At Washington National Airport this week, an ear-tingling ig-gun salute heralded the arrival of the man who fitfully straddles the chasm between the Soviet's open cynicism and the Western world's open hand. Jawaharlal Nehru, idolized leader of India's millions and to many minds the spokesman for the yearnings (as well as fiery passions) of most Asians and Africans, had come at Dwight Eisenbower's invitation for his first visit to the U.S. since 1949.
Escorted to the White House by Vice President Richard Nixon, Nehru, dressed in his customary achkan, high-buttoned coat and salwars (jodhpur-like trousers), jauntily shook hands with Mamie...