Show completely because I was Mamie’s friend I realized then the complete trust and dependence these two have in each other Anyone who might think otherwise hasn’t seen them together After the war Ike became chief of staff and he and Mamie settled down in Quarters No 1 at Fort Myers Arlington Va Although Ike had become an international hero they resumed the normal course of their long marriage with Mamie in the role she plays so easily that of devoted wife and mother My own husband had returned from the war and now when we visited we were four In due course Ike became president of Columbia University and they moved into the big house freshly redecorated for them on Morningside Drive in New York City We saw them more often ' during this period since we had all become New Yorkers Mamie loved the big new house though she confessed that she hated to leave Fort Myers and her comfortable old house there is characteristic Moving from place to place house to house is the customary lot of an Army wife Mamie was always able to make each new house homey and comfortable but leaving the This considered pertinent questions having studied the war news on the train and would ask How does the General say the war is going?” “Oh” she’d answer “he says it’s cold I’m sending him some heavier socks!” So I repeat the campaigns the strategy the politics of the war were not discussed by the generals’ wives Their concern was for their husBands and to mask their anxiety they would sing popular songs with Mamie at the piano After a game of mahjong they would eat a cold meat loaf (in order to stretch their ration points) Mamie incidentally had nothing in her larder that other housewives didn’t have except possibly a jar of powdered coffee and a few extia packs of cigarettes from the Army PX Mamie used neither of her they were there for the convenience friends Those Army wives are the same ones with whom she still spends her Saturday afternoons White House (when she gets one to herself) in the Once when I called Mamie from New York and her-self- — asked if I could use the spare room she demurred gracefully I was somewhat perturbed as she had always been insistent that I stay with her on my Washington visits rather than at a hotel It wasn’t until long afterward that I learned I had called leave which General Eisenduring a secret hower managed to spend with his wife between North Africa and the move to England An amusing incident occurred during this leave which Ike himself told me about after the war It seems he put his feet up on a newly upholstered sofa and was politely ordered by his wife to remove them He laughed and said “I may have been — Supreme Allied Commander in Europe but I sure 10-d- ay knew who was boss at home!” When Ike returned in 1945 I met him for the first time He greeted me with his famous grin and said “I’m so glad to know you Maggie Mamie’s letters have mentioned you often” That I was charmed goes without saying but more significantly I noted that Ike accepted me established home was always a wrench She became so fond of the big Columbia house that she ' actually cried when she had to leave it to move into the White House Through her tears she said “Nearly every woman in this country has a home she can consider her own I have always had to live in places not my own!” It seemed a pathetic sentiment from one about to move into the White House as our First Lady but I haven’t the slightest doubt she will have pangs of regret when she has to leave there Of course the Gettysburg Farm where Ike and Mamie will retire has particular significance for them It is the first home they have ever owned! At Morningside Drive their favorite spot was the top floor a big glassed-i- n sun porch Here we would be invited to what she called “kitchen supper” — a bufTet of casserole dishes — and it was always very informal and great fun On one occasion a Sunday afternoon we called on them and were greeted warmly as usual Mamie was in a pink negligee and Ike was in an old sweater and slacks having spent the day painting We were discussing the somewhat unexpected news that Gov Thomas Dewey had just announced that he was endorsing General Eisenhower for President! (Dewey’s statement was startling because Ike had consistently denied that he wanted to run) Our conversation wasn’t many minutes old before Sergeant Moaney appeared (Moaney had been Ike’s orderly during the war and still is his personal valet in the White House) The Ser- geant announced that reporters were at the door asking for the General’s reaction to Dewey’s statement Ike said “Oh tell them I’m not dressed” Mamie quickly amended “No Moaney Tell them we have company” Apparently Moaney delivered both messages because later on the radio at home we heard an announcer speculating as to who the guests could be if the Eisenhowers weren’t dressed! On another occasion was chatting with Mamie on the phone It was early November and I mentioned that my sister Agnes de Mille with whom wre usually shared our Thanksgiving celebration was away Mamie responded instantly “Come eat Thanksgiving dinner with us” (Continued) Familtf Weekly June 26 1960 9 |