The Cruel lessons of fortune and caprice

Title

Creator

Reston, James

Language

English

Year

1963

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

Death has transformed political scene in America.

Fulltext

■ Death has transformed political scene in America. THE CRUEL LESSONS OF FORTUNE AND CAPRICE James Reston History seems determined to teach this nation that it must make more provision for fortune and caprice. All our assumptions, even about human ability and mortality, are subject to error. Franklin Roosevelt, who thought he was marked by fate to make the peace, died before the end of the war. Harry Truman, who was marked early $n his career for oblivion and defeat, sur vived to organize the greatest coalition of nations in his tory. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was stricken twice in office and counted out, lived on to be the oldest President in the long story of the na tion. John F. Kennedy, the youngest elected President, who came to office proclaim ing the emergence of a new generation of leaders, is dead at 46. And Lyndon Johnson, who at first opposed Kennedy and later joined and served him, has succeeded to the Pres idency only after reaching the reluctant conclusion that he would never get it. The Coming Changes Accordingly, this is no time for anything but very modest speculation about the future. Time has been more cruel to President Johnson than it was to Harry Tru man. He has come into the White House near the end of the statutory four-year term rather than at the be ginning, and like Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the new Bri tish Prime Minister (who was also thrown up by a stroke of fate), he has less than a year to go before the election. December 1963 13 Policy under the new Pres ident, therefore, will prob ably remain very much as it was under Kennedy, but the execution of policy will un doubtedly be much different. The Administration of John F. Kennedy was a very personal affair. It was or ganized to fit his personality and style. He had his own strong view on policy, for eign and domestic, and his own highly original concepts about his personal staff and his Cabinet. He was a reader, an ana lyzer and a catalyst, and was to a very large extent his own Foreign Secretary, with gifts of grace, wit and know ledge that enabled him to fulfill the diplomatic and ceremonial aspects of his job. President Johnson is a to tally different type of man. He has not been a deep stu dent of foreign affairs over a long period of time. Un like Kennedy, he is not a great reader or analyzer of documents. He is a doer, who spends more time on how to get things done than on meditating on what to do. The prospect is, therefore, that the White House staff of brilliant intellectuals and Boston politicians will dec line in power and the Cabi net will rise. Johnson drives his staff with all the energy of an impatient Army of ficer, which is quite different from what Kennedy’s aides are accustomed to; but, iron ically, Kennedy’s Cabinet is likely to have more power under Johnson than it did under Kennedy. Moreover, there is no urg ent need for the new Pres ident to take new policy initiatives in the field of for eign affairs. His urgent pro blems are to get organized, to get something through the Congress, and to get ready for the election. The Political Outlook The death of President Kennedy has transformed the political scene. That is fair ly obvious. It has improved the Republican p a r t y’s chances of victory. It has hurt Senator Goldwater, who is identified in many minds with the extreme Right. It has certainly not increased the popularity of Texas in the North, and therefore, by indirection, it has complicat ed President Johnson’s poli tical problem. Everybody in the Democ 14 Panorama ratic Party will rally behind the new President now. He will almost certainly be un challenged for the Presiden tial nomination, and there is already considerable talk, here that Senator Hubert Humphrey will be strongly backed for the Vice Pres idential nomination, and may even replace Mike Mansfied as majority leader be fore then. Beyond these speculations, however, it is probably im prudent to go. Each of the last three Presidents has dev eloped in office in wholly unpredictable ways, and Pres ident Johnson is not likely to be an exception to this rule. — Washington, Nov 23. NEHRU GRIEVED AND SHOCKED It is a terrible thing that’s happened. The con sequences are bad enough and to a far reaching extent will gradually seep down. The very fact that he will not be there should have some effect. What this particular incident means is terribly difficult to say ... . I should imagine his policy will be con tinued. Anyhow, I am deeply grieved and shocked both for personal relations and for international re lations. — India’s Prime Minister Nehru. December 1963 15

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