New York: A Trumanesque Comeback

Last February, New York Mayor John Lindsay trudged through the unplowed streets of snowbound Queens absorbing the taunts of angry householders. "Just try to get elected again!" yelled one woman. Trying to do just that, Lindsay last week returned to the same territory in a strange, triumphal procession. Surrounded by an honor guard of garbagemen aboard new snowplows, Lindsay soothed housewives with promises that they would never be snowbound again. The natives, while still skeptical, were nevertheless far friendlier than they had been last winter —and even friendlier than only a few weeks ago.

The incident was no isolated phenomenon,...