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Essentially, foreigners loved Kennedy because he represented what everyone wants an American to be—young, handsome, rich. Paradoxically, they also loved him because he was so "un-American," so "European" in his sophistication and his ease with things foreign. In Johnson they think they see an embodiment of the old American clichés and a reversion to provincialism. Kennedy gave them, in the words of Spanish Philosopher Julian Marias, "a sense of sharing in his historical and political creation," while Johnson seems remote and devious. Recently a leading West German publisher surveyed some 180,000 boys, age five to 17, on the question of whom they considered the finest example of mankind in leading them toward fulfillment of their ambitions. Kennedy won hands down, running well ahead of "my father," "my teacher," and even Soccer Idol Uwe Seeler; Johnson didn't get a vote.
Paris Match last week observed the second anniversary of Kennedy's death and mourned the "irreparable loss," but provided the comforting thought that "the Kennedy dynasty continues." Beneath a photograph of John-John appeared the caption: "In reserve: a Kennedy for tomorrow."
But slowly and grudgingly, some Europeans are beginning to accept Johnson's performance for its own sake. Typical is Britain's Labor Party M.P. Desmond Donnelly: "Kennedy and Johnson are very different. Kennedy was much more of a seminar figure, while Johnson has no time for seminars. We don't like him much. We don't understand him. But he and our own Prime Minister Harold Wilson are much alike, except that Johnson is more decisive. Johnson would have taken old Ian Smith and shaken him and put his face next to Smith's until Smith's blood stopped flowing." Says Encounter's John Mander: "People very much underrate what Johnson has done. I was talking to a Harvard man one day and I asked him, 'What did President Kennedy do to make him a great President?' His answer was, 'It wasn't what President Kennedy did. It was what he was about to do.''
The French, who value style above most other virtues, are still infatuated with Kennedy; but they are learning to respect Johnson, though they will never love him. They savor the way he handles De Gaulle, by politely but firmly ignoring him. Until recently it was widely felt in France that the U.S. could not conceivably win in Viet Nam. Today that feeling has been nearly reversed: the French are beginning to realize that Johnson has the will—and the means—to overpower and outlast an enemy to whom the French capitulated.
Revolution & High Noon