Did He Goof?

To the Editors:

Given Levine’s mind and talents, one is wise to be prudent in suggesting that he has goofed; but nonetheless it does seem possible he has done just that in his cover engraving for your issue of June 18, 1970.

It is not only a disservice to Hoover, but a terrible travesty to suggest that Nixon has any smidgen of Hoover’s virtues (however limited those may be thought).

It also seems farfetched to suggest that Nixon has enough brains, let alone style or anything else, to undertake to present himself as a latter-day Hoover.

To consider only the matter of foreign policy, Hoover had the basic virtue of trying persistently to break the pattern of armed intervention in support of the empire, and simply refused to get involved on the mainland of Asia.

Hoover was also honest and candid in elementary ways.

William Appleman Williams

Professor of History

Oregon State University

Corvallis, Oregon