The Daily Express

Eisenhower Expected at GOP Convention

By International News Service

A big political story broke in San Francisco recently.

An exclusive International News Service story said General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower reportedly will be on hand personally to conduct his fight for the Republican presidential nomination at the July convention. And it is said he will be opposed at the convention by another five star spokesman, this one working for Senator Robert A. Taft, General Douglas MacArthur.

This is no mere speculation or rumor, according to INS. The sources for the statements are not identified but are regarded as unimpeachable. The story even tells where Eisenhower will stay in Chicago--The Conrad Hilton hotel--when he arrives a few days before the July 7th opening of the convention. And he reportedly will conduct his drive for the GOP call in civilian clothes.

The news of the surprise Eisenhower move was greeted by an emphatic statement from a high ranking member of the Taft organization. He said, and these are his words, "If Eisenhower appears at the convention he will be met by another five star general--Douglas A. MacArthur--who will meet the Eisenhower challenge on behalf of Senator Taft. There will be no Eisenhower blitz at Chicago in July."

The double announcements from sources close to the two leading Republican candidates for the nation's top office certainly will cause loud repercussions in political circles.

For one thing, it is the first semi-official confirmation of the rumor that Ike will take off his uniform and strive openly for the presidential bid. And for another, if true, it firmly places MacArthur in the Taft camp-and establishes him as an 'outright spokesman for the Ohio senator.

Meanwhile, one of the principals in the struggle, Senator Taft, is finishing the more mundane task of preparing to drum up votes in Wisconsin. The Ohio lawmaker heads for the Dairy state next week to stump for the nod in the Wisconsin primary April 1.

He said today in Washington he backs up his campaign manager's statement that Republicans should not be buffaloed by what he called "glamor or sex appeal" or take a "pig in a poke." Referring to the declaration by his campaign boss, David S. Ingalls, Taft said--and we quote "There is no personal reflection on General Eisenhower in it. It merely suggests that he would not be a strong candidate."