Prayer & Preparation

In the week before his inauguration, Dwight Eisenhower thought much about the passage in the Bible on which he wished to place his hand when taking the oath of high office. One morning at his Commodore Hotel headquarters, he remembered. He marked off II Chronicles, Chapter 7, starting with the 14th verse: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land . . ."*

Eisenhower wound up his dry-run presidential administration at the Commodore with a dry-run Cabinet meeting. Among other business, he read the current drafts of his inaugural address and his State of the Union message. All present were asked for comments and memos. One notable decision: concerned over the lag in NATO's buildup, Eisenhower ordered Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Mutual Security Director Harold Stassen to make a quick, fact-finding trip through Europe within ten days after the inauguration. Another decision: his inaugural outfit, announced Eisenhower, would include no top hat or tail coat. Instead, he would wear: black Homburg, striped trousers, club coat, black and grey four-in-hand tie, turned-down starched collar.

At week's end, Eisenhower said farewell to Columbia University. On Sunday afternoon, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Business Car No. 90, the same car that in 1945 carried Ike on his return home from his World War II European command, bore him, Mamie and family toward Washington, D.C., and the helm of state.

* By inauguration time, Eisenhower decided to swear on two Bibles: the historic one used by George Washington, and the one Cadet Eisenhower used at West Point. His own was opened at II Chronicles 7:14. The Washington Bible was opened at Psalms 127:1: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

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