THE WEEK

The President’s announcement that he will run again settled a number of questions which hinged directly on his decision. No other Republican, obviously, can hopefully eye the White House; and the fervor for the nomination on the Democratic ticket is considerably reduced. Most significant, however, is the fact that there will be no reconsideration of Eisenhower’s program—no reconsideration, that is, of the kind that would have taken place if representatives of competing wings of the Republican Party had ventilated their differences publicly and turned to an open convention for a decision.

The struggle between the two major factions in the Republican Party must continue, and must manifest itself, somewhere. With the President’s announcement, the battlefield becomes the Vice Presidency, and Eisenhower’s cordial but noncommittal references to Nixon leave open the question who will get the nomination. It may be, of course, that the President has not swerved from his determination to support Nixon for Vice President; an d that therefore his refusal to say so, in so many words, was merely in line with the position that such things are, as a matter of form and fact, up to the Convention to decide. (With reference to himself, Eisenhower had said he would run “if the Convention chooses to nominate me.”) Anti-Nixonites can take comfort in the obvious fact that Eisenhower’s esteem for Nixon is personal; there is little evidence that Nixon, the legendary conservative and hard anti-Communist, has successfully influenced his boss.

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Presidential Election

The President’s announcement that he will run again settled a number of questions which hinged directly on his decision. No other Republican, obviously, can hopefully eye the White House; and the fervor for the nomination on the Democratic ticket is considerably reduced. Most significant, however, is the fact that there will be no reconsideration of Eisenhower’s program—no reconsideration, that is, of the kind that would have taken place if representatives of competing wings of the Republican Party had ventilated their differences publicly and turned to an open convention for a decision.

The struggle between the two major factions in the Republican Party must continue, and must manifest itself, somewhere. With the President’s announcement, the battlefield becomes the Vice Presidency, and Eisenhower’s cordial but noncommittal references to Nixon leave open the question who will get the nomination. It may be, of course, that the President has not swerved from his determination to support Nixon for Vice President; an d that therefore his refusal to say so, in so many words, was merely in line with the position that such things are, as a matter of form and fact, up to the Convention to decide. (With reference to himself, Eisenhower had said he would run “if the Convention chooses to nominate me.”) Anti-Nixonites can take comfort in the obvious fact that Eisenhower’s esteem for Nixon is personal; there is little evidence that Nixon, the legendary conservative and hard anti-Communist, has successfully influenced his boss.