The improbable triumvirate: John F. Kennedy, Pope John, Nikita Khrushchev.

Description

From the book's dust jacket: **The Improbable Triumvirate** KENNEDY-KHRUSHCHEV-POPE JOHN An Asterisk to the History of a Hopeful Year, 1962-1963 Norman Cousins For thirteen months—beginning with the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 and ending with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963—a new spirit of optimism was at work in the world. The dramatic end of that crisis signaled an upturn in the prospects for peace. Three men came to symbolize these new prospects—President Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Pope John. This book deals with some of the little-known footnotes to the history of that hopeful year, especially as it bears upon the interaction of the three leaders. It is mostly a human-interest story, for it shows what great changes can come about in the world when leaders look beyond ideological dogma and national interest to human interest, and when they are willing to assume political risks in the pursuit of peace. The book tells of some remarkable exchanges between Pope John and Premier Khrushchev. It was the Pope who took the initiative in establishing direct contacts between the Vatican and the Kremlin. A specific result of this was the release, after years of internment, of two archbishops. Mr. Cousins was chosen as an emissary of the Vatican to negotiate the release. During this time, President Kennedy asked Mr. Cousins to play a role in the preliminary negotiations for an agreement to halt testing of nuclear weapons. The book deals with the role of public opinion in making the nuclear test-ban treaty possible. As an outgrowth of the experiences related here, Mr. Cousins was asked by the president to work on the campaign for ratification of the treaty. This book provides an account of that work. ---------- Norman Cousins is currently editor of *World*, a new magazine providing global coverage of ideas and the arts, which began publication in June 1972. A graduate of Columbia University, he became editor of *Saturday Review* in 1940, a position he held for more than thirty years. He is President of the World Association of World Federalists, which is working for world peace through world law, and Honorary President of World Federalists, U.S.A. Mr. Cousins has been the recipient of numerous awards given for his contributions to American education and to world peace, including the Peace Medal of the United Nations awarded by U Thant. In 1963, he received the personal medallion of Pope John XXIII for his part in the successful negotiations with Premier Khrushchev leading to the release from prison of Cardinal Josyf Slipyi of the Ukraine and Archbishop J. Beran of Czechoslovakia. In 1963, Mr. Cousins served as cochairman of the Citizens' Committee for a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, formed at President Kennedy's request to organize public support for the U.S. Senate's ratification of the test-ban treaty. He is the author of many books in which he has written extensively of his ardent interests in education, the environment, and the need for a new approach to world problems based on human interest. Mr. Cousins and his wife live in New Canaan, Connecticut. They have five daughters, including an adopted daughter from Hiroshima.

Excerpt

I spoke of the situation inside the Soviet Union and the pressure on Mr. Khrushchev to adopt a hard line. The President said: "One of the ironic things about this entire situation is that Mr. Khrushchev and I occupy approximately the same political positions inside our governments. He would like to prevent a nuclear war but is under severe pressure from his hard-line crowd, which interprets every move in that direction as appeasement. I've got similar problems. Meanwhile, the lack of progress in reaching agreements between our two countries gives strength to the hard-line boys in both, with the result that the hard-liners in the Soviet Union and the United States feed on one another, each using the actions of the other to justify its own position."... I told the President that the evidence seemed to suggest that a political crisis was developing inside the Soviet Union, and that the test ban might be something of a pivotal issue.... There was some indication, I told the President, that the Chinese had already written off the chances for successful completion of a test-ban treaty. The present impasse, now being exploited in their propaganda, had apparently convinced them there would be no further negotiations.... The President said he recognized the complexities of Chinese-Russian relations. Some things were beyond our reach or our power. But one thing that might be within reach was improved American-Soviet relations. In that case, I said, perhaps what was needed was a breathtaking new approach toward the Russian people, calling for an end to the cold war and a fresh start in American-Russian relationships. Such an approach might recognize the implications of a world that had become a single unit, however disorganized; it might recognize, too, that the old animosities could become the fuse of a holocaust. The President lit a thin cigar and said he would like to think about it. He asked me to prepare a memorandum for him on the subject....

Subjects