FOREIGN RELATIONS: Never Lose Faith

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William Howard Taft was President of the U.S. when Wilhelm Munthe de Morgenstierne arrived in Washington as a junior attaché at the old Norwegian legation in 1910. Named Norway's Minister to the U.S. in 1934 and Ambassador in 1942, he saw the U.S. through seven other Presidents, three wars, depression and unprecedented prosperity. Last week, frail and bent at 70, Wilhelm de Morgenstierne, dean of Washington's diplomatic corps, on the eve of his retirement paid a farewell visit to an old friend, Dwight Eisenhower. As he left the White House, Morgenstierne offered some advice about the nation he has watched through 47 years of trial and triumph. Said he: "Never lose faith in the U.S. as a leader of the free world. I don't think the U.S. is going to fail the free world—just wait and see."