Word: seconder
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...units were engaged largely in pacification work, while the Americans took over the major combat role. "Naturally," said a U.S. general, "we felt that we could do the job better and faster, and, of course, ARVN worked less and less. Unfortunately, once you imply that a fighting force is second-rate, and treat it that way, it becomes pretty hard to reverse the trend." To G.I.s, South Vietnamese soldiers were a joke. They were referred to as "gooks," as "them Nugents" (from Nguyen, a popular Vietnamese surname), or as "the little people." A favorite epithet was "Marvin the Arvin." After...
...retirement of that exceptional man has forced Frenchmen to examine their problems-economic, social and cultural-in a new and often unflattering light. They have found that De Gaulle's visions, however enchantingly phrased, obscured some serious shortcomings. As a result, the nation feels suddenly, and uncomfortably, second-rate. "Mediocrity," says a young Gaullist deputy, "can be enriching, even enjoyable, but mediocre nevertheless...
...reduced role was the 12½% devaluation of the franc, which has forced some unfavorable economic comparisons not only with the U.S., but also with West Germany or even The Netherlands and Italy. France's showcase industries remain a pride and a strength. The Caravelle, first of the second-generation jet transports, the famous Mirage jet fighter of Marcel Dassault and the largely French-designed supersonic Concorde testify to the inventiveness of France's aeronautical industry. But for lack of more mundane skills, particularly in the important areas of engineering and middle-echelon management, French products cannot compete...
Another Western nation forced to ac cept a reduced vision of its importance is Britain, which managed to make the best of it by agreeing with Malcolm Muggeridge that second-rate powers had "great fun." Britain's new devotion to fun produced Europe's most vigorous theater, practically a new age in popular music and a pop scene that has been emulated the world over. By contrast, the French seem hesitant, even fearful about tapping those resources of the imagination and intellect that once struck the rest of the world as being virtually inexhaustible. They have discovered...
Such was the astonishing portrait of Joseph Stalin conveyed by his daughter, Svetlana Allilueva, in her first book, Twenty Letters to a Friend. Svetlana has since had some second thoughts. In her latest book, Only One Year, published this week by Harper & Row, she pictures her father as a despot who brought about a bloody terror that destroyed millions of people-in sum, "a moral and spiritual monster...