"Cautious Optimism"

As early as last September, department and agency heads in Washington started passing along to the White House their program and budget requests for the coming year. President Kennedy and Aide Ted Sorensen collected the pieces, sifted and shifted them until a picture took shape; then, last week. Sorensen flew to Palm Beach with an outline of the President's State of the Union message, to be delivered to Congress this week. In Palm Beach, the President reviewed the Sorensen outline, penciled in copious notes and packed Sorensen off to the Palm Beach Towers hotel to draft the actual speech. When Kennedy takes the rostrum of the House of Representatives, his tone will be one described as "cautious optimism."

Army Talk. Between sessions with Sorensen, the President took a hard new-look at the U.S. military establishment in general--and the Army in particular. To Palm Beach came Vice President Lyndon Johnson. Defense Secretary Robert Mc-Namara. Deputy Secretary Roswell Gilpatric and Presidential Military Adviser Maxwell Taylor. Next day they were joined by the Joint Chiefs of Staff--Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer and the uniformed heads of each of the services. The talk turned from the defense budget to streamlining the Army's organization. Time and again, when proposals were made, the President insisted on having them spelled out, and kept pressing Army Chief of Staff George H. Decker for confirmation: "Is this what you want? Are you sure?" Finally it was agreed that Regular Army strength, would be upped from 14 divisions to 16. with the extra funds coming from cutbacks of some eight National Guard or Reserve divisions. Other changes approved by the President included a move to consolidate scattered Army logistical and technical services into one central command.

At midweek, White House aides watching Capitol Hill saw storm signals, reported growing evidence that the President's legislative program might be in for heavy weather with the 87th Congress. President Kennedy decided to cut short his Florida stay and fly back to the capital for a series of conferences with key Congressmen. Chief among those the President wanted to see was Arkansas' Representative Wilbur Mills, whose Ways & Means Committee must pass on several of Kennedy's prime proposals (see following story). Then, at week's end, Kennedy flew to Columbus for a $100-a-plate Democratic rally in honor of Ohio's Governor Michael Di Salle.

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