The place was the unadorned, ink-stained President's office in Gettysburg College's Glatfelter Hall. Seated in black leather chairs in a semicircle were seven top Republican congressional leaders headed by Big Bill Knowland, the Senate Minority Leader, and stormy-browed Joe Martin, the G.O.P. leader of the House. Facing them from behind a wooden, felt-topped desk was Dwight Eisenhower, ruddy, bright-eyed, and looking better than he has for weeks. Ostensible purpose of the meeting: resumption of Ike's weekly conferences with the G.O.P.'s congressional leadership.
Bill Knowland was booming his way down a list of 14 legislative items that were considered "priority." When the...
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