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Once, Ho told a French acquaintance: "I am a professional revolutionary. I am always on strict orders. My itinerary is always carefully prescribed—and you can't deviate from the route, can you?" Ho never did. His successors are likely to follow the route as un-deviatingly as he did—for a while. But his very absence is bound to change the political map so completely that the men who follow him will be compelled to seek new, still unpredictable routes. The result will not necessarily bring comfort to the U.S., but North Viet Nam without Ho will be a different force in the world.
* There is something like a generation gap between the new leaders of the North and those below the 17th parallel. South Viet Nam's President Nguyen Van Thieu is 46, Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky turns 39 this week and Prime Minister Tran Thien Khiem is 44. Advanced age is no handicap in Viet Nam,, however; it is considered a badge of merit.