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The Unpushable. Taft was all too right. Nobody could push Bill around and, elected majority leader in his own right after Taft's death, Knowland soon ran into trouble trying to push the unpushable Senate around. In his rush to political power, Knowland had learned how to handle issues—but not men. Senior Republicans began grumbling: "He treats us like kids." Once Knowland called for a night session without consulting Minority Leader Lyndon Johnson. Johnson rounded up enough Senators to hand Knowland one of the worst indignities that can be inflicted on a majority leader: he adjourned the Senate right out from under Bill's nose. Again, Knowland's impatient ways led him to try to cut off debate on a bill to revise the Atomic Energy Act. His move so irritated a minority of liberals that they launched into a 13-day filibuster. Knowland, who loves a good fight, was unbothered. One morning during the filibuster he arose from his office couch after a few hours' sleep and rushed forth announcing happily: "Boy, will we give 'em a fight today." In the end, the filibuster was broken—but the Senate had wasted a lot of time.
Knowland also had some rough sailing in his relations with the White House. He is proud of his voting record of support (88% in the 83rd Congress, 91% in the 84th) for the Eisenhower Administration, but he has made some of his biggest, blackest headlines breaking with the Administration. Perhaps the low point, in the Administration's eyes, came during the 1954 debate on the Bricker amendment, designed to dilute the President's treaty-making power. Just when Senate leadership was needed most, Knowland abandoned his majority leader's desk, walked to the rear of the Senate, announced that he was speaking as a rank-and-file Senator, and argued in favor of the amendment.
Thus, Bill Knowland's first years of leadership were disappointing to both the Administration and the Senate. He has since come a long way.
Unrequited Love. The White House knows that it still cannot depend on Knowland for down-the-line support, but it respects his sincerity of purpose and—because they are always the result of careful thought—his opinions. Ike, carefully cordial toward Knowland, unfailingly calls him "Bill." Knowland, carefully correct, unfailingly calls Ike "Mr. President." In the privacy of his office Ike sometimes grows hot under the collar when Knowland challenges a cherished White House plan, but the President is a confirmed Constitutionalist and neither asks—nor expects—Knowland to toe the executive line. On one vital point Ike has no worries: he knows that honest Bill Knowland, whatever his personal stand on an issue, will report the Eisenhower views to the Senate faithfully, accurately and dispassionately.