BOURGUIBA: KINGPIN IN NORTH AFRICA

...But he wag a great reformer in the Moslem world...

...Implied in his remarks was his clear purpose to ally Tunisia with the West...

...In 1952 the case of Tunisia came before the United Nations and although no decisive action was ever taken, France began to feel the weight of public opinion against her...

...He replied quickly, "First of all my father and my oldest brother...

...At the same time he has tried to prevail upon the Algerians to accept limited autonomy or partial independence as he did years ago in Tunisia...

...The reply again came readily...

...Certainly we can develop such a federation with Algeria, possibly with Morocco, perhaps with Libya...

...I hope there will be many changes...

...It was unbelievable to some, but they did it...

...There were pitched battles, murders, and strife, but Tunisia's home rule agreement was the first ever made by France with a rebellious North African possession—and it was made largely through the patience, persuasive power, pressure, and strategy of one man, Habib Bourguiba...

...To lead him on, I asked, "And what forces in Tunisia can help bring about these changes...

...I asked...

...Urging him to continue, I asked, "And were there others...

...There was a revolutionary tradition in his family...

...We need to orient the Tunisian people to Europe and to the West in general...

...Despite a recent illness, he welcomed me with verve and a firm, friendly handshake...

...We all need to ask, How does he think, how does he suffer, what makes him happy, what makes him sad?' " He had been talking about how others should act to achieve their goals...

...He had seemed clearer in his goals and in his methods than most of the leaders of other new nations that I had met...

...I try to put myself in their place and then figure out the next steps...

...Much depends upon the confidence of the people in their leaders...

...And he knows very well that the future of Tunisia hangs in the balance...

...I was pretty much on my own...

...the French would find their problems in Algeria and in all of North Africa simplified immeasurably if Bourguiba were not around...

...He had appeared to be more ready to move ahead than some...

...It is ever so important to educate the people...

...I'm surprised," he replied, "for I speak about that often...

...Later they helped to found the powerful U.G.T.T...

...The yard is filled with giant geraniums, orange trees, cypresses, bushy African pines, and flowers of many kinds...

...How this inner mechanism works has always intrigued me, and on a recent trip to Tunisia, I talked with Bourguiba and his associates to see what makes the man tick...

...Then, of his own accord, he added, "I also learned great respect in those early days for women, realizing that they were not to be treated roughly, brusquely—unusual training in view of the prevailing attitudes of that period and place...

...or he would tell about witnessing a crowd at a polling place, commenting on the number of "enlightened women" without their veils...

...He cited as one example an event in 1954...

...This was obviously not the kind of question reporters usually ask, so he thought a moment and replied that he was in boarding school at that time, having completed elementary school at the age of 12—which was "too young, far too young...

...That is very important...

...labor union, an effective ally in their fight for freedom...

...The radicals called this an unwise compromise, but Bourguiba insisted upon agreeing to this as a step forward...

...I always try to start by figuring out how people think and feel...

...I was eager to turn this skeleton into a living personality...

...There were people from history—Caesar, Napoleon, Ataturk, and others...

...As I thought back over my reading, my interviews with many people in Tunisia, and the interview with Bourguiba himself, I understood why the Tunisians are so fond of him and why he has been referred to by other writers as a "superb fighter, diplomat, and statesman" or "an authentic political genius...

...In fact I was pretty much deprived of affection as a boy...

...We all need to learn to respect other people no matter what their color may be, no matter what their beliefs are, no matter what language they speak, no matter what nationality they possess...

...His grandfather and an uncle had been jailed for opposing the Bey or ruler before the French took over control of Tunisia in 1881, and his father had protested against unjust French taxation...

...Without bloodshed, the Bey was ousted, and a republic proclaimed with Bourguiba as its first president...

...Then his mind quickly turned to methods to achieve his ends, for these are always in the forefront of his thinking...

...I don't believe I have all the final answers...

...With him he brought a perfect command of the French language, a fondness for French literature, and a high regard for the Eighteenth Century French philosophers, as well as a deep and abiding love for the French people and their culture...

...Then he added, a bit wistfully, "You know, my mother had died when I was ten and my father was an old man...

...Otherwise how will they ever learn to think for themselves...

...We give the insurgents what help we can, short of war . . . We are not neutral," he has said...

...Our party, labor, student groups, women...

...others lead...

...From these sources it was fairly easy to reconstruct the major events of his life...

...Bourguiba paid a high price for his activities on behalf of Tunisian freedom...

...They are like Siamese twins...

...As older people we need to inspire youth with this sense of respect for human personality...

...Yes...

...Eager to find clues to his later development from the events of his boyhood, I asked him what life was like when he was 14 or 15...

...The accusation has been leveled at him by his enemies inside and outside Tunisia, but the danger is lessened when one is aware of it...

...He is a short, fairly stocky man with a high forehead and a prominent chin, and his graying hair was set off well by the blue silk smoking jacket which he wore with pin-stripe trousers...

...In 1951, convinced that world public opinion had to be mobilized to exert pressure on France, he made a trip around the world...

...But Bourguiba is no ordinary kingpin...

...That idea is very vague...

...Here was the heart of his life's work—to make Tunisia a modern state...

...How do you feel about that now...

...These were the bare bones of the man...

...He had seemed self-confident but not conceited...

...And who have been the three or four individuals who have influenced you most in your life...

...He sees his wife often but they do not live together...

...Here was no dictator, but a warm, vibrant, dynamic human being, filled with a passion for freedom, dreaming big dreams for Tunisia and North Africa...

...At the same time he had revealed to me how he had acted to achieve his goals...

...So I turned to my final question, asking him if he had any special advice or suggestions to young people in the United States as to the type of education they should have...

...Following in their footsteps, Bourguiba, while still a boy in high school, protested to the French Resident General the suspension of a Tunisian newspaper...

...Bourguiba and his colleagues toured Tunisia and learned to know the people...

...I had met a fascinating person and he had been easy to talk with...

...Yes, here were further clues, for he has always had an intense sense of loyalty, has been scrupulously honest, and has been extremely sensitive to the suffering of others...

...My chance came toward the end of my stay in Tunisia when I was invited to meet Bourguiba at the end of a working day in his home in Sayda, a suburb of Tunis, a beautiful and restful spot where he can escape from the problems of Tunisia and North Africa...

...his tension seemed to be released, and his handsome face lit up...

...At this point I thanked him and left...

...Very early he became clear on the strategy of this group: he and its leaders must know the people and their problems...

...I wanted to know some of his aspirations, too, so I said to him, "Mr...

...Certainly a man in a key position like Bourguiba's, with the adulation of the masses, is always in danger of becoming a dictator, a demi-god...

...Above all it must be a better place in which to live...

...Every spare moment and every franc were spent on the cause of greater freedom for Tunisia...

...He liked geography and history in the early years, but by that time he had begun to enjoy poetry and literature, whether it was Arabic or French...

...Bourguiba would lift the veil of a Tunisian woman and tell her she ought not to hide that "lovely face...

...We had a good teacher then and he gave us free rein in selecting passages to memorize or to act out in small groups, passages from Corneille or Racine, Hugo or Moliere...

...Upon returning to Tunis, he turned to the law to earn a livelihood...

...They were proud, honest, responsible, and very original...

...There must be better standards of living for all—and more happy people...

...He well knew the jealousy with which Morocco might approach such a union and he knew how Libya was pulled in one direction by Egypt and in another by Tunisia and her neighbors to the west...

...The danger of men like Hitler and Mussolini and some others is that they tell people what to do but do not explain why these things must be done...

...All this sounds simple when telescoped in this fashion...

...And as a result of such incidents as the bombing by the French of the Tunisian border village of Sakiet Sidi Yussef, he has increased his demands that the French leave Tunisia and turn over the key naval base of Bizerte to the United States or NATO...

...We need to help people to think of the present and the future and not just the past...

...Born in the ancient city of Monastir, the seventh and last child in a lower middle class family, he was sent to Tunis at an early age to live with the family of his oldest brother, because of the death of his mother...

...I have only one piece of advice," he said, "but it is one which humanity needs sorely today...

...That is to learn to put yourself in the place of other people...

...He sat in ram-rod fashion on the edge of a long sofa with an orange red covering, every muscle in his body intense, his eyes fixed on me as if to catch every feeling behind the words I spoke...

...Far more significant in explaining the man were the words that he added at this point: "It is always important to explain why...

...Since he had not mentioned the idea of a North African political federation, known as Maghreb, I asked him about that, saying I had found few references in his speeches to it...

...This has been proved many times in the past...

...BOURGUIBA KINGPIN IN NORTH AFRICA by Leonard S. Kenworthy Even though he heads a small and relatively unimportant nation the size of New York State, with less than four million inhabitants, Habib Bourguiba, the president of Tunisia, is today the kingpin in North African politics and one of the most influential and able politicians in the world...

...And most important of all, they organized local "cells" throughout the nation...

...What do you hope I will see then in Tunisia...

...And they were sensitive to injustice, not so much injustice to oneself but injustice to others...

...That is one of the big differences between Kemal Ataturk and me...

...it must organize a mass movement, able to promote public demonstrations, stage strikes, and carry on as an underground movement when necessary...

...Bourguiba, I am hoping to re-visit these new nations in ten years...

...With the help of his oldest brother, he studied law and political science in Paris, returning home with a French bride and their young son...

...Inside him there is a gyroscope which helps him to maintain his equilibrium and to offer resistance to all the political balls rolled his way...

...There must be more work for more people...

...Bourguiba leads...

...It had been a tremendous experience...

...I was especially impressed as a boy with the story of Ataturk, although I learned later that some of his methods were not so good...

...I believe I know considerable about human nature...

...I remembered the comment of a correspondent for one of the largest and most important newspapers in Paris who had told me that Bourguiba knew more about France, French politicians, and the French people than almost anyone in France...

...Knowing them so well, he could figure out how they would probably act—and he could plan his own strategy accordingly...

...On that point almost every objective analyst agrees...

...Part of it is caused by the rapid increase in population—20 per cent in ten years— largely the result of better health facilities...

...There must be more education and for more people...

...So far he has managed to survive, even though a good many teams are bowling in his alley, knowing full well that if they could graze this kingpin, most or all of the other pins would fall...

...Meanwhile he has not minced words with us Americans...

...Not satisfied with defining the end to be achieved, he went on to mention the means...

...While I awaited an opportunity to interview Bourguiba himself, I talked to his friends and colleagues, read a mass of his speeches, skimmed his book on La Tunisie et la France, and read the recent biography of him by Felix Garas, called Bourguiba et la Nais-sance d'une Nation...

...We had to persuade the French, in part at least...

...They did...

...He was educated in French schools and was a good, although not a brilliant, student...

...We need to inject new ideas and new ways of working...

...When we speak of changes in people," he said, "we include women, of course...

...I did this in my dealings with the French, whom I know well because I have studied them for years...

...Then the people will do almost anything...

...He smiled...

...On this question, as on so many others, Bourguiba is the man in the middle...

...Since he works in the Moslem world, I wanted to learn the role that women would play as changes occur in Tunisia...

...But in the final analysis we had to win by getting the French to concede points...

...My mind leaped to Chet Huntley's terse summary of Bourguiba's methods: "Some leaders drive...

...tactics of the Destour (Constitution) Party, he and his friends founded the Neo-Destour (New Constitution) Party...

...In the back of his mind is the realization that the longer the conflict with France lasts, the greater are the chances that the rebels will turn to the Nasser or Communist camps...

...Then, in one of the gestures which have made him so famous for pantomime, he raised his hands over his head, lowered them as if light beams were streaming down from on high, and said, "I know, I can be wrong...

...But his mind had not left the previous question and he added, "Let's get back to that other question about changes in the next ten years...

...And apparently, I thought, he had turned his loneliness into a passion for people, through the channel of politics...

...What we are interested in is basically cooperation between the nations of the Mediterranean...

...Again he had spoken realistically...

...They had not believed me on some occasions in the early days but gradually they had learned that my judgment was good...

...And I could not forget his charm and his graciousness...

...People need to be certain that their leaders are honest and sincere and free of corruption...

...the Communists see a chance in the current situation to get a foothold in the African continent...

...And I thought of the story one colleague had told me about how Bourguiba tried to get the women of Tunisia to discard their veils...

...There he lives with his niece and nephew and their five children...

...I knew that tiny Tunisia could not force freedom...

...Later, he said, he enjoyed philosophy and mathematics...

...But behind the march of events were years of loneliness and suffering, years of discouragement and setbacks, years of pitting the strength of a tiny nation against the military, financial, and political might of a world power...

...Part of it is caused by the kind of schooling which places too much emphasis upon a classical education that does not prepare people for jobs in Tunisia today...

...it had to win it...

...On one hand he is definitely pro-Algerian...

...And part of it is due to the lack of foreign capital to support industrialization, capital which is frightened away by the unstable political conditions in North Africa...

...It is important for them to advance, but not to force issues if this can be avoided...

...He was in prison and sent word that the people should lay down their arms to the French...

...The house itself is large, white with blue shutters, and overlooks the Mediterranean and the ruins of ancient Carthage...

...Federation is the chief means by which we can develop a force in North Africa which will mean something politically and economically...

...And so far Bourguiba has not succumbed...

...He seemed to be enjoying the interview, and I was certainly fascinated, but I had been warned before entering the house that he had been sick and that I Should not stay too long...

...Thinking about that reply later, I understood his concern about work, for the most pressing problem of Tunisia is unemployment...

...the party must encourage people to think about the present and future of Tunisia...

...Upon one occasion, for example, he told an American correspondent, "Stick with France and you will not only lose the Algerians, you will also lose all of North Africa to the Communists and eventually all of the African continent as an inevitable consequence...

...They tend to be provincial, thinking and acting in much the same old ways...

...Dissatisfied with the conservative LEONARD S. KENWORTHY, professor of social studies at Brooklyn College, recently completed an extensive swing through Asia and Africa where he Interviewed the rulers of newly independent countries in preparation for a book on that subject...

...His words almost tumbled over one another at this moment...

...I tried to win the approval of other nations and peoples on such trips as I made like the one around the world...

...If we can do this, there will be less misunderstanding, less hatred, less war...

...In order to develop this respect for neighbors, there is one method, which can help...

...less hasty than some of the younger leaders of new nations...

...Then, on July 31, 1954, France's Premier Mendes-France recognized Tunisia's right to independence and on June 1, 1955, Bourguiba returned in triumph to Tunis to head up a government with internal autonomy...

...Of course, Egypt doesn't like my insistence upon it, but it is dreadfully important...

...We had not discussed Algeria but his weekly radio talks were filled with his views on it, the newspapers had printed many statements, and others had interviewed him on every facet of that explosive problem...

...But politics was his real passion...

...They edited a succession of party journals to present their views and stimulate public discussion...

...Half of his life from 1934 until 1955 was spent in hiding, in prison, or in exile—in a camp on the edge of the Sahara desert, on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, in French prisons, and in a long period of exile in Egypt...

...In short, he had seemed to be a "moderate revolutionary...

...The threat is real and it is urgent...

...all of these men changed their countries profoundly...

...Part of it is due to the immigration of farmers to the cities from the central and southern regions where the soil is parched and poor...

...On March 20, 1956, the Protocol Agreement was issued, proclaiming Tunisian independence...

...But you have written and spoken, also, of an even greater federation of several Mediterranean countries," I said...

...I know that I don't have all the light from heaven...

...For whatever happens in Algeria affects Tunisia...

...The Nasser team would apparently like to add the western part of North Africa to its growing empire...

...They instilled in me the idea of doing one's duty without talking much...