Ignore McGovern’s message at your peril

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:54:00 +0000

George McGovern lived his public life with an integrity that in these rancid political times, all of us might envy. He unfortunately is remembered most for his overwhelming defeat at the hands of Richard Nixon in the presidential election of 1972, but it is worth noting that Nixon resigned in disgrace, the only president to ever abandon his office. McGovern was a historian, undoubtedly with profound respect for the presidency; it is difficult to imagine his obstructing justice or abusing his power in the Nixon manner.

As we count the dwindling numbers of World War II veterans, we recall McGovern’s heroic service in that conflict. He piloted the lumbering B-24, the slowest of our combat bombers, through 35 hazardous missions over numerous targets in Nazi-occupied southern Europe. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for one mission in which his navigator was killed, yet he safely landed his crippled plane on a small Adriatic island.

“Ho Chi Minh” by William J. Duiker

Tue, 14 Nov 2000 20:00:00 +0000

Ho Chi Minh, the dedicated Vietnamese revolutionary patriot of the 20th century, appears hopelessly out of date. Classic colonialism of a century ago seems light years away. Vietnam, for example, is a part of the global economy, meaning joint ventures that profit the local government, some favored officials and Western companies.

Nevertheless, the world is a different place because of Ho, and others like him, who agitated, fought and died to liberate their lands from the stigma and yoke of foreign tyranny. In "Ho Chi Minh," William J. Duiker, a foreign service officer in South Vietnam in the 1960s who since has written notable books on the area, has rendered a discerning portrait of one of the past century's most memorable, fascinating figures. Ho is largely remembered in mythic terms, both in Vietnam and abroad, but Duiker has made a formidable case for Ho's significance on the world stage. Ho is "in the pantheon of revolutionary heroes," Duiker writes, a leader who gave voice and example to the aspirations of oppressed, subjugated peoples everywhere.

Salon.com > Stanley Kutler

Ignore McGovern’s message at your peril

“Ho Chi Minh” by William J. Duiker