Eisenhower's Illness

"The President has had a mild coronary thrombosle and has just been driven to Fitzeimons Army Hospital. That is all."

This terse weekend announcement signaled that President Eisenhower must withdraw presently from the Washington whirlpool, and perhaps from future political battles altogether. We regret that the President, must suffer illness, because of the sorrow surrounding any sickness, and, more important, because the Republican Party needs Eisenhower to fulfill its duties of national leadership. The President's present successor, Richard Nixon, is an obvious reason why this is true.

But Eisenhower has also shown that he is a capable and effective executive, a war hero who successfully exchanged his military cap for a diplomatic homberg. Even his harshest critics have generally limited themselves to mild attacks: that although Eisenhower may be a fine fellow he is no intellectual heavyweight, that he is an "old man," that he is a reflection of the prosperous times rather than the cause.

The recent plaudits of the Democratic Senate Majority Leader, however, indicate just how mild these attacks have been, and Eisenhower's own assurance has increased, as illustrated in both press conferences and in his willingness to speak for the Republicans at home and for the nation abroad. The President's initiative was clear, for example, at the Geneva Summit Conference where his disarmament plan stole international headlines from the Soviet publicity-for-peace tactics.

Without considering the '56 campaign, then, we hope that the President's heart attack will not prove a serious hindrance, and he will be able to complete his role of leadership in party and government.