Dear Editor
Dear Editor Presidential Publicity I must take exception with one point of Henry Graff's otherwise excellent review of Herbert Hoover: A Public Life ("Reappraising the Depression Chief," NL, March...
...How can Graff say that "Hoover was the last of the unknown Presidents...
...some weighty political factors that Peking anticipated and counted on before invading...
...In this context, Peking's increasingly audible claim to global leadership sounded pathetic...
...Involvement in a world-wide conflict on the eve of the voting would have been too awkward for even the Soviet government to handle...
...How the Soviet's Eastern European satellites would react to the outbreak of a Sino-Soviet war, also rates very high on Moscow's list of anxieties...
...Saudi Arabia in a state of opportunistic vacillation...
...The repercussions, I believe, will soon be felt on a global scale...
...But that is not so...
...The Kremlin decision to remain on the side-lines was particularly significant in the light of the unique opportunity available...
...Dear Editor Presidential Publicity I must take exception with one point of Henry Graff's otherwise excellent review of Herbert Hoover: A Public Life ("Reappraising the Depression Chief," NL, March 26...
...For during the Wilson era (when, by the way, the presidential press conference was inaugurated), the newspapers and picture magazines—not to mention the political weeklies—performed the task that was later to be performed by radio and TV...
...West Germany playing with the idea of unification...
...Moreover, even though the USSR still maintains a sufficient margin of military superiority—to mount and likely win a Blitzkrieg— time is running out on its hopes of crippling the power base of Mao's heirs as they prepare their drive for modernization...
...and Iran in turmoil...
...Soviet military strategists could not have asked for a better excuse for launching a preventive war against China...
...The people of the United States during World War I knew Woodrow Wilson as well or better than any age knew its President...
...As a result, China can now step out of the USSR's intimidating shadow and start growing at full speed...
...What Graff seems to be implying is that there was a publicity vacuum before the advent of radio...
...Over the years, as antagionism has heightened between the countries, observers have declared that the Soviets held a significent military edge over China...
...Peking, analysts have claimed, may have taught Hanoi a lesson, but at the same time, the Chinese once more demonstrated their military backwardness, their weakness vis-a-vis Moscow...
...Thus, for the Kremlin to turn away from these concerns and concentrate on the formidable totalitarian target at the other end of the Eurasion spectrum would have meant a complete reappraisal of strategic prorities...
...Bronx, N. Y. Laszlo T. Kiss...
...Yet for all Peking's shrewd calculations, the most compelling motive behind China's decision to risk a war with the Soviet Union probably stems from what might be termed the ultimate raison d'e'tat: existential necessity...
...However, I think a closer look shows that the incursion was a stunning victory for the Chinese: Because the Kremlin did not promptly and thoroughly punish Peking for attacking Vietnam—a full-fledged member of Moscow's ideological camp—the balance of power and prestige has tilted in the Sino-Soviet cold war...
...That was done in Vietnam, and the Kremlin's verbose passivity in response dramatically revealed that it no longer considered an all-out preventive war a viable method for dealing with the Maoist threat...
...New York City Frank Asnow China's Victory Much of the press has portrayed the Chinese invasion of Vietnam as a qualified success at best...
...It was imperative, therefore, for China's revitalized heirarchy to give the lie to those presumptions by confronting the Soviets...
...Nor was it a coincidence that, within hours after the last ballot had been cast, the Chinese announced the start of their withdrawal from Vietnam...
...This same print media machine catapulted Hoover—as Belgian Food Administrator—to fame...
...Moscow apparently was reluctant to act because of The New Leader welcomes comment and criticism on any of its features, bul letters should not exceed 300 words...
...This, in turn, might have precipitated a crisis in the Politburo...
...The implication was that the Chinese lived only through the Kremlin's mercy...
...For instance, the attack occurred exactly two weeks before the Soviet elections—the first since the adoption last year of the new Constitution that strongly emphasized the Politburo's commitment to peace...
...Peking also depended on Moscow's intense preoccupation with potential crisis points in Europe and the Near East: Italy on the verge of chaos...
Vol. 62 • April 1979 • No. 9
