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It was predictable that sooner or later TIME would begin to pay the price for its editorial overinvestment in the destruction of the President. That price, as Reasoner noted, is the loss of journalistic prestige and credibility. How ironic, and how fitting, that a distinguished media colleague and certified Nixon critic like Reasoner should blow the whistle on TIME for its phobic Watergate reporting!
No President of the U.S. except Lincoln (in retrospect, now to be considered another impeachable character) has ever been more savaged by the press than Nixon. For one solid year the press has been beating on him mercilessly. And he has shown that he can take it and take it and take it, with cool and courage. But few journalists--none on TIME--have had even the sportsmanship, no less the journalistic objectivity, to report that whatever Nixon is or is not, he is one helluva gutsy fighter. CLARE BOOTHE LUCE Honolulu
DEC. 15, 1975
Although I appreciate your unequivocal "No" answer to the question of my alleged presence in Dallas at the time of J.F.K.'s murder, I would like to point out that my noninvolvement rests not only on "drastic differences" between the specimen photographs, but more conclusively upon the sworn testimony of several witnesses who confirm that I was in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 22, 1963. It is a physical law that an object can occupy only one space at one time.
Correction: I am not a Watergate "burglar," but a conspirator. HOWARD HUNT, Fed. Prison Camp Eglin A.F.B., Fla.
MAY 3, 1976
You quoted me and identified me as a "black leader." I consider this journalistic racism. No one refers to George Wallace as a "white Governor" or Gerald Ford as a "white President." If a label must be attached to my leadership, as a minister of the gospel I prefer "moral leader." Moral leadership, which essentially deals with ideas and values, is a universal category. Black is not. (THE REV.) JESSE L. JACKSON Chicago
MAY 19, 1980
The conclusion in your essay on the presidential nominating process is accurate when you say that the system favors the candidate who wins the early primaries. As one who struggled to stay in the race, I found it discouraging that 99% of the media focused on polls, momentum and money, rather than the issues. Some contenders who understood the issues never really had a chance because the media ignored experience in government and politics. I shall always believe voters would be interested in an early analysis of all the candidates and their grasp of the issues. BOB DOLE U.S. Senator, Kansas Washington, D.C.
AUG. 11, 1980
Just to keep the record straight: I do not buy $5,000 dresses; I do not have an extensive jewelry collection, or paintings, or antiques; and I do not have a hairdresser and interior decorator in tow. I get my hair done once a week, and I'm at a loss as to what an interior decorator would do. Perhaps rearrange the furniture in all the Holiday Inns I've been staying in. NANCY REAGAN Pacific Palisades, Calif.
AUG. 25, 1980
You do Governor Reagan a great disservice. I am an actor of some years' experience and I assure you that Reagan was completely sincere in his acceptance speech. He was not acting, and even as a Democrat I was most moved. KEENAN WYNN Los Angeles
JUNE 8, 1981