Word: hickelisms
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...long ago, the Administration was considered an artful, managerial mechanism, oiled with serenity, unanimity and self-confidence. Now it showed symptoms of severe internal distress. Interior Secretary Walter Hickel's letter of criticism to the President (see box, page 10) and the abrupt resignation of two young Administration staffers were among the most tangible signs of strain. There were also hints of basic disagreement in the Cabinet over the Cambodian decision?hints that Nixon declined to deny at a hastily called press conference. On Capitol Hill dissension increased daily...
NOTHING more dramatically illustrated the dissent in the Administration's own inner circle than the letter that Secretary of the Interior Walter Hickel wrote to the President last week. Leaked to the press even before Nixon had seen it, it criticized him for alienating the nation's youth and isolating himself from the Cabinet. "I believe this Administration finds itself today embracing a philosophy which appears to lack appropriate concern for the attitude of a great mass of Americans -our young people," wrote Hickel. Other Hickel observations...
...letter was extraordinary not only because a Cabinet member felt compelled to criticize the Administration, but because the source was Hickel. To most liberals, intellectuals and environmentalists, he had all the allure of an oil slick when he became Richard Nixon's Interior Secretary, An Alaska millionaire, onetime real estate magnate and hotel owner, he was widely viewed as a yes man for business, more interested in conglomerates than conservation. Since Hickel took over Interior, however, he has shown himself to be deeply concerned about environmental issues and willing to work with young activists to get the job done...
...close friends and aides, though, the surprise was that Hickel had not written the letter sooner. He has long harbored reservations about Nixon's conduct of the war and about the Administration's failure to understand the student protest movement. Implied but not explicit in the letter was his frustration at being unable to communicate his feelings to the President; since taking office, he has seen Nixon privately only twice. Undoubtedly, Hickel's decision to write to the President was also influenced by empathy with his six sons, two of whom are in college...
Through Pat Ryan, his personal assistant, Hickel tried to set up an appointment with the President, He was turned down. Visibly distressed, he then visited Secretary of State William Rogers to discuss his feelings. Rogers, unhappy from the outset over the tone of Agnew's speechmaking. said that he agreed with Hickels sentiments. It was then that Hickel decided to write his letter. Though intended for the President's eyes only, it was leaked to the press by an Interior Department aide who feared that it would be buried in the White House file drawers forever...