NATO: New Boss

• Share

NATO's 15-nation Permanent Council last week unanimously approved General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, 62, as its next Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. It did so after Charles de Gaulle pointedly delayed his government's approval five days, long enough to necessitate a special meeting of the NATO Council. De Gaulle apparently felt slighted because Kennedy was reportedly using the NATO appointment as a convenient way of moving Lemnitzer, with whose performance as Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs he had not been happy. Besides showing his usual touchiness, De Gaulle's little slap was a reminder that the new Europe considers itself the equal of the U.S., and that France (which has yet to make available to NATO more than two of the four infantry divisions it promised) is determined to play its own independent role.