A Note to Mr. Nixon

...Then - when the nation was in upheaval and the press was in a frenzy - then the President's advisers decided to act...

...2. One person should be given the responsibility and authority for dealing with the youth problem in every area of Administration activity...

...The Vice President is excluded from this blanket indictment: he has shown a growing perception of where it's all at, so to speak...

...And pow...

...Until he accused Mr...

...Tom Hayden went on to Chicago with his mischievous thoughts...

...The naive way in which it was chosen has been described above and just about everyone disagrees with its findings...

...Yet the change hasn't reached the White House...

...The point is, what was once merely another addition to America's always-fascinating social scene became overnight a potent influence on her entire culture and especially on the heart of her culture, her politics...

...The list could go on and on: there are literally hundreds of responsible young people whom the Administration could call upon...

...To gain an understanding of the recent blunders (e.g., the Scranton Commission) it is important to consider two characteristics of the Nixon White House which have severely damaged its ability to effectively cope with the young...

...The Conference on Youth is a division of the White House Conference on Children and Youth scheduled to be held 28 February - 2 March 1971...

...But because the Palace Guard really doesn't care about the problem they have left matters in the hands of Hess and youth director Ray Hanslik, which means that the Conference will probably evolve into another embarrassment for Republicans and more hot copy for the Washington Post...

...All indications point toward another disaster, although some remedial steps have been taken...

...The first was a total disaster which the White house tried to undermine during the last weeks of its existence...

...The event was rather low-key at first...

...This modus operandi has caused interesting complications...

...at any bar in Georgetown you can pick out the typical White House aide: closely cropped hair, horn-rimmed glasses, dark pin-striped suit, narrow tie (circa 1960), button down collar and - most importantly - white shirt...

...For example, Ron McCoy, former national chairman of Youth for Nixon, knows the problems of university reform: as student body president he is engaged in a humdinger of a battle with the administration at Arizona State University...

...Since she had not brought up either point she was abashed...

...This sketch is simple, but we will leave the details to be worked out by social historians and NBC commentators (no, make that CBS...no, maybe ABC...

...Through the Conference the Administration should have subtly attempted to re-establish ties with its younger constituency...

...At a recent planning session of the White House Conference on Youth near San Clemente, Ehrlichman rather harshly told one female student who was objecting to certain Nixon policies that she did not represent anyone and that he knew more about young people than she...

...First, it has never been able to judge the dimensions of the youth movement accurately...

...A swell guy who can - on demand - recite the last fifteen years' major league baseball scores or a wide-eyed radical who can repeat by rote America's failures to provide for the blacks, the oppressed, the poor, and the young...

...appealed urgently to the White House to follow up on the Brock Report, a carefully written tightly-worded message to the President from twenty-two Republican congressmen concerning campus unrest...

...While one may sympathize with Mr...

...If the Administration decides again that it just ain't all that important, we might as well hand everything over to Life...

...it doesn!t matter, as long as one looks the part of a member of the Nixon team...

...Does this seem outlandishly obvious...

...Life magazine went on the newstands with its New Image...

...James Cheek, etc...

...By its own failure to act on such a major issue - the issue for young men -- the Administration is reducing the likelihood of maintaining the sizeable youth backing it received in the last election...

...The President says he is for it, Senator Goldwater says he is for it, and Senator McGovern says he is for it...

...Or Lon Williams, past president of the student body at Southern Methodist University...

...Surely little of John Stennis can't hold back a combination like that...

...Oh, some people grumbled about the sudden emergence of hippies and a few college deans were interrupted in the middle of their busywork...

...Almost a year ago Congressman Bill Steiger (R...

...Alexander Heard talking with the President, of Governor William Scranton, of Joe Rhodes, of Dr...

...It is a startling fact that supposedly politically sensitive men in politically sensitive positions could be so inept at dealing with one of the most politically explosive issues of our time...

...The most publicized results of these major defects in the Administration's policy have been the Scranton Commission and the White House Conference on Youth...

...He worked on the Scranton Commission and is presently a free-lance writer residing in Washington, D.C...

...Or David Keene of the University of Wisconsin who is well-versed on the radicalization of this generation and methods of retarding its progress...

...Because the President's closest advisers had not been watching the pot, when it boiled over they turned to people who seemed to know what had happened (sure, they knew - some of those guys had helped to light the fire...

...I'm sure they'd figure a way to make it into a delightfully fresh and youthful cover story...

...Following the Cambodian operation, when a wave of demonstrations swept the country (reviving the moribund anti-war effort) appeals were again made to the White House, only to be met with the comment that "it'll all blow over in a few days...

...The manifestations of "alienation" on the part of our nation's "brightest young people" (ar-r-gh...

...Unfortunately, some people still do not recognize it, and most of those people keep regular office hours next to the White House in the Executive Office Building...

...no...forget it...

...No one has decision-making power in this vital area except the President, and according to the newspapers he has other matters on his mind...

...This may be a personal gripe, but despite cheerful reports on Vietnam, the White House has still not made a wholehearted attempt to eliminate the draft, a promise which was the cornerstone of the youth platform in the 1970 elections...

...But there are signs now that even the Pepsi Generation is getting a little tired of its more bombastic cohorts and turned-on sympathizers...

...3. The President's advisers should stop their useless preaching about working class youth...

...What's holding it up...

...Or Jim Sandier, chairman of the university activities center at the University of Michigan...

...To men who fail to go beyond these pleasantries to examine the substance of what a man thinks, he was a perfect choice for an appointment to the Scranton Commission...

...Wick Allison graduated from the University of Texas in 1969...

...Currently it is impossible to untangle the confused lines of authority in the White House...

...Case in point: Joe Rhodes of Harvard is a carefully at-, tired, clean cut young black with an impressive academic record...

...Instead, it blew up...

...Steiger was politely snubbed, and the Brock proposal was ignored...

...Second, the Administration has shown a remarkable incapacity for making distinctions when dealing with young people...

...Or Doug Hallet, editorial chairman of the Yale Daily News...

...With that in mind, I present my own humble suggestions, a sort of open letter of advice to the President of the United States and his friends: 1. One Republican senatorial candidate concisely made a very intelligent point in a private note to Ehrlichman: "something needs to be done...

...Ehrlichman's frustrations, this is hardly an effective manner of conversion...

...Young laborers are not the problem, it's the students - most of whom are still willing to listen to what the Administration says if only its statements were properly packaged...

...4. There are moderate student leaders in this country who, though upset about their universities and some governmental policies, are quite willing to work quietly and efficiently to help the Administration bridge the widening gap with the young...

...Nixon of making speeches which were "killing people...

...it's an interesting thought which seems in accord with Mr...

...But, watch it, none of them would fall into tight little specifications and none of them have short hair...

...An excellent piece of advice...

...Garment's previous record...

...Day after day we, the public, were treated to pictures of Dr...

...Then simultaneously two people - one Tom Hayden and the other anonymous editor - had the same idea: "Hey this could be a big deal...

...5.Finally, the Administration, in order to hold on to those young people still loyal to it but dangerously close to giving up, should start fulfilling its campaign promises...

...In the short time left politically speaking - before the 1972 elections the Administration could, if it is willing, recoup its massive losses on the youth front...

...The first step, of course, would be to recognize the depth and urgency of the youth question and to commit the Administration to resolving it...

...But, looking back, it was of relatively little interest, at most a mild diversion from the depressing news of Vietnam, inflation, high interest rates and George Wallace...

...It is simply a fad, but it is identified politically with The Other Side...

...A change in style has occurred in this country which has affected hair length, clothing, speech and other facets of life...

...ding in Washington, D.C...

...Ah, if life and politics were only so simple...

...Remember those...

...The Conference's main problems now are (1) it is incompetently managed (Steven Hess, overall Conference chairman, recently had to bring in outside auditors to tell him where all the money had gone), and (2) instead of making a serious effort to bring young people back to the moderate fold, it is merely following along in a wild attempt to find out where everybody is going...

...I must admit at this point that I recently heard a convincing argument that while advisers like John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman had made honest mistakes because of closed minds (which could be opened) and lack of experience (which could be gained), others such as Leonard Garment have shown an inclination toward bringing less-than-loyal youngsters into the Administration...

...Despite my complaints, the situation is not hopeless...

...will doubtless continue to be heralded by the press until something else comes along that catches their fancy...

...The time is ripe for a well-orchestrated move on the part of the nation's political leaders to restore a generation to its country...

...Of particular concern to Steiger was the Administration's delay in implementing one urgent proposal, the establishment of an impartial panel of leading citizens to make a dispassionate and objective investigation of campus problems...

...Even as a staff member for the Commission I can add very little which has not been previously written, except to say that it was a rare opportunity to watch Administration fumbling from a front row seat...

...it has become one of the world's great buck-passing arenas...

...They make up the Nixon Administration, and in their personal dealings and political actions they have revealed a total lack of any understanding of the young in an era when the activities of the young are of considerable concern to their national constituency...