Battalion Editorials Page THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1953 Stow; DANGEROUS CURVf AHEAP Firm, Responsible Leadership Dwight Eisenhower intends to be Presi dent. He refuses to be merely an adminis trator, enforcing whatever laws Congress cares to provide. He is taking command of his party to make it the responsible instru ment of the public purpose to achieve certain well-defined goals. Mr. Eisenhower made this quietly" plain before entering on three days of consulta tions with Republican congressional leaders on a program for the new session. Seeking congressional advice, he left at the same time no doubt about the areas of compromise. They are limited to “details,” do not extend to “principles.’’ This is because the President considers the final responsibility for his administra tion rests on Dwight Eisenhower. In 1952 the President received a much more emphatic mandate than did his party. It won only a finger-tip hold on Congress. Mr. Eisen hower is not, however, making this a per sonal matter; he is emphasizing the platform on which the Republicans took power. He is underscoring party responsibility.” But plainly he regards himself as the party leader, possessing the fullest authority to interpret the platform. Moreover, he makes no bones about his intention to obtain frequent renewals of.that authority by laying the case before the public. Very significant ly he has announced a radio and television report to the people on January 4, three days before he addresses Congress on the State of the Union. This is a common-sense position. Indeed, if the two-party system is going to be gen uinely effective it is an indispensable posi tion. Every student of political science, ev ery thoughtful practical politician knows that the two-party system exists because of the need to establish responsibility and give voters a clear choice between parties and platforms. They know, too, that presidential leader ship is required to give coherence and direc tion to party action. Both parties as now ex isting are combinations of diverse elements. No congressman can match the political authority of the presidency, speaking as the one representative of all the people. This power of the Chief Executive can be abused—as can any powers of government. But there are many checks upon it, and at the moment—with the nation engaged in a cold war abroad and beset by confusions at home—there is more danger from weakness than from strength in the presidency. One manifest check upon Mr. Eisenhower is the opposition within his own party. He is seeking to act first of all as a party chieftain. The machinery of the system requires that, and he has therefore called only the leaders of the Republican Party into consultation. His first task is to gain as much understand ing and acceptance as possible for his pro gram in his own party. But even in the field of domestic legislation he cannot count on complete support from Republicans. This places him in a doubly difficult role of leadership. After he has found the larg est common denomination of agreement with in the Republican ranks for a program which in essentials fulfills the promises made in the election, he must strive to enlist Demo cratic aid to provide the needed majority. This is no simple operation. Democratic par tisanship has been hardened by some Repub lican efforts to identify Democrats with Communists. But on the fundamentals of much of the President’s program—partic ularly on foreign affairs and trade—a ma jority of Democrats can oppose only by de nying their own records and convictions. HOLIDAY £[ cnictx^ >1*0 k . B..T .—,r—" AiL 2a j-Tijht J?6a Walt L