H.S.T. Says Eisenhower Endangers U.S. Welfare

Harry S. Truman charged President Eisenhower last night with endangering the welfare of the country by running for a second term in office. The former President, after academically discussing the duties of the office, sharply criticized Eisenhower by implication for not leaving the White House before he has to be "carried out."

"The jobs of the President make no allowance for failing physical vigor or the slowing up of mental powers," Truman said, "and although I had never had a serious illness in my life, I did not want to take any chances with the welfare of the country by lingering on in office."

Pointing to his vice-presidential experience in 1945 when Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office, Truman said he had "experienced the confusion and difficulty that comes when a President dies in office, and aside from purely personal considerations, I thought it wrong to let the government run that risk. So I walked out while I could still walk, and I have never regretted it."

Truman spoke last night to a capacity crowd of nearly 2000, made up principally of MIT and Harvard students and faculty in MIT's Auditorium. His talk was sponsored by the Law School Forum and the MIT Lecture Series.

Comparing the illness of Eisenhower last year with that of President Woodrow Wilson in 1919-1920, Truman said "the provisions of the Constitution governing the succession of the Vice-President are not spelled out in detail, and the illness or incapacity of a President can be more dangerous even than his death.

"We had such a problem in President Wilson's last year, and much harm resulted from it. It would have been immeasurably worse if President Wilson's death had occurred during the course of the war or in a period of great crisis."

"There is only one way" to carry out the duties of the Presidency, Truman said, "and that is to keep everlastingly at them, and to give as much time to them as it is possible to squeeze out of every 24 hours." The former president attacked proposals to lighten the burdens of the post, stating that "if the President lets things drift, the country is in danger, for drifting is the easy road to disaster."

In his discussion of the Presidency, Truman said the job is "really five or six jobs," and he proceeded to talk about each one, often breaking away from his prepared text to jab at the Republicans, to the obvious delight of the many partisans in the audience.

He drew his most vigorous applause when he spoke about the duty of acting as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. "He assigns commanders," and also, "He can take them out." This was an obvious reference to his transfer of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur from the command of the U.N. troops in Korea, a move which provoked much discussion in 1951.