As big & little politicos buzzed into Washington for the big Gridiron dinner, Kansas Senator Frank Carlson, a trusted Eisenhower lieutenant, strolled inconspicuously into the office of New Hampshire's Senator Styles Bridges. Carlson wanted to talk about the problem of electing a Senate majority leader for the next session of Congress. Bridges restated his position: he wanted to be chairman of the Appropriations Committee; he did not want to be majority leader unless that was the only way to avoid an open fight between Bob Taft's friends and the Eisenhower people who seemed to like California's Bill Knowland as a candidate.
Next day, Frank Carlson heard his good friend Bob Taft's side of the story: the G.O.P. must not muff its big chance by allowing friction to develop between the White House and the Capitol; as majority leader, Taft would be thoroughly loyal to Ike Eisenhower; friction could be avoided best with Taft in the majority leadership. After the conference, Carlson telephoned around to other Ike-before-Chicago Senators, got their general endorsement of Taft as majority leader.
Last week Carlson hustled back to Manhattan's Commodore Hotel for a long lunch with Ike. Emerging, he told reporters: "If Senator Taft wants the leadership, I believe the majority of the Senate would feel that he would be an excellent leader, and probably entitled to it." From Washington, Taft issued a statement: both Bridges and Knowland assured him that they did not want the job, he said, so "I have decided that I shall be a candidate."
He was as good as in.