Letters: Dec. 27, 1968

Man of Many Faces

Sir: May I, as a foreigner, but not any longer quite a stranger, suggest as TIME'S Man of the Year: the American. In his agony may be seen the greatness of his idealism, and if in his efforts to make this ideal a reality he often blunders, fails, fosters dislocation and uncertainty, he merely shares in a perplexity as old, and as common, as mankind. It is his willingness to persist that makes him uncommon. Let it be the greatest hope of all of us that his courage never fails.

MICHAEL F.N. DIXON

Cambridge, Mass.

Sir: The Biafran, for defending his freedom against impossible odds, demonstrating that the conscience of the world is a figment of some blind optimist's imagination, and for showing the rest of us heroism and determination equal to anything since the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans.

JAMES K. MATTIS

Claremont, Calif.

Sir: Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. He would be the 37th President if the American people had had their way.

WILLIAM BULLOCK

Sacramento

Sir: George C. Wallace. Surely no other single individual has succeeded in striking fear into the hearts of so many Americans this year.

TERENCE N. PALSO

Loretto, Pa.

Sir: Walter Washington. As the first mayor of our nation's capital, he has proved to be steadfast and undaunted in his dedication to equality, unity and peace.

NANCY CAPPS

Washington, D.C

Sir: Ralph Nader. The American consumer's first, secretary of defense.

ROBERT TERRY HUTTON

Boulder, Colo.

Sir: The individual whose highly eloquent defense of conservatism has remained a constant source of delight to many of us, the man who has mastered the art of the intelligent putdown: William F. Buckley Jr.

KIM ROGERS

Plant City, Fla.

Sir: The assassin. Without his influence things might have been different.

S. WALKER

Cape Town, South Africa

Sir: Robert McNamara, for his efficient running of the world's largest destruction and construction machines.

D. S. GHATALIA

Bombay, India

Sir: The peaceful dissenter. He condemns the evil elements of modern society, not society itself. He rejects the outmoded and cumbersome methods of our institutions of higher education, not education itself He believes in the ultimate power of reasonable debate to ameliorate the human condition.

THOMAS J, CRADDOCK

Beverly Hills, Calif.

Sir: Julian Bond, who left us with at least one good memory of the Democratic convention in Chicago.

M A MEAGHER

Milford, Mich,

Sir: The beleaguered university president

ESTHER E, JOHNSON

Bozeman, Mont.

Sir: Chung Hee-Park, the courageous President of South Korea. Our friend and ally, he has guided his countrymen toward a new hope for prosperity and tranquillity—in a land where suffering and anguish have so long endured.

DAVID M. BANKS

Worcester, Mass.

Sir: One of the largest and most influential groups of all: women.

M. S. BURSTEIN

Narberth, Pa.

Sir: Henry David Thoreau. His eloquent thought has motivated some of the most courageous acts of civil disobedience, defiance and demonstration against injustice in any form since Antigone resisted Creon.