Doctors' Report

Twenty minutes before the bell signaled the convening of the Senate, ailing Bob Taft, supporting himself on crutches, entered the Senate chamber and swung heavily down the center aisle to his front-row seat. Acting Majority Leader William Knowland was there, briefing a cluster of reporters on the day's schedule, so Taft seated himself in Bill Langer's chair, beside Knowland, and propped his crutches against the desk. He looked pale and drawn, and his collar seemed too big. As an attendant shooed the press off the floor, Taft leaned over and began to whisper in Knowland's ear.

In the Press Gallery, a few minutes later, a statement from Taft's office alerted reporters to the whispered news: the Senator's hip ailment was serious, and Taft, at 63, was stepping down as majority leader for the rest of the session, turning over the Senate's helm and acting leadership to Knowiand. Other Senators, drifting into the chamber, were unaware of the momentous change until the news began to tick in on the Marble Room teletypes. Newsmen, hurrying down to the Senate floor again, asked Taft to meet them in the President's Room. In a few minutes he obliged them, seated himself on a leather divan and cheerfully answered a barrage of questions from some 30 correspondents.

Personal Selection. He had flown to New York the previous night (he neither confirmed nor denied using the incognito "Howard Roberts") to consult specialists. X rays had picked out a shadow on his left hip bone. The doctors had described it as a lesion, and "that's all I got out of them." He had first noticed a great weariness when he started "whaling golf balls" early last spring.

A month ago, at White Sulphur Springs, a pain developed in his hip, and Taft began to lose sleep. He consulted doctors at Walter Reed Hospital, in Cincinnati and in New York. The doctors prescribed deep X rays and cortisone, put him on crutches, insisted that he keep his weight off the hip bone. They also insisted that he unburden himself of most of the weighty chores that go with the job of majority leader. For that reason Taft had personally selected Knowland to handle the day-to-day routine. He would continue to handle high policy matters himself, and would attend White House meetings insofar as his treatments would permit.

General Regret. There was sadness in the Senate as the news gradually got around. In G.O.P. quarters there was also mild irritation that Taft had handpicked Knowland, thus filling a top policy job without consulting other senior senators. After lunch, making his way through the corridors on his way to his Capitol office, Taft was stopped by colleagues, who wanted to shake his hand and wish him well. For all he had the same message: "I'll be back next session." To some he said it two or three times, as if determined to make it come true. Late in the afternoon, Minority Leader Lyndon Johnson rose up to express the general regret on both sides of the aisle (see below) at Bob Taft's illness. Two days later, Taft went off to Manhattan's New York Hospital for special tests and treatment.

The Senate will miss the steady hand of Taft. Around the Capitol there is a common saying: "Things don't go right when Bob isn't here." For Bill Knowland, the new assignment is a major challenge. At 44 he is still a stripling as Senators go, both in years and experience, though he is generally regarded as a comer. Knowland's principal task: to steer the Senate through the remaining weeks of the session, and deliver the "must" legislation (mostly appropriations, which are in the capable hands of Styles Bridges) along the course already charted by the Administration and Bob Taft.

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