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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1963)
Family Weekly August 18, 1963 The Ex-Schoolteacher Who Meets THE MEN WHO DECIDE OUR DESTINIES U Thant of the United Nations Not long ago he was a shy schoolmaster in the Burmese rice paddies; now he challenges world leaders on war-and-peace decisions Last year, U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations, hurriedly left his 38th-floor office in the UN building in the midst of a war crisis be tween The Netherlands and Indonesia. He had just received word that his only son, Tin Mating ("Tinny"), 21, had been killed in a bus mishap while vacationing in his native Rangoon, Burma. Now the Secretary-General returned to his New York City mansion facing the Hud son to console a deeply bereaved Madame Thant. The next day he was confer ring with special mediators on the Indonesian crisis, and when "Tinny's" funeral services were be ing held in Burma the Secretary General was delivering an impor tant address in Ottawa, character istically admonishing both Russia and the United States for their "ob session with the past" which, he felt, jeopardized world peace. Only a few months ago, Thant's voice, soft and placating during the shrillest of international argu ments, trembled as he delivered the eulogy for his close friend, the late UN Undersecretary Omar Loutfi, whom Thant praised for "evenness of temper and political realism" words which many use to describe Thant himself. Then, visibly shaken, Thant left to unravel still another problem, the refusal of Russia and France to meet special financial obligations to the United Nations. These two personal crises shed light on the veiled character of the 4 Family Wwfclv, Amgmt It. IM1 "little teacher" with timeless face and Buddha smile, who, in a rela tively short time, has risen from schoolmaster in Burma's rice pad dies to leader of a 110-nation or ganization. He is a man deeply con cerned with people who has been thrust into a position in which he must remain aloof and "neutral." He is a reluctant officeholder whose success is at the mercy of East and West yet one who unhesitantly tells off both sides. After the death of Dag Ham marskjold in 1961, Thant was named acting Secretary-General to fill Dag's unexpired term. Russia objected to him as Dag's full-time successor because she wanted a three-man directorship. The U. S. had reservations because he "lacked forceful character." Thant was so unknown that some British Com monwealth delegates couldn't pro nounce his name. (It's OO-THONT, the "U" being a Burmese cross be tween "mister" and "sir.") But Asians and Africans prevailed with their stop-gap candidate and hoped he'd win friends before 1963 when the UN elected a Secretary-General for a full term. THANT'S IDEA of winning friends was to visit Moscow and tape a radio program telling the Russian people that their government was not giving them the full story on the Congo. He also took President Kennedy to task for resuming nu clear testing. When not scolding both sides impartially, Thant was eminently successful in cooling various world crises, most notably in the Congo. As the UN election approached, both sides seemed fa vorably disposed then came the Cuban crisis of last October. r r,. .. .- . j 7 0 Under the UN charter, the pow er of the Secretary-General pretty much reflects the decisiveness of the man on the 38th floor. During the Cuban peril, Thant made the office a take-charge position. He blasted Khrushchev's arms smug gling; he deplored Kennedy's block ade. Eventually, he' brought both sides together for talks and became an avenue through which each could back down without losing face. When the Secretariat election came, Thant won more easily than expected. "Every time a serious crisis threatens world peace," said Anastas Mikoyan, Russian first deputy premier and firm troika advocate, "we shall turn to Secretary-General Thant, who has won confidence and support." Cuban dealings provided two in sights into the man behind the in scrutable countenance. Thant, a .J "A L nonabstemious Buddhist, enjoys an occasional Daiquiri cocktail (a fa vorite of President Kennedy, too). Once a reporter pointed to Thant's glass and asked, "Is . that Cuban rum you're drinking?" "Yes," Thant confessed with a sly smile, "but bought in the U. S." Thant retains the Buddhist's re spect for contemplation. During tense moments in the UN, he orders his aides to leave him while he meditates alone. He does so in strange surroundings for such an Oriental custom: he has never changed the chaste Scandinavian decor of Hammarskjold's office; only a delicately worked silver bowl and cigarette box bring a touch of Asia to the austere room. These withdrawn moments give Thant what he calls "emotional equilibrium," a characteristic he feels sadly lacking in the world. World Crises By JACK RYAN h rli " g I Pi lw y : .v .-r V Thant's family visits the UN: Mrs. Thant (r.), daugh- g (I terAyeaya, her husband Tin Myiantf far r.), and the Thant s' J latt ton, Tin Maung. At left, Thant hold press conference. "The emotional qualities of man have been dominant for a long time. I think qualities like bitterness and intolerance and hysteria have been rampant all over the world. I am against all emotional . . . hysteria." Thant has a temper, but only in competence and stupidity can set it oft. Last year when the Katanga nese tried to frame UN troops with a phoney massacre, Thant threw up his hands and cried out undiplo matically: "How can you work with a bunch of clowns like that?" Thant differs from Hammarsk jold in temperament and work hab its, if not in dedication. Dag was aesthetic and - bombastic; Thant pragmatic and philosophical. The late Secretary-General ran a one man show; Thant consults regular ly with his assistant secretaries. UNLIKE RAMMARSKJOLD, who kept lights burning through the night, Thant is an eight-hour-a-day man whenever possible. He be lieves that in stepping away from his work he gets a better perspec tive on it. Thant leaves Villa Bella Vista, his 14-room residence in the Riverdale section, in a chauffeured limousine in time for his first order of business, reading cabled reports, at 10 a.m. each morning. Next come meetings with his staff; afternoon appointments are for visiting dig nitaries, from Russian priests to Guinea's foreign minister. Lunch is usually a business af fair (a recent guest was the king of Morocco) in the dining room of Thant's personal suite adjoining his office. The suite also includes a bathroom, bedroom, conference room, and kitchen. Like Ham marskjold, Thant only uses it for a quick wash and wardrobe change enroute to formal evening affairs. Around 6 p.m., Thant returns to his home. The UN owns the house and allows Thant $6,000 to run it He also receives $27,600 in yearly salary and $22,600 for expenses. In the past, Madame Thant at tended two or three major diplo matic functions a year, but since the death of her son she has become a virtual recluse. The Thants' most frequent visitor is their daughter, Ayeaya, 23, a recent Hunter Col lege (New York) graduate in so ciology, and her husband U Tin Myiant, an electronic-engineering student. Friends say his daughter has become "quite Americanized," unlike Thant himself, who, al though impeccable in English dress and speech during business hours, has retained Burmese traditions during his six years in the U. S. When he arrives home, Thant changes to a longyi, a long Bur mese kilt In discussing relaxa tion, Thant describes as "unfortu nate" the fact that he never devel oped a taste for anything "light." He is an avid reader, but only in ponder ous political history. "Throughout my life, I have had a passion for just serious reading," he says and then as an afterthought adds: "al though at one time Sherlock Holmes was popular in Burma, and I liked Sherlock Holmes very much." Sometimes Thant will hike a bit, but he is not much for the strenu ous life. If a good boxing match is on television, however, he will be sure to tune it in. Thant believes the way of life he was taught as a child in Burma could help the world find peace. Thant was the oldest of four sons (three are now in government; one is an editor) of a well-to-do family in Pantanaw, a town of some 15, 000 on the marshy Irrawaddy delta near Rangoon. He describes his fa ther as a "lover of books," and Thant himself grew naturally into a passive, bookish youth. "I was not fond of games," he recalls. "My hobby was just hiking and swimming. In those days one used to get up at 6:30 in the morn ing, do some hiking for 46 minutes or so, then swim." But the remain der of the day was devoted to read ing and writing at home. "AT Y S0LE 8n,bition'" Thant says, iVX "has been to be a political journalist." He was at the Univer sity of Rangoon when his father died and he had to return home to assume duties as head of the fam ily. When he returned to university life, he began to study teaching. In doing so, he met the man who shaped his future, U Nu. U Nu was a young political radi cal, advocating freedom from Brit ish colonialism. Where Thant was a dispassionate observer, Nu was the energetic mover and shaker. Opposite as they were, the two stu dents became friends and lifelong associates and, imperceptibly at first Thant was on his way from the scholar's ivory tower to the diplomats' glass-and-steel tower on the East River. Burmese journalists claim that one of Thant's early roles was to act as a courier of love messages between Nu and the young girl he loved. When the couple's marriage plan was thwarted by their fami lies, Thant arranged a river rendez vous and had a boat ready to carry them off on an elopement After those early years, Nu rushed into political battle, while Thant retired to a quiet teaching job in Pantanaw. It was not until after World War II that Thant ac tively engaged in government With freedom, Nu became Burma's prime minister and immediately appoint ed Thant head of the new nation's press relations. Burmese politicians were inclined to be derisive of the "little teacher" at first But when Thant reportedly got away with lighting one of his favorite black cheroots in the pres ence of Nu, a militant antitobacco and antiliquor crusader, they guessed the prime minister had a friend he needed badly. It proved so: Nu came to rely on Thant for speeches, confidences, and guidance. In 1967, he appointed Thant am bassador to the UN. Once again Thant's scholarly composure was mistaken for "lack of forcefulness" but once again, not for long. RECENTLY Thant made some ob servations on the future of the world. He feels that the 1970s ("If there are 70s") will see four ma jor powers astride the world rath er than just Russia and the United States. Western Europe will be added along with China, which, he says, will explode an atomic device "possibly this year or next" Thant feels the UN will then be a peacemaker only in brushfire wars which, if unchecked, might spread. But the world organization will not be able to awe the nuclear powers: they must learn to live among them selves, he says, and now is the mo ment for them to figure out how. Can the world achieve stability? Thant replies only that he is "es sentially an optimist." In the mean time, the little teacher calmly pre pares to meet the next crisis. Vmallu VMklu Aaunutf If IH1 5
