WHEN war hero Dwight Eisenhower was elected president in 1952 and prepared to take command of the U.S. government, departing President Harry Truman quipped about the difference between military and civilian life: "The general is in for a surprise," Truman said. "He will give an order and nothing will happen."

Another military man, retired Marine officer Robert Ferguson, may learn that lesson soon under West Virginia's plastic-wrapped Capitol dome.