The Summer of Discontent

Summer had come with a rush. On the biggest holiday weekend of the season, highways were blue with the vapor trails of traffic. Eastern beaches were alive with humanity; campers struggled up the slopes of the Rockies, the Smokies and the high Sierra. On Midwestern lakes, motorboats roared over the placid water, pulling skiers like dragonflies behind. The U.S. seemed relaxed, and in regard to the people's personal affairs, it was. But beneath the suntanned surface, when U.S. citizens thought of their country there was uneasiness and discontent.

The discontent stemmed from feelings and fears about the position of the U.S. in the cold war--with a crisis in Berlin almost certain to come this fall. Vacationing in Hyannisport with his family, President John Kennedy was apprehensive too. "The President believes that one of his major tasks is preparing the nation for this showdown," reported TIME'S White House Correspondent Hugh Sidey. "tie believes that the U.S. generally has no idea how serious Berlin could become. The country must get ready for the psychological shock. It cannot be done alone by appeals over television or through the newspapers and magazines. In short, Kennedy does not think we can get ready properly with talk.''

At other times and in other ways during recent weeks. President Kennedy has expressed his concern that the U.S. citizenry is not yet prepared to make the sacrifices and take the risks required by the cold war. That concern can only have helped shape his policies. But there is a danger that the President has misread the U.S. mind--and that the American people are in fact more than ready and more than willing to take whatever action is necessary in the international struggle against Communism. Last week, after sampling public opinion in their areas, TIME correspondents across the U.S. reported two major facts as emerging clearly.

FIRST FACT: A great majority of Americans are prepared to risk war over Berlin rather than back down to the Reds.

A Denver Post survey disclosed that seven out of ten Coloradans favor war over retreat. Of 32 Atlantans questioned, only one admitted willingness to give up Berlin rather than fight. "Sure it's a dangerous world and nobody wants war," said a North Hollywood businesswoman. "But if we kick in our chips over Berlin, we might as well kick in the whole pot. The effort has to be made somewhere, risk or no risk, and it might as well be over Berlin." To show weakness in Berlin, said Miami Hotel Executive Carl H. Ransom Jr., is only "to give way to something that eventually will eat you up. You lose a little here and a little there, and you wake up and you're lost." Said Wilkie Hanson, a New Jersey businessman: "If we get out of one place we'll have to fight them somewhere else." Said Chicago Cost Accountant Ray Nowacki: "We'll stand up on our hind legs in Berlin." Said Bob Maxwell, who conducts a Detroit radio poll: "People think we've been backing off too long.''

SECOND FACT: There is a wide and spreading feeling that the Administration has not yet provided ample leadership in guiding the U.S. along the dangerous paths of the cold war.

Time and again came the complaint. Said Chicago's Nowacki: "The American people will back up President Kennedy. But they are waiting for him to make the first move. Kennedy's waiting for them to make the first move. It's a stalemate." Said Los Angeles Designer Harry Kardeman: "The initiative will have to come from Kennedy. If he feels he has to clear his moves with the American people, he's wrong. There isn't time, and the situation is too complex." Said a Miami science teacher: "It's time for Kennedy to sort out the bad eggs from that nest of eggheads he's brought to Washington and show the world we're tough. They'll respect us for it." Said a Florida banker: "Look, every time we really lay it on the line we've stopped the Communists. If we tell them they can't push us further and show them we mean it, we'd be all right. The President has got to be a leader. Damn it, that's what we elected him for." In that fiery spirit, and in the determination of the U.S. to throw back the challenges of Communism at whatever cost, lies the great opportunity for President Kennedy--but it is an opportunity that he must seize upon unhesitatingly and with boldness.

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