Maybe a Bit of Travel to Cure the Nein Blues

Despite strains within NATO and tensions with French and German leaders, the president of the United States was able to all but end chronic anti-Americanism in Europe.

It was 1963, and the occasion was President Kennedy’s June trip to the Continent.

Kennedy accomplished his transatlantic rapprochement by appealing directly to younger constituents -- rather than the two old, obstinate heads of government -- with a message of hope and unity for Europe and the West and an emphasis on human rights and democratic principles. He never suggested unilateral use of American power, nor did he convey disdain for international alliances or international law. He did not publicly air his possible differences with Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.

The outpouring of exuberant acclaim that he received throughout his tour reached an unprecedented peak in West Berlin. There, after basking in the greatest crowd enthusiasm of his political career, the president climbed into Air Force One, weary but smiling. He sat down across from me and said: “We’ll never have another day like this as long as we live.”

What a contrast with the recent display of hostility to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld while he was in Germany.

JFK was modest enough to add, as we flew home, that those roars of approval and gratitude had not been meant just for him personally. They were also for the American people, for the prudence, the restraint and the patience they had displayed in keeping the Soviet Union at bay throughout the previous 15 years of the Cold War, without ever precipitating a “hot” war that would have left Berlin and perhaps all of Germany in radioactive ashes.

The NATO alliance was -- and is -- the most successful in history, withstanding threats from within and without for more than five decades. Surely it will not fall after less than 25 months of George W. Bush.

Most Americans still favor a foreign policy of prudence, patience, peace and restraint. Does our current government?

JFK said he was tempted to write a note addressed to his White House successors, “to be opened at a time of some discouragement,” containing just three words: “Go to Germany.”

Perhaps President Bush should act on JFK’s advice and conduct a similar tour appealing directly to the people of Germany.

But he may not want to conclude his remarks with “Ich Bin Ein Lone Ranger.”