . And let's don't forget the spiritual strength and the traditions of America . . .

"The idea of making a czar out of anybody! Usually, they have always tried to do it about a military man. Now they found that wasn't very profitable because . . . they couldn't find a single military man in modern history, not to say American history, but in modern history, except in certain of the Latin American countries. Hitler and Mussolini were not soldiers; and Bismarck, who was almost a dictator until Wilhelm II came along--he was a civilian. So they gave up that argument, and now they are talking about a civilian czar. I don't see any sense to it at all."

"Here Is Something." Ike, too, had changed his mind since last January, when he allowed that "my personal convictions, no matter how strong," would be subject to a congressional consensus of what was politically feasible. Now, he said, jabbing a thumb at his chest for emphasis: "I don't care how strong [the opponents] are or how numerous they are. Here is something for the U.S. . . . that is necessary. I would get onto the air as often as the television companies would let me on.

"I would keep it up until I would have the U.S. understanding that it is their pocketbook, first of all; more than that, it is their safety--it is their safety. It just happens I have got a little bit more experience in military organization and the directing of unified forces than anyone else on the active list . . . The things I am trying to get over are the things that the U.S. needs."

In the Pentagon, reaction to the sweeping plan was varied and violent. Army Chief of Staff Maxwell Taylor, at first opposed to the idea, later said that his staff had convinced him that both he and the Army "could live with it." From the Air Force, growing mightier in the age of space, there was confident satisfaction that the plan could only help.

"Deep Opposition." But the Navy was fuming. Chief of Naval Operations Arleigh Burke seemed incredulous at the thought that the Sixth and Seventh Fleets could be taken from the Navy and put under the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as the plan recommended. Replied Deputy Defense Secretary Donald Quarles simply: "That's exactly what will be done. The [President's] paper says it will be done." Rumors flew that Navy Secretary Thomas Gates would resign.

The civilian-run Navy League (sprinkled with inactive naval officers) churned out a resolution objecting to weakening the powers of the separate Secretaries of Army, Navy and Air Force, i.e., opposing the President's plan to strike out a chaotic phrase in the present law guaranteeing that the individual services shall be "separately administered." Meanwhile the Naval Advisory Council, civilian advisers to district commandants, urged its 600-odd members "as a matter of deep urgency" to buttonhole Congressmen at home and get across "deep opposition" to the President's reform plan, plus hearty support for pending congressional bills that strengthen the powers of individual service secretaries, and further hog-tie the Defense Secretary.

Advice to the Wise. Defense Secretary Neil McElroy was just as ready for a fight as the President. Said he, in his first public speech before Washington's National Press Club: "I can see no excuse for military or civilian members of the Defense organization undertaking to make public speeches in their official capacities in opposition to the program of their Commander in Chief. On the other hand, I would expect that [any official appearing before congressional committee] answer questions frankly and fully in light of his professional knowledge and experience and with consideration of his position as a member of the Defense organization which is commanded by the President."

Finally came McElroy's word to the wise, supported by the Commander in Chief: "I would think if a man of integrity and conscience felt so strongly opposed to the basic policies of his organization that he could not effectively discharge his responsibilities, he would so advise his superiors. I know that is what I would do." In sum, uniformed opponents and Administration officers were on notice: if you don't want to come along, wash up, get your pay and get out.

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