by Garry Wills
If sheer assertion of power results in its abdication, the reverse of that is also true: real power is gained by yielding one’s own will in the persuasion of others. As Tolstoy said, “The strongest, most indissoluble, most burdensome and constant bond with other men is what is called power over them, which in its real meaning is only the greatest dependence on them” (“Words About War and Peace”). The best witness to this truth is the real source of American power in the Kennedy era. The 1960s was a period obsessed with power—the power of the American system, or power to be sought by working outside it; the power of insurgency, or of counterinsurgency; the power of rhetoric and “image” and charisma and technology. The attempt to fashion power solely out of resource and will led to the celebration of power as destruction—as assassination of leaders, the sabotage of rival economies, the poising of opponent missiles.
The equation of real power with power to destroy reached its unheard refutation in the death of our charismatic leader. As children can wreck TV sets, so Oswalds can shoot Kennedys. The need to believe in some conspiracy behind the assassination is understandable in an age of charismatic pretensions. The “graced” man validates his power by success, by luck. Oswald, by canceling the luck, struck at the very principle of government, and it was hard to admit that he was not asserting (or being used by) some alternative principle of rule. Oswald was a brutal restatement of the idea of power as the combination of resource with will. Put at its simplest, this became the combination of a Mannlicher-Carcano with one man’s mad assertiveness. Power as the power to conquer was totally separated, at last, from ability to control.
Robert Kennedy’s assassination gave lesser scope to conspiracy theorists—no one knew, beforehand, his route through the kitchen. With him, the effect of sheer chaos was easier to acknowledge (though some still do not acknowledge it—they think purposive will rules everything). What was lost with Robert Kennedy was not so much a legacy of power asserted as the glimpse of a deeper understanding, the beginnings of a belief in power as surrender of the will. He died, after all, opposing the caricatures of power enacted in our wars and official violence.
But another man was killed in the 1960s who did not offer mere promise of performance. He was even younger than the Kennedys—thirty-nine when he was shot, in the year of Robert’s death at forty-three. There were many links between the Kennedys and Martin Luther King—links admirably traced in Harris Wofford’s book on the three men. Together, they summed up much of the nobler purpose in American life during the 1960s. Yet there was opposition, too—Dr. King, more radical in his push for racial justice, was far more peaceful in his methods. Robert Kennedy, however reluctantly, used the police powers of John F. Kennedy’s state to spy on Dr. King, to put in official hands the instruments of slander. King was a critic of the space program and war expenditures. King, though more revolutionary in some people’s eyes, was not “charismatic” in the sense of replacing traditional and legal power with his personal will. He relied on the deep traditions of his church, on the preaching power of a Baptist minister; and he appealed to the rational order of the liberal state for peaceful adjustment of claims advanced by the wronged. His death, as tragic as Kennedy’s, did not leave so large an absence. His work has outlasted him; more than any single person he changed the way Americans lived with each other in the sixties. His power was real, because it was not mere assertion—it was a persuasive yielding of private will through nonviolent advocacy.
Since he relied less on power as mere assertiveness of will, mere assertiveness of will could not entirely erase what he accomplished. He had already surrendered his life to bring about large social changes, constructive, not destructive. He forged ties of friendship and social affection. He did not want to force change by violence or stealth, by manipulation or technological tricks. His power was the power to suffer, and his killer only increased that power.
The speeches of John F. Kennedy are studied, now, by people who trace their unintended effects in Vietnam and elsewhere. The speeches of Martin Luther King are memorized at schools as living documents—my son could recite them in high school. “Flexible response” and “counterinsurgency” are tragicomic episodes of our history. But the Gandhian nonviolence preached by Dr. King is a doctrine that still inspires Americans. My children cannot believe that I grew up in a society where blacks could not drink at public water fountains, eat in “white” restaurants, get their hair cut in white barber shops, sit in white theaters, play on white football teams. The changes King wrought are so large as to be almost invisible.
He was helped, of course—he was not a single mover of the charismatic sort. And he was helped not so much by talented aides as by his fellow martyrs, by all those who died or risked dying for their children or their fellow citizens. While Washington’s “best and brightest” worked us into Vietnam, an obscure army of virtue arose in the South and took the longer spiritual trip inside a public bathroom or toward the front of a bus. King rallied the strength of broken men, transmuting an imposed squalor into the beauty of chosen suffering. No one did it for his followers. They did it for themselves. Yet, in helping them, he exercised real power, achieved changes that dwarf the moon shot as an American achievement. The “Kennedy era” was really the age of Dr. King.
The famous antitheses and alliterations of John Kennedy’s rhetoric sound tinny now. But King’s eloquence endures, drawn as it was from ancient sources—the Bible, the spirituals, the hymns and folk songs. He was young at his death, younger than either Kennedy; but he had traveled farther. He did fewer things; but those things last. A mule team drew his coffin in a rough cart; not the sleek military horses and the artillery caisson. He has no eternal flame—and no wonder. He is not dead.
We see in Bolingbroke’s case that a life of brilliant licence is really compatible with a life of brilliant statesmanship; that licence itself may even be thought to quicken the imagination for oratorical efforts; that an intellect similarly aroused may, at exciting conjunctures, perceive possibilities which are hidden from duller men; that the favourite of society will be able to use his companionship with men and his power over women so as much to aid his strokes of policy, but, on the other hand, that these secondary aids and occasional advantages are purchased by the total sacrifice of a primary necessity; that a life of great excitement is incompatible with the calm circumspection and sound estimate of probability essential to great affairs; that though the excited hero may perceive distant things which others overlook, he will overlook near things that others see; that though he may be stimulated to great speeches which others could not make, he will also be irritated to petty speeches which others would not; that he will attract enmities, but not confidence; that he will not observe how few and plain are the alternatives to common business, and how little even genius can enlarge them; that his prosperity will be a wild dream of unattainable possibilities, and his adversity a long regret that those possibilities are departed.
—WALTER BAGEHOT, on Bolingbroke
Index
Adams, John Quincy, 136
Adler, Richard, 141–142
Agnew, Spiro, 53
Alejos, Robert, 224
Alsop, Joseph, 35, 85, 91, 149, 186, 219
Amory, Robert, 222, 248
Anderson, Jack, 120
Arbenz, Jacobo, 221, 224–225
Arena, Dominick, 158
Arvad, Inga, 20–21, 28, 31, 37, 40, 72, 113
Asquith, Herbert, 75
Attwood, William, 109, 148
Bagehot, Walter (quoted), ix, 27, 51, 303
Baker, Howard, 5
Baldwin, Hanson, 275
Baldwin, Stanley, 78, 80–82
Ball, George, 189, 191
Barber, James David, 170, 182–187
Barnes, Tracy, 220, 221
Bartlett, Charles, 85, 267
Beatles, The, 142
Beatty, Warren, 134
Bender, Frank (pseudonym for Gerry Droller), 226
Bendix, Reinhard, 16
9–174, 188, 202–205, 207
Bennett, Joan. See Kennedy, Joan Bennett
Berne, Eric, 185, 186
Bernhard, Berl, 208
Berrigan, Philip, 37, 92
Bevin, Ernest, 81
Bishop, Jim, 104–105
Bissell, Richard, 219–230, 232
Blair, Joan, 17–19, 30, 32, 43, 44, 66, 112, 127, 128, 130, 132
Blair, L. Clay, Jr., 17–19, 30, 32, 43, 44, 66, 112, 127, 128, 130, 132
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 201
Borgia, Cesare, 239
Bouvier, Jacqueline. See Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier
Bouvier, John V. (“Black Jack”), 48
Bowles, Chester, 147, 219, 236
Boyd, Julian, 136
Boyle, James, 122, 159
Bradlee, Ben, 20, 25, 33, 47, 85, 87, 113
Brandon, Henry, 85
Breslin, Jimmy, 91, 92, 95, 153
Brezhnev, Leonid, 291
Broderick, Thomas, 113
Bronminski, Bernard C., 159
Broun, Heywood, 77
Brown, Edward (Jerry), 10–11, 47
Buchan, John (Lord Tweedsmuir), 35, 71, 72–75, 79, 82
Buchwald, Art, 85
Buckley, Aloise, 70
Buckley, Carol, 70
Buckley, James, 69, 70
Buckley, William F., Jr., 53, 68, 70, 71, 122
Buckley, William Frank, 68–71
Bundy, McGeorge, 85, 90, 165–166, 191, 219, 222
Burke, Arleigh, 240
Burns, James MacGregor, 9, 24, 48, 85, 128, 136, 168, 287
Calhoun, John, 136
Califano, Joseph, 196, 294
Callas, Maria, 48
Campbell, Judith. See Exner, Judith Campbell
Camus, Albert, 176
Canfield, Cass, 106
Caplin, Mortimer, 89
Capote, Truman, 112
Cardona, José Miro, 255, 282
Carter, James Earl, 5–8, 151, 183–184, 194–196, 271, 293–294
Carter, Rosalynn, 195
Casals, Pablo, 141, 142, 146
Castiglione, Baldassare (quoted), 84
Castillo Armas, Carlos, 221, 226
Castro, Fidel, 34, 37, 95, 171, 211, 221, 223–229, 233–238, 251–261
Cecil, David, 15, 24, 71, 73–74, 82
Chamberlain, Neville, 80
Chancellor, John, 157
Chavez, Cesar, 92, 288
Chesterton, Gilbert (quoted), 59, 125, 242, 255
Child, Marquis, 149
Churchill, Randolph, 74
Clark, Ramsey, 88, 92
Clausewitz, Karl von, 257
Cleveland, Harlan, 240
Clifford, Clark, 96
Clinch, Nancy Gager, 56
Clinton, Bill, 294
Coit, Margaret, 136
Colby, William, 248
Colson, Charles, 192
Commager, Henry Steele, 135, 156
Connally, John, 109
Conerly, Chuck, 209
Coolidge, Calvin, 182–183
Corry, John, 109, 121
Coughlin, Father, 201
Cowles, Michael, 109
Cox, Archibald, 88, 164
Crimmins, John, 116
Cubela, Rolando, 253
Cullinan, Elizabeth, 65
Cushing, Richard, Cardinal, 84–85, 95, 128
Daladier, Edouard, 79
Daley, Richard, 92, 95–96, 102
Davids, Jules, 135, 136
Davis, Sammy, Jr., 28
de Gaulle, Charles, 266
Dickenson, Jim, 10
Dickenson, Molly, 10
Dickinson, Angie, 24, 113
Diem, Ngo Dinh. See Ngo Dinh Diem
Dillon, Douglas, 85, 89
Dinerstein, Herbert, 259
Dinis, Edmund, 159
Dinneen, Joseph, 128, 154
Doar, John, 85
Dobrynin, Anatoly, 268, 269, 270
Dolan, John, 289
Donovan, Robert, 132
Douglas, William, 85, 112, 129
Drake, Elizabeth, 18
Droller, Gerry (a.k.a. Frank Bender), 226
Duke, Angier Biddle, 209
Dulles, Allen W., 36, 219–221, 225, 233–234, 248, 277
Dutton, Fred, 93
Edelman, Peter, 91
Eden, Anthony, 74
Eisenhower, Dwight, 105, 144–145, 163–164, 166–167, 175–178, 183, 186, 220, 232–234, 277
Eisenstadt, Stuart, 295
Enthoven, Alain, 191
Evans, Roland, 85
Evans, Sheffield, 225
Exner, Judith Campbell, 22–24, 29, 31, 34–35, 37, 103
Fairlie, Henry, 170
Farley, James, 76
Fay, Paul (“Red”), 86, 113, 154
Ferguson, J. D., 137
Fitzgerald, John (“Honey Fitz”), 63
Ford, Gerald, 181–182, 194
Forrestal, James, 21, 134
Franco, Francisco, 201
Frankfurter, Felix, 129
Fraser, Douglas, 293
Friedrich, Carl J., 130–131
Fritchie, Clayton, 255
Frost, Robert (quoted), 140
Fulbright, William, 236, 255
Galbraith, John Kenneth, 90, 91, 101, 140, 175, 281
Gallagher, Edward, 64–65
Gallucio, Anthony, 30
Gargan, Ann, 114
Gargan, Joseph, 55, 114–121, 158
Gaud, William, 249
Giancana, Sam, 29, 34, 37, 103, 252
Gifford, Dun, 8, 121, 158
Gobbi, Tito, 41, 43
Goldman, Eric, 190
Goodwin, Richard, 101, 108, 109, 121, 140, 235
Gorey, Hayes, 85
Graham, Philip, 85
Gray, David, 234
Greene, Graham, 141
Greenfield, Jeff, 85, 91, 93
Greenwood, Arthur, 81
Gromyko, Andrei, 266
Guevara, Ché, 210, 211
Guthman, Edwin, 91, 107
Haig, Alexander, 179
Halberstam, David, 91, 94–95, 147, 166
Haldeman, H. R., 192–193
Hamill, Pete, 85, 91, 95
Harriman, Averell, 89
Harrington, Michael, 95
Harris, Thomas, 185–186
Hart, Gary, 291
Hartington, Marquis of (“Billy”), 19, 45, 74
Hartington, Marchioness of See Kennedy, Kathleen
Harvey, William, 252
Hayden, Tom, 92, 95, 102
Hays, Will, 18
Helms, Richard, 222, 247, 252
Hemingway, Ernest, 28, 33, 35, 134, 176
Henie, Sonja, 23
Hersey, John, 128, 132, 133, 181–182
Hersh, Burton, 10, 24, 48, 49, 116, 120–121, 152
Hesburgh, Theodore, 208
Hilsman, Roger, 242, 251, 267, 272, 281–282
Hitler, Adolf, 79, 201
Ho Chi Minh, 211
Hoffa, James, 36, 47, 88, 93, 108
Hoffman, Abbie, 210
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 5
Hoover, J. Edgar, 34, 35–38, 103, 104, 204
Horton, Rip, 29
Houston, Lawrence, 252
Hume, David, 257, 258
Humphrey, Hubert, 33, 87, 95, 100, 101
Hunt, E. Howard, 192, 221, 223, 225, 226, 229
Janos, Leo, 103
Johnson, Lyndon, 87, 90, 95, 96, 98–100, 102–104, 106, 128, 173, 185, 188–192, 253
Johnson, Rafer, 20
Johnson, Samuel (quoted), 111, 114, 127, 286
Jordan, Hamilton, 194, 195
Kahn, Alfred, 195
Kane, Joe, 64
Katzenbach, Nicholas, 86, 88
Kaufman, William, 279–280
Kearns, Doris, 188–190
Keating, Kenneth, 16
Keating, Mary Pitcairn, 16–17, 43, 44
Kempton, Murray, 16, 61–62, 101–102, 148, 175, 192, 233
Kennedy, Caroline, 105
&n
bsp; Kennedy, Christopher, 46
Kennedy, Edward (Ted)
Chappaquiddick incident and, 53–56, 114–123, 156–159
current position of, 286–295
Jimmy Carter and, 196
plane accident of, 8, 46
politics of, 3–11, 62, 87
presidential campaign (1980) of, 3–11, 51–52, 56, 115, 151–153, 287, 291–295
public relations and, 129, 134, 151–159, 215
relationship with brothers, 8–11, 89, 288
relationship with wife, 40, 49–50, 51–52
sexual attitudes and behavior of, 16, 19, 24, 52–57
Kennedy, Ethel Skakel, 40, 45, 47, 49
Kennedy, Eunice. See Shriver, Eunice Kennedy
Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier, 25, 40, 45, 47–48, 54, 61, 64, 104–109, 112, 135–143, 154
Kennedy, Jean. See Smith, Jean Kennedy
Kennedy, Joan Bennett, 7, 39–40, 48–52, 54, 56
Kennedy, John
assassination of, 37, 104, 106–107, 188, 213–215, 253–254
as author, 75, 76–83, 129–131, 134–139, 176
charisma of, 163–174
effect on later Presidents, 188–198
foreign policy of, 222–254, 264–274
health of, 32–34, 128–129, 143
involvement with entertainers, 21–25, 27–28, 113, 141
Irish heritage of, 61–66
loyalty of others to, 86, 87, 90, 111–113
naval career of, 20, 32–34, 72, 131–134
political attitudes of, 78–83, 258
public relations and, 105, 128–139, 153–155
relationship with brothers, 9–10, 45–56
relationship with wife, 47–48, 54
