Illusion of Peace and Prosperity Will Mean Ike Victory---Handlin

Although the Democrats are the majority party, President Eisenhower will be reelected in November, Oscar Handlin, Professor of History recently predicted.

In the September issue of Commentary, published by the American Jewish Committee, Handlin attributed Eisenhower's imminent victory to the public's desire for "the appearance of peace and stability the Eisenhower administration has given them."

The public's willingness to believe in a false peace and stability is due to the desire to escape from the insecurity of wars, rising living costs, and international tension, Handlin declared. The illusion has been encouraged, he maintained, by an absence of well defined issues.

Handlin decried as false the notions that "peace is a way to liberate the satellites, strategic retreats in every part of the globe strengthen a military position, and small cheap armies, under God, are more powerful than large expensive ones--and better for the budget."

Those who would maintain the illusion, "evading the necessity of choice," Handlin calls moderates. Although Handlin believes that the moderates will win the election, he makes it clear that their complascent belief that America never had it so good is dangerous.

Reputation Theory Attacked

In his discussion of other possible explanations for Eisenhower's popularity, Handlin discards the President's military reputation as "worn off somewhat," the President's record as "not impressive, and the Republican party as basically unchanged." Recalling Eisenhower's promises in the last campaign, Handlin said that except for the resolution of the Korean conflict, "every effort to implement the campaign promises of 1952 has led to fiasco."

Handlin called the Administration's foreign policy "a succession of retreats," but noted that the Geneva conference "momentarily kindled the hope that an end to the cold war might be in sight."