Rusk's Reply

Last week, at his first press conference in ten weeks, Secretary of State Dean Rusk reiterated some truths about Viet Nam. "The problem of peace in Viet Nam rests with Hanoi," he said. "That is, our forces are there because of the infiltration of men and arms by Hanoi into South Viet Nam. Had that not occurred, our forces would not be in South Viet Nam. So it is Hanoi that has to decide to bring its troops back and stop its infiltration of men and arms. They are the ones that hold the key to peace as far as we are concerned."

But what everyone wanted to hear was Rusk's reaction to Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s serialized, stiletto-sharp at tack on Rusk as a "Buddhalike," ineffective Secretary of State whom President Kennedy had decided to fire after the 1964 elections (TIME, July 30). To those who hoped for a viperous answer in kind, Rusk's reply was disappointing. All he displayed was a quiet dignity that Schlesinger undoubtedly would have called Buddhalike.

"I'm not going to comment on these particular remarks or similar remarks that might be made while I am in public office," said Rusk. "I am quite sure that the future historian is going to look back on this period with a compound eye, that is, through many facets." Rusk said he planned to tape-record his own impressions of events during his tenure as Secretary of State, and they would become available when the papers of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson were made public. "But," he added pointedly, "my associates in Government and my colleagues abroad can rest on the assurance that when they deal with me on the basis of confidence, that confidence will be respected."

Schlesinger also reported Kennedy's frustrations at what he called the undynamic, uninspired operation of the State Department. Replied Rusk: "The Department of State is filled with competent and dedicated officers who have to grapple every day with the most complex and difficult problems that this nation has to face. Now there are times when some wish us to act with more drama, but there are problems about dramatizing issues, if drama gets in the way of settlement . . . The department's purpose is to try to bring about what some people will call a boring situation, that is, a period of peace. But settlement is our object, and settlement frequently is not very newsworthy. There are times to move and there are times to delay. The art of the business is deciding when to move and when to delay."

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