Word: bunkerisms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...sources. The habits are ticked off one by one, amid the slow disintegration of personality: the stiff, corseted movements, the crescendos of temper, the harsh, mesmeric voice grinding out its long postprandial diatribes against traitors, smokers and meat eaters. The words rebound from the elephant-colored walls of the bunker as once they had echoed down the parade grounds of the Third Reich. Hitler's pallid hand, shaking from Dr. Morell's amphetamine capsules, spoons dollops of Schlag onto a slab of chocolate cake. The movie is the world's most overdocumented Grand Guignol, the phantom...
Through the fusillades of criticism and volleys of praise, Bunker moved unscathed, to the surprise of many who felt the agonies of My Lai more strongly. Asked to sum up his chief, a high-ranking aide said: "One thinks of the grace and courtliness with which he treats everyone he meets, but that does not mean he is uncritical. There is a flinty Vermont look sometimes that makes people realize very clearly that they have not done things the way he expected them done. He has dominated our country's largest operation overseas without ever raising his voice...
That official optimism was in large part responsible for one of Bunker's most serious misestimates during his Saigon years. In 1971 he urged Thieu, at Washington's behest, to hold free, honest elections that would legitimize the Vietnamese President in the eyes of the world. To bring this about, genuine opponents were needed. To Bunker's embarrassment, Thieu eventually ran uncontested-and the elections were duly derided in the U.S. as a sham...
Home to Vermont. TIME Correspondent Peter Simms interviewed Bunker in Saigon on the eve of his departure last week and asked him what he thought he had accomplished. Bunker's answer: he feels that his efforts brought Viet Nam from a time of mere leaping from one crisis to another to a point where long-range planning is possible. He is undiscouraged by the uneasy peace that now prevails: "I think that after a generation of war, one cannot expect peace to descend overnight. It will require time and patience." Thieu, he feels, faces four major tasks: refugee resettlement...
After a round of farewell parties in Saigon, Bunker will move on to Nepal, where his wife Carol Laise presides over the U.S. embassy, and celebrate his 79th birthday. Then a leisurely return home via Rome and London-skipping Paris, he interjected-a look at his homes in Washington and Vermont, a visit to his daughter in Brazil, and finally a return to Washington for reassignment. "As far as the U.S. in Viet Nam is concerned," he said, "the degree of progress is that we can work ourselves out of a job." Bunker may have worked himself out of Viet...