Man of Many Faces

Sir: May I, as a foreigner, but not any longer quite a stranger, suggest as TIME'S Man of the Year: the American. In his agony may be seen the greatness of his idealism, and if in his efforts to make this ideal a reality he often blunders, fails, fosters dislocation and uncertainty, he merely shares in a perplexity as old, and as common, as mankind. It is his willingness to persist that makes him uncommon. Let it be the greatest hope of all of us that his courage never fails.

MICHAEL F.N. DIXON

Cambridge, Mass.

Sir: The Biafran, for defending his freedom against impossible odds, demonstrating that the conscience of the world is a figment of some blind optimist's imagination, and for showing the rest of us heroism and determination equal to anything since the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans.

JAMES K. MATTIS

Claremont, Calif.

Sir: Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. He would be the 37th President if the American people had had their way.

WILLIAM BULLOCK

Sacramento

Sir: George C. Wallace. Surely no other single individual has succeeded in striking fear into the hearts of so many Americans this year.

TERENCE N. PALSO

Loretto, Pa.

Sir: Walter Washington. As the first mayor of our nation's capital, he has proved to be steadfast and undaunted in his dedication to equality, unity and peace.

NANCY CAPPS

Washington, D.C

Sir: Ralph Nader. The American consumer's first, secretary of defense.

ROBERT TERRY HUTTON

Boulder, Colo.

Sir: The individual whose highly eloquent defense of conservatism has remained a constant source of delight to many of us, the man who has mastered the art of the intelligent putdown: William F. Buckley Jr.

KIM ROGERS

Plant City, Fla.

Sir: The assassin. Without his influence things might have been different.

S. WALKER

Cape Town, South Africa

Sir: Robert McNamara, for his efficient running of the world's largest destruction and construction machines.

D. S. GHATALIA

Bombay, India

Sir: The peaceful dissenter. He condemns the evil elements of modern society, not society itself. He rejects the outmoded and cumbersome methods of our institutions of higher education, not education itself He believes in the ultimate power of reasonable debate to ameliorate the human condition.

THOMAS J, CRADDOCK

Beverly Hills, Calif.

Sir: Julian Bond, who left us with at least one good memory of the Democratic convention in Chicago.

M A MEAGHER

Milford, Mich,

Sir: The beleaguered university president

ESTHER E, JOHNSON

Bozeman, Mont.

Sir: Chung Hee-Park, the courageous President of South Korea. Our friend and ally, he has guided his countrymen toward a new hope for prosperity and tranquillity--in a land where suffering and anguish have so long endured.

DAVID M. BANKS

Worcester, Mass.

Sir: One of the largest and most influential groups of all: women.

M. S. BURSTEIN

Narberth, Pa.

Sir: Henry David Thoreau. His eloquent thought has motivated some of the most courageous acts of civil disobedience, defiance and demonstration against injustice in any form since Antigone resisted Creon.

JAMES E. TOMMOR

Philadelphia

Sir: Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Someone suggested that he should face south and "come on down." As far as I'm concerned, he should face east and start swimming.

L. J. TAYLOR

London

Sir: Harold Wilson. He tries hard.

NINA WEST-SADLER Devon, England

Sir: Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford, who coaxed President Johnson into making the most important decision of 1968, to stop the bombing of North Viet Nam and to seek a compromise settlement of the war

JOHN C. BUSSMANN

St. Louis

Sir: Averell Harriman. This tireless American diplomat is working night and day for peace.

MITCHELL S. KANDER

Los Angeles

Sir: John V. Lindsay, Mayor of New York City. He shows infinite ; patience when dealing with seemingly unconquerable situations.

YVONNE J. RILEY

New Orleans

Sir: That World War I flying ace, all-round athlete and a real humanitarian: Snoopy.

MARY E. ROBBINS

Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Sir: The one man who emerged from the presidential campaign with the stature of a statesman,

Senator Edmund Muskie.

JAMES G. CHAMBERS Columbia, Mo.

Sir: James J. Kavanaugh. The man who helped to unshackle our emotionally crippled minds that had us wearing out the kneeler in the confessionals.

ROSALIE C. BOYLE

Anaheim, Calif.

Sir: Dr. Philip Blaiberg, on the first anniversary of his historic operation.

Dov WEISSBERG, M.D.

Toronto

Sir: Hugh Hefner. Who else has had such a profound effect on the mores, morals and ethics of our time?

FRED N. WELLS

Lincoln, Neb.

Sir: The Olympic athlete: black and white, male and female, skier or track star, American, Asian, African, European, universal. The athlete brings peace to the world. He competes on the sports field instead of the battlefield. He strives for the better and destroys only when he breaks a record.

PETER E. MATIASH

Stamford, Conn.

Sir: The late Karl Earth, whose Church Dogmatics has become as much a part of Christian thinking as the writings of Augustine and Luther.

MIKE ZIOMKO

New Haven, Conn.

Sir: S. I. Hayakawa, a militant one-man minority. He symbolizes order without racism, freedom within a reasonable structure, hope for a rational society.

(MRS.) PATRICIA WUNNICKE

Cheyenne, Wyo.

Sir: Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a Man for All Presidential Endorsements. His proffered support of McCarthy, Rockefeller, Kennedy and McGovern proved to be the most reliable guide in 1968 for predicting who would not win the office.

SOL D. KAUFLER

Woodland Hills, Calif.

Sir: The human being over 30 who kept his sanity through this ghastly "year of the psychotics," and who still believes that, somehow, decency will prevail.

MAUDE HENNESSY

Southampton, Pa.

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