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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 1963)
PAGE 4 HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls. Oregon Tuesday, November IS, 1963 In Courage IN WASHINGTON... Nikita's Boasts, Facts Don't Jibe ' Profile w dii&iml (paqsi John Fitzgerald Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy came to the presidency of the United States as the bear er of great change. He was the symbol of something new, but he died by something as old as time the hand of the fanatic. '! Ho was the first man in the 20th cen tury to bold the office and the second youngest in history. He was the first Catho lic in the White House. He came as a naval hero of World War II who narrowly had missed death in Pacific waters, and survived a second brush with death in a grave illness nine years ago. To the nation's high politics he thus brought a fresh stamp. The well-remarked "Kennedy style" was a blend of Intellect, vigor, wit, charm, and a clear talent for growth. On the always shifting, often troubled world scene, be sometimes moved with more caution that expected in young leadership. Soon after entering the White House, he gamely took full blame for the Cuban Bay of Pigs fiasco as an enterprise sadly lacking in boldness. Yet only his worst enemies withheld from him the label "courageous" when he moved resolutely against Soviet Premier Khrushchev in the great Russian missile crisis in Cuba in late 1962. And he boldly pressed for an East-West test ban treaty this year in the face of heavy charges that this imperiled our security. In domestic affairs Kennedy won much of his program in beginning 19C1, gained far less the following year, and encountered a major stalemate in 1 063. The constant note against him was insufficient leadership. But again, when 1963 brought the greatest racial crisis of this century, Ken nedy at acknowledged heavy political cost WILLIAM By WILLIAM S. WHITE WASHINGTON When there is death in Jio family there is shook and horror and grief, and tlion there is terribly and inevitably the. harsh aware ness that lifo must go on for Uioso who arc left. When there is death in the na tional family, death removing the very central arch ol the power and purposes of t h o Western world as brutal death has removed Jolin Fitzgerald Kennedy, honor and grief arc inexpressibly multiplied. But one thought, one emotion, must master all others. This is that (ho Republic of the United Slates of America must go on, under liie com mand now of a new Presi dent, Lyndon Baines .lohnson. It is lie upon whom the great burden has now fallen, and it docs not 6ccm wrong to thank Providence that tlxs successor is worthy of both the man who has gone and of (lie country Uiey have both always loved and served, wryly, toughly. un senlimentally and gallantly well. If ever in all our history there was an hour when men must put aside all that is small, all that is angry and ugly and pettily partisan in our na tional life, this Is. supremely, that hour. For unless all the people, (lie parties, the factions, the regions, the races, the clashing private interests, can summon up among themselves the sense and honor to unite behind the new President, (he United States of America will face perils of disunity it has not known before. Who is (his man. Lyndon Johnson, who must now have tlie support, (he help, and the understanding of all win are in the United States and of a 1 1 they have and are? What I am now about to say 1 should never in ordinary cir cumstance have said, lor in or dinary circumstances il would be name-dropping in its most tasteless form. But because of (lie special circumstances. I say it all the same, so that readers may have some stan dard to measure Uic worth of my evidence. For 30 years inoe he was a slrni and eager young tore tary to a Texas Congressman I have intimately known Lyndon Johnson as I have ncv. er known any oilier publicor private man. I have known no other man of more true toler ance, U a tolerance omelimcs hidden behind (lie brusque man nerisms of a master of his pro fession politics sometimes im patient of slower minds and al ways impatient with lliosc of t I committed himself to sweeping civil rights proposals that opened a vast new battle ground. Amid all his efforts to put the imprint of vigorous, imaginative youth upon the country's affairs in the 1960s, the late Presi dent found himself moving against a deep ening background of protest, with an ugly underscoring of violence which he sought with only limited success to wipe away. Much of this protest went to the steady encroachments of the federal government and its rising cost. But the bitterest reaction was white and Negro response to the enlarg ing racial struggle. The far right gave the mood its most perilous texture. With the calamity in Dallas the lesson of the danger inherent in violent extremism now may be deeply implanted in America's conscience. In this way, Kennedy in death may achieve what the living President could not do to curb the almost ungovernable rancor that increasingly discolored the politics of his brief time in power. It was John Kennedy's good fortune to surmount many obstacles to rise to his coun try's highest office and bring with him the winds of a new era. It was bis final tragedy that as he la bored in difficult times to use these forces for the nation's and the world's gain, they were swiftly challenged by countering winds of bitter reaction. In Dallas, one swift gust struck him down. The nation thus loses a young leader whose great promise lived in the shadow of great controversy. The way he died must inescapably cost all Americans deeply in self-esteem as free men of good will. That is the greater tragedy. S. WHITE Republic Must Go On smaller motives than his own. I have known no other man of truer compassion to the poor and dispossessed, yes, but also to those of more favored status who, too, sometimes weep silently in (he night from fears, the anxieties, the pitiless pressures and private despairs any part of humankind. I have known no man of more true devotion to this country all of it, North and South, East and West, black and while and brown and yellow. And 1 have known no public m a n, anywhere in the world, wilh a greater talent indeed a great er genius who has given greater service, sometimes at a high cost to himself, to (hat old ideal of one uation indivisi ble under God and of justice for all so far as justice can be lound in a world none of us ever made. But precisely because he is a political genius, precisely he cause he has all his public life been loo busy doing things and loo proud to explain things about himself, (his man has had his tireless detractors to a degree rarely seen in American politics. I have said this is no lime for bitterness; accordingly (his is no lime lo go forward with this theme. It is a lime, howev er, a desperately necessary lime, to appeal to them right hero in print to drop the little "I Still Cnn'l -;' .i - rr - '" V."' . - ..f)t'k-KIC I I W i ii n 4 animosities of the past. For I say, weighing my words in full awareness of their im plications, that I have never known a duly first-rale man in cither party who, truly knowing Johnson, has ever hat ed or despised or undervalued his Incredible capacities, sim ple dislike and simple disagree ment on principle being s e t aside. lie has his faults, but (his can be said of him: There is not anywhere in him an ounce of littleness; he is larger Ulan lile in every sense, including his complete inability to compre hend really little purposes in others. I have said that I have been and have remained his friend through (he greater part of Hie lile span of us both: but I have also on many occasions been a critical friend on public issues, and may no douht be on many occasions again. For among the largenesses of Lyn don Johnson is that one form of criticism, and one alone, can move him lo swear like the combat naval officer he once was he who can also weep for others like a child. This is (he criticism of malice based on motives that are small and ugly. This is a great political fig ure, a great and natural lead er. But Uiis is also, first and lorcmost and alwavs a man. MAN. Rrli. - vr It" f'1 W' ': -6 'wr By MAKQL'IS CII1LUS WASHINGTON In his office in the White House toward the end of his working day on a beautiful fall evening President Kennedy seemed confident, self contained, as almost always with the glint of humor flashing quickly and as quickly gone. !t was the last of several private talks I had with him during his presidency. After waiting a moment or two in the big, softly lighted Oval Room he came in from the next-door office of his personal secretary, Mrs. Evelyn Lincoln, where through the doorway I had seen him bending over her desk. Earlier he had held a press conference that he felt was more successful than most. Briefly he talked about a report er's question to which he had responded with what was for him exceptional gravity. I had come lo see him on a special mission. I proposed to write a short book on the wave of "hale Kennedy" emotion that had caught up certain parts of the country, particularly the South, along with elements in the North as well. This seemed to me. as J said to him, lo re semble the know-nothingism of the "hate Roosevelt" wave of (he mid-'thirties. I reminded him that I had written in 193i' a magazine ar ticle, called "They Rale Roose velt," which had caused a con siderable stir at the time. On the extreme left (be Commu nists attacked Roosevelt as a mere temporized and do-gooder while from the extreme right he was denounced as a Socialist or worse who meant to nationalize all property. With the quick perccplivily that characterized him he con sidered tins for a moment. He smiled, a skeptical look on his face. "Ho you think that's reallv due?" he asked. "I wouldn't think so. I wouldn't think thai 1 was a target in anvlhing like (he same way that FDR was." This, il should he added, is from my recollection of our talk. But it could hardly be more vivid in the light of the tragedy that has occurred. That quiet room seemed so removed from the turmoil and conflict of the world and vet you sensed dial it was llie quiet of the eve of the storm. The President, still youthful-looking alter near ly three years in the office, sat in his rocking chair with the composure that was Ins hall mark. "No." he continued, "it mav spill over on me. But I reallv wouldn't think dial I was a pri mary target as FPU was These people are very frustrated. Thev seem to think you can solv e ev erything by going hack some where. I don't know where But 1 don't sec why they would di rect this at me." This seemed to me to reflect another Kennedy characteristic He was reluctant to believe tliat he was nut liked by even one. He wanted to think that he could be President of all the people. He could not understand why he should be bated. I spoke of having been a slioit time hetorc in Mississippi Tlvre I was told by individuals who had lioen threatened with vio lence by the extremist groups that (he safety of neither the President nor his brother Rob ert, the Attorney General, could be guaranteed if they came into die state. Tlie impression they gave was that rabid hatred was so decpiivtcd that aits of WASHINGTON CALLING Last Talks Recalled desperation could not be pre vented. Some of this I had put in my column. "Yes, I saw that," the Presi dent said. "But I don't want to believe it. I can't believe that that can be true. "Of course, we get a lot of loiters in here that are pretty strong. They're violent even. And i'd be glad to have you see samples of those. But hasn't there always been that sort of thing?" We talked briefly of the at tack on Adlai Stevenson outside die hall in Dallas where he spoke on United Nations Day. Stevenson was hit over the head hy a sign-carrying rightist and spat on by a student as extrem ists shoved in at him when he left the hall following his speech. "He told me." the President said, "that .the ovation ho got in the hall from several thous and people was one of die warmest he ever received. Yet II was the 50 or so outside who made (he headlines. Thai's of ten the way il is (he people on (he fringe get all (he attention." Still another characteristic was evident as he talked. Mr. Kennedy thought of him self as more conservative than the liberals who supported him in his own party. He said: "You know when I first ran for Congress in 19-16 I believed pretty much the line that the centralization of our government had gone so far that it was a great danger and thai we were likely to spend ourselves into bankruptcy. So I can understand those people. And if they don't read anything else, and you know in a lot of places the newspapers carry nothing but this sort of thing, how can they reach a judgment on what (he situation really is." When we got onto the com EPSON IN Just See WASHINGTON 'NE.V - Only 5;l per cent of 3.000 Americans questioned in a scientifically conducted national survey think there is a good chance to avud a thud world war. The poll was taken by the Elmo Roper organization f o r the Atlantic Council of the l'niled States. Inc. Atlantic Council is a private organization to promote a stronger alliance between west ern Europe and North America. Its three honorary chairmen are ex-Presidents Hoover, Tru man and Eisenhower. Its acme chairman is Gen. Uiuris Nor slad, former commander in chid of North Atlantic Treaty Organization aimed forces. Carelully tabulated results of tlie comprehensive. 60 - question suivey indicate that "interna tionalist" sentiment in the l'it ed States has made impres sive gains over "isolationist" sentiment during the last U) years But the grim fait that only slightly more than half of the mlult populace thinks there is a chance of avoiding World War III sticks out in the report with an ominous warning. Tluity-two per cent of those polled said thev though: this war was incvitahlowith 15 per cent saying tlioy did nn know. This is almosl an exact re vel sal of the results in a simi ing campaign year he was full of zesl and seemingly without any serious concern over a struggle thai would make such heavy demands on his time and energy. With all of the South gone, he said, and then amend ed himself to add, or most of it. we'll have lo go after slates we didn't carry last lime. He laughed about Senator Barry Goldwater, saying, "Let him go, let him alone, Barry's doing just line." This was a highly competitive man who wanted to win not only every game but every inn ing of every game. With this went a spirit of derrying-do. bra vado almost, that often led him to defy danger. On his (rip to New York a week ago he de clined a police escort, taking his chances on the tangle of traffic in the city to the consternation of the New York police force. Although die two major pieces of his program, the tax and the civil rights bills, were bogged down in Congress, he seemed undaunted. His mood was in marked contrast with that of a visit I had with him in the oval study upstairs somewhat more (ban a year after he had (aken the oath of office. Speaking of his 14 years in die Congress and his 15 or so months in the Presi dency he said in a somber vein that he had begun (o wonder if (he country was governable at all. Now on tls bright, clear eve ning he seemed a seasoned man. a man who had met the initial test and who had no doubt of his ability to meet the challeng es still ahead. He had mastered the most difficult job in (he world and if he had any qualms about (lie future he gave no sign of il. That is the terrible irony of the moment when (he bullet of a madman snulted out his life. WASHINGTON . . . Bare Majority Peace In Poll lar poll taken for the Atlantic Council in 11132. With the Ko rean War still on at that time. 53 per cent of those interviewed thought a third world war was inevitable, with only 35 per cent thinking it might be avoid ed. The increase from 35 lo 53 per cent in those who think an other world conflict can be avuded is still regarded as a kind of "skin-of-our-leeth" es caiv from disaster. But it can be interpreted lo explain many facets of current political thought. It rellocts the opinions of many highly vocal Americans who mistrust the Russians, fa vor a big build up of I'.S. mili tary forces. Ilunk this country must be prepared to fight com munism wherever it rears its ugly head, oppose both the nu clear lest ban treaty and any slons toward disarmament. TIicm" are the causes held most dear by many of the con servative minority groups in America. A measure of this minonty sentiment is levelled in the Atlantic Council survey finding that only 2' ier cent think the I'mtcd States is douig all it could to prevent World War HI. On the other hand. 51) per cent trunk the United States is do ing its best to preserve world peace. By RALPH de TOLEDANO Recently, a group of Ameri can businessemen w ho had been wined, dined, and insulted in the Soviet Union, returned full of tales about the wonders tak ing place there under the inef fable Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet dictator, they reported, had attended a number of their vodka parties and lold them in no uncertain terms that the Red Empire would outstrip the United States and bury us all in missile dust or wheat. The vibrations from Comrade Khrushchev's tonsils were, as usual, scanned for hidden mean ing by the Kremlinologists and the pundits. The businessmen listened somewhat agog and then gave their reactions to re porters. It was all very touching and very phoney. Because the statistics show that the Soviet Union has been more often than not pushing north and moving south in its efforts to make communism work economically. This point has been documented frequent ly in this space and if the pun dits were polite, they would ad mit that their condescending smiles were premature. The latest Khrushchev boasts came lo mind when certain sig nificant statistics on the Soviet Union reached me. These are not the kind of facts and figures w hich make headlines. Very few see them, but they arc part of Die vast fund of knowledge on which our policy makers should and sometimes do draw. As figures, they are n n 1 world-shaking, but they do point a moral. If one recalls Napole on's dictum Ihat an arm y moves on its stomach, then they acquire more importance. For they concern the Kremlin's abil ity to feed the Russian people. More precisely, they have to do with grain production. It is usually taken as fact that whatever the shortcomings of the Communist homeland, it is at least an improvement over what die Tsars provided before the Revolution. That this is not so hardly matters; people be lieve it. But it is a fact that the Russians under Tsar Nich olas were able lo produce more grain and export more than Nikita's USSR can. The figures are interesting. Between 1909 and 1913, before By "We ought lo rewrite ancient history for children." a woman remarked to me recently, "so that conflict and combat aren't glorified. When they read about the Greeks fighting all the time, and the to years of die Trojan War, they think Ihat war, if not noble, is at least normal." I suggested that this was a misreading of history especi ally among the ancient Greeks. Rather than glorifying w a r. they recognized it as an evil, bitterly necessary though it sometimes might be. This is most obviously true when we consider die pantheon of the Greek gods, each of whom was given a distinct per sonality and specific attributes. As for policies lo prevent war. nine per cent of those re sponding in the survey think the United States should not join any more international alli ances. And seven per cent think the U.S. should get out of the alliances il is now in. But 21 per cent think the United States should continue to work with the United Na tions; 33 per cent think Ihe U.N. should be strengthened, and 11 per cent think stops should he taken to convert it into a world government. Only 12 per cent of those (wiled, however, would favor surrender of American sover eignty to achieve (his end. As (or (he kinds of nuli t a r y preparedness (lie U.S. should take, three per cent of (hose polled think there should be a "preventive" war just as soon as American military lead ers feel they can win. Four per cent say quit rely, ing on military strength and make the best deal possible with tlie Communists, even if it means some sacrifice or ap peasement. In between these two e tremes. IT per cent think tlie United States should rely whol ly on its own resources and Wt per cent favor huildmg up friendly country alliances. This poll is considered im portant not just as a measure of American opinion on foreign policy, but also as a guide (or U S political parties ami can didates if the 1!M elections. Russia was plunged into World War I, the country was export ing an average of 109 million tons of grain a year. Russia was, moreover, the world's greatest exporter of small grains in those days. Now look at what Commu nism has accomplished. Be tween 1935 and 1958, the Soviet Union was able to export an average of only 4.8 million tons, or less than half of the Tsarist annual average. And in 1958-82. despite the tremendous and costly effort of die Kremlin to increase grain production, (he average was 6.8 million tons a year. What it will lie in 11)63-64 is anybody's guess, but tlie fig ure won't count since it will in clude many millions of tons of United States, Canadian, and Australian wheat. The importance of these free world shipments can be under stood when it is noted Ihat the Soviet Union is committed to exporting 1.3 million Ions of wheat to East Germany alone, as well as close to a million tons to Poland. W ith production of all grains down 20 per cent by the figures the Kremlin has I sheepishly released and well below that when spoilage tvery high Ibis yean is included the extent of Russia's present ag ricultural calamity can be seen. What is of value to (lie West in conlemplating these figures is the shabby picture of com munism on the march that it presents. When Lenin seized power, a new world was to be born. And every year since then, the Soviets have boasted mightily of their achievements and of their future. That future has been retro grade for die Russian people. There is lower industrial produc tivity than tinder the tsars, worse housing, fewer consumer goods in the shops. The stan dard of living is far lower for die average person. What then has the Communist 'paradise wrought? Nothing but boasts and (he sputniks we hear about. But even in the area of space and rocketry, the Soviets are far from meeting the stan dards set by the size of their country and its natural re sources. And die Kremlin has demonstrated that even with its great head start, it cannot maintain the pace. Will Nikita bury us? Per haps, but only in mountains of our own wheal. STRICTLY PERSONAL SYDNEY J. HARRIS Ares was the Greek god of war, and he is die most un pleasant character in the entire pantheon. Nothing good is ever ascribed to him he was surly, belligerent, covetous, quarrel some, ugly, underhanded, and above all envious of the other gods. Next, consider the outstand ing heroes among the Greeks. They were Achilles and Ulys ses, the decisive men in the Trojan War. Yet Achilles was sent to a faraway island, where he disguised himself as a wom an, in order to avoid military service. Ulysses, the boldest and most cunning of Greek warriors, pre tended to be a deaf idiot when summoned for the army. He was "drafted" into service only by the trick of throwing his little boy into the path of his plough, and went off to war most unwillingly. Among die Trojans, Hector 'the most sensible, mature and ' manly of (he lot' openly op posed continuing the conflict, which was bound to end in disaster for both sides. Even though he was vanquished, in Greek literature he remains the only "moral hero" of the tragic decade. In the centuries following, the great Greek plays, far f ro m glorifying combat, deplored and attacked it. Aristophanes mer cilessly flayed the countrymen for their aggressions; and tlie serious playwrights of that time condemned the "hubris," or pride, of die Greeks in try ing to settle human disagree ments by subhuman means and propliesied that tlie g o d s , would punish them for tliese ar rogant and bestial acts. What the lady meant was Ihat most history, beginning with the e a r I i e s t. is a record of wars and conquests, of mili tary leaders and campaigns. History docs not need to he re- ' written, or soltencd: it needs to be Uiught with intcllic-oncs and discrimination ami sen.-c ol perraan Most of aii. we i;' ) that tho,- f.v !) did "glit ;!y" i t t Greeks were r: wfi lMf loft nothing to the future tit a sense of siiarg.' amor? their miserable rcmr.ants. TV
