PERSONALITIES

Harry Truman never made any secret of the fact that he had little love for his successor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, but in a new book he describes the World War II hero as one of eight presidents "we could have done without." "More Plain Speaking," to be published by Warner Books next year and excerpted in this Sunday's edition of Parade magazine, is based on thousands of pages Truman dictated from the time he left the presidency until he died in December 1972. The book was edited by his daughter Margaret Truman and literary agent Scott Meredith.

"It's interesting that a single thing, that great smile of Eisenhower's, gave him the reputation of being a sunny and amiable man," Truman wrote, "when those of us who knew him well were all too aware that he was essentially a surly, angry and disagreeable man, and I just don't mean to me, either." And he contends that Eisenhower "didn't do a thing as president ... Eisenhower never made any effort to put forward the leadership to which he was entitled, and he didn't have any program."

Out and About

There is no shortage of actors in Washington; it's just that most of them work at jobs with more serious titles. Understanding Washington denizens' natural propensity to perform, the Kennedy Center has decided to offer a number of well-known Washingtonians an opportunity for a few moments before the footlights in its production of "Drood!" On opening night, April 7, the role of the town crier will be filled by syndicated columnist James Jackson Kilpatrick. The town crier gets to wear a coat and a hat and say something like, "It's Christmas Eve and all's well ..." Among the other actors in street clothing signed so far are White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, restaurateur Duke Zeibert, artist Peter Max, cultural impresario Patrick Hayes, former CIA director Stansfield Turner and all-night talker Larry King. Just think, all that attention and a Broadway show credit for the re'sume' ...

Hospital Report: Rep. Bill Emerson, who is unopposed for reelection in Missouri's August Republican primary, has checked into the Betty Ford Center in California for a 30-day alcohol treatment program. "Over the past few months, I have sensed that I was developing a growing dependence on alcohol," Emerson said in a statement released by his office, "and that it was developing into a significant enough health problem that I should seek professional help." Emerson, who earned his high school diploma from the U.S. Capitol Page School, spent most of his career working on Capitol Hill and elsewhere in Washington; he was first elected to Congress in 1980 ...

It wasn't quite the same as when President Nixon and his wife Pat would walk across Lafayette Park to dine on the president's favorite dish -- mahi-mahi -- at Trader Vic's, but it was as close as one could get at the moment. With the Peter Sellars-directed opera "Nixon in China" playing at the Kennedy Center, Trader Vic's invited James Maddalena and Carolann Page (Dick and Pat in the production) for dinner last night, and the captain and the waiter who served the Nixons also served the actors ...

Carroll Douglass Bing, the wife of Sir Rudolf Bing, yesterday was ordered to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 2 to answer a charge of slapping a woman executive. The arrest came Wednesday, minutes after Lady Bing violated a court order and tried to see the woman, Barbara Quinones, a vice president at Columbia Artists Management Inc., a firm that manages opera singers. Sir Rudolf was once on the firm's board, but it was not clear why his wife was trying to see Quinones ...

Comic Robin Williams and his wife Valerie Velardi Williams have decided to end their nine-year marriage. Williams' publicist Mark Rutenberg said the couple would not discuss their pending divorce and that they share the custody of their 5-year-old son Zachary. The announcement comes more than 18 months after the Williamses separated when he took up with Marsha Garces, who had been hired as a nanny for Zachary ...

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