to guarantee in advance that the president’s plea for national unity would be challenged, one network trotted out averell harriman for the occasion. throughout the president's address, he waited in the wings. when the president concluded, mr. harriman recited perfectly. he attacked the thieu government as unrepresentative; he criticized the president’s speech for various deficiencies; he twice issued a call to the senate foreign relations committee to debate vietnam once again; he stated his belief that the vietcong or north vietnamese did not really want military take-over of south vietnam; and he told a little anecdote about a “very
, very responsible” fellow he had met in the north vietnamese delegation.
all in all, mr. harrison offered a broad range of gratuitous advice challenging and contradicting the policies outlined by the president of the united states. where the president had issued a call for unity, mr. harriman was encouraging the country not to listen to him.
a word about mr. harriman. for 10 months he was america’s chief negotiator at the paris peace talks -- a period in which the united states swapped some of the greatest military concessions in the history of warfare for an enemy agreement on the shape of the bargaining table. like coleridge’s ancient mariner, mr. harriman seems to be under some heavy compulsion to justify his failures to anyone who will listen. and the networks have shown themselves willing to give him all the air time he desires.
now every american has a right to disagree with the president of the united states and to ex