That Man

Sir: As a clergyman who has known the Honorable Lyndon B. Johnson since college days, who has campaigned for him for political office, and who has followed his inspired and inspiring leadership as President with pride and with prayers, let me give one man's testimony that he "was a good man to begin with" and that he is still a good and great man. I truly believe that in time there will be acclaim for Johnson as one of our really great Presidents. He knows well the uses of power, and his courage has made him the man of the hour, as well as the "Man of the Year," 1967.

R. ELMER DUNHAM

Superintendent

El Paso Baptist Association

El Paso

Sir: It seems that some time between Da Vinci and World War II, the idea of a single candidate for "Man of the Year" has become impossible, presumptuous, and a little bit of a gimmick. The complexities of modern civilization indicate the diversity and richness of a Barnard in medicine, the Beatles in music, possibly a "Leary" Johnson in politics, and a Paul in peace. Is there a man who stands for all of these?

(THE REV.) EUGENE C. SZAREK, C.R.

Gordon Technical High School

Chicago

Sir: Upon reading of TIME'S "Man of the Year" selection, my reactions were disbelief, disgust and finally agreement. I had thought the "Man of the Year" was a model leader who had furthered mankind's striving for a better world. I now understand this title to be the "Most Talked About Man of the Year." I must agree this is true.

We the followers must not expect our leaders to be infallible; so why does L.B.J. consider it necessary to convince the American public that Big Daddy has all the answers? Is the President correct in his assumption that Americans aren't mature enough to accept the truth? Do we as responsible citizens want to hide behind ignorance, so that, if future historians condemn our stand in Viet Nam, we can say we didn't know?

I, as a college student, agree with you that L.B.J. ". . . is as remote as Betelgeuse" to me. He has proved that he is a leader who can get things done, but I believe a leader has an obligation of letting his followers know where he is leading them.

CAROL McCABE

Chicago

Sir: Only rarely, I guess, do journalists have enough time to correlate so happily their writing skills, their research data and their bloodily accumulated wisdom in a single magazine piece as to come pretty close to producing literature. The Johnson piece, it seems to me, is worthy of being preserved as a model for aspiring writers. Hard and consistent discipline and dirty homework are evident all the way. Hard, sweaty writing makes easy reading. I do so admire observing old pros perform.

WILLIAM KOTTMEYER

Superintendent of Schools

Board of Education

St. Louis

Sir: Lyndon Baines Johnson may have been elected "Man of the Year" but the cover picture by Artist David Levine is definitely the Caricature of the Century.

(MRS.) FLORENCE S. JOHNSON

Torrington, Conn.

Sir: From your cover, I infer that you are implying that 100 million Americans chose a madman as their leader. From this distance, your President appears eminently sensible and sane. However, even if your estimate is more accurate and even if the U.S. voter is as stupid as your cover implies, should you not still show loyalty to your chosen king? It was John Heywood who observed that "it is a foule byrd that fyleth his owne nest."

DONALD C. WATERFIELD

Nakusp, B.C.

Where the Crime Lies

Sir: What kind of hypocrites are we? The court-martial of Pawlaczyk and Passantino for cutting the ears off of three dead enemy soldiers [Jan. 5] turns my stomach more than watching the grisly deed would have done. We send those guys over there to fight and kill and risk their lives, and then we turn around and do this to them. We might as well call in Amy Vanderbilt to describe proper etiquette "upon shooting the enemy," and then demote and fine anyone who had a mean look when pulling the trigger.

J. W. PARKS

Balboa Island, Calif.

Sir: The "war crime" of cutting off the dead enemy's ears for souvenir purposes is nothing new. Twenty-some years ago, when I was a nurse on the U.S.S. Hope, AH-7, at Okinawa, a grateful patient offered me what appeared to be two darkly aged, torn, dry apricots. Not so.

"I cut 'em off myself," he told me shyly, and I can still remember his eyes, innocently proud of being a real man's soldier at 19. I wonder, if he made it back, what sort of a man he is now, in this time and place.

(MRS.) DOROTHEA FASSETT, R.N.

Lincoln Park, Mich.

Sir: What did they do to the cameraman who offered the knife?

J. M. DAVIS Rochester

Nay, Nay, All the Way

Sir: Your Essay on campaign spending [Jan. 5] is a profound analysis of political shenanigans, definitely demanding new controls. One glaring note on contributions that disturbs me: the labor union handout to the Democratic Party. It is inconceivable to me that any union would give totally to one party without the written consent of every member of that union. Are we to assume that all A.F.L.-C.I.O. members are Democrats? Nay, union money should be spent on pensions, educations, compensations, etc., for the workers themselves (or their families), unless each gives written consent of a weekly withdrawal from his paycheck for a political contribution.

MRS. W. GREENAWALD

McAlester, Okla.

Investment Analysts

Sir: Amazing! It is the only word I can think of to describe your report on U.S. industry [Dec. 29]. It has $20.2 billion invested in Western Europe, $12.9 billion in Latin America. How much in Appalachia? How much in the Black Belt of the South? Can it be that the American poor are a greater risk than the economically and politically unstable countries of Latin America?

GERALD PANNONE

Trenton, N.J.

Sir: A 13,000-mile umbilicus would be truly wondrous to contemplate. I had thought that most everyone knew that the umbilicus is the navel, where the umbilical cord--which the person whom you quote is talking about--was once attached. Somehow I have felt impelled to submit this correction, but hasten to thank you for a most informative and captivating article about Industry.

JOHN W. OLDS, M.D.

San Diego

Clog Those Computers!

Sir: You have given false security to the students who have scored 200 on the College Board S.A.T.'s. Your article [Jan. 5] states the minimum score is 0, but you get 200 points for just signing your name to the answer sheet. The S.A.T. scale runs from 200 to 800. A hopeful note: a survey of the 550 Eastern colleges and universities participating with this Center reveals that these admissions directors look first at the applicant's course grade average, then at his class rank, finally at his College Board scores.

HENRY KLEIN, ED. D.

President

American College Admissions Center

Philadelphia

Sir: Oh, S.A.T., a doom to your plans to take such intangible qualities as creativity, motivation and curiosity and reduce them to the realm of the tangible by assigning a number score to them. These are all an American kid has left to call his own. In other areas he can chart his performance by comparison with that of the rest of the nation, thereby diminishing, to some degree, the sense of the unique and the special. With this final invasion of his privacy you commit the ultimate putdown. May your computers clog.

SALLY EWING

San Francisco

The R Is for Respite

Sir: I found it hard to believe that the wife of a military man had written the letter concerning the "heartbreaking" pictures of servicemen on leave from Viet Nam [Jan. 5]. I'll thank God for five days when I'll know my husband is safe. I find worrying about the other 360 days of his tour very depressing. R & R is one brief respite from the terrible burden of responsibility that any officer lives with day and night. Winnie Poteete says wives could use rest and recuperation. If you will stack 24 of your hours against 24 of his, Mrs. Poteete, you're on R & R!

ALICE M. CODY

Glen Burnie, Md.

Scooped

Sir: The premature publication of the Versailles Treaty in 1919 was one of the greatest scoops in the history of journalism, and more important: it resulted in the defeat of President Wilson's plans and "broke his heart." However, credit for this scoop should go to Spearman Lewis, managing editor of the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune, and not to my close and dear friend, Frazier Hunt, who died recently [Jan. 5]. Hunt was asked by Lewis to take the treaty to Chicago, and Hunt smuggled it through customs. Lewis negotiated for weeks to get the treaty, and pledged his word never to reveal the facts. We at the Tribune believe it was a Chinese diplomat who gave us his copy. The negotiations took place in a stalled taxi in the middle of the Place de la Concorde--this was Lewis' brilliant idea--the only place in the world safe from being overheard. The treaty was mysteriously dropped through the letter slot at the Tribune, wrapped in a piece of Chinese silk (some say a kimono). It would have been treasonable to publish the treaty, but Hunt got Senator Borah to start reading it for the Congressional Record, and a minute later the presses started rolling.

GEORGE SELDES

Hartland-4-Corners, Vt.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.