Word: poletti
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Allied Control Commission under British Lieut. General Mason-Macfarlane. In particular, an Italian-American from New York had brought to bear a great deal of political savvy, a great ability to personify democracy to Italians who had never seen it in action. This paragon is Lieut. Colonel Charles Poletti, ex-Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York, Regional Commissioner for Naples, Salerno, Benevento and Avellino...
...Colonel Poletti took hold last February. He began by renovating his four-story, red-painted, Renaissance prefettura near the Naples waterfront. He had bomb debris cleaned up, plumbing repaired, elbow grease applied to slick up the place. Explained one of his subordinates: "You can't sell democracy in an outhouse...
Then Lieut. Colonel Poletti began selling democracy to Italians. He saw all callers. In wrinkled uniform, slouched behind a huge desk, he listened to complaints, cracked jokes, gave out facts, usually ended interviews with a pep talk reminding Italians of their responsibilities and opportunities. Visitors were flattered by hearing their own language, by the deft touch...
...take long for Lieut. Colonel Poletti to put war-shocked Naples on the way toward recovery. Now the city gets regular street washings. Over the radio the Regional Commissioner appeals to Italian patriotism to help stamp out black markets. He has granted labor unions collective bargaining, encouraged a manufacturers' association. In Naples he has installed veteran anti-Fascist administrators. In the suburbs, too, he has restored democratic forms of government, helped industrialists, workers and peasants get representation on local councils, prodded the average Italian into talking over public problems in public meetings...
...fortnight after the Allied landing, AMGOT's Lieut. Colonel Charles Poletti declared: "We have the food situation well in hand." The former New York Governor found himself the only American in a town captured and swiftly passed by U.S. troops. He made a speech, in Italian, to the populace. They cheered. Then he launched the AMGOT program: 1) proclamation of the anti-Fascist decrees of AMGOT's chief, General Sir Harold Alexander; 2) cooperation with local officials as the initial step in restoring civilian life (TIME, July...