Young on the Record

When Congressman Andrew Young stepped out of the Cessna that carried him from Plains to Atlanta, only three hours after the announcement of his appointment, he was anything but ebullient. Rather, in an exclusive interview conducted in a back room of Hangar One with TIME'S Atlanta bureau chief, Rudolph S. Rauch III, he was deeply thoughtful, almost somber.

What had made him reconsider his earlier decision to decline the U.N. post? "My attitude changed while I was at a conference in Lesotho earlier this month with representatives of about 27 African nations. Everywhere there was such a great expectation about the new Administration that I seemed to realize there was a unique opportunity in foreign affairs right now."

Had he been assured of playing a substantive role in policymaking?

"The appointment of Cyrus Vance as Secretary of State was a very good sign to me. He is not a superstar sort -the kind who won't listen to anybody else. He told me he thought that more and more the U.N. is going to have to be not only a point from which our foreign policy is articulated, but also, because it is a listening post, a point where policy is formulated."

Did Young wring any concessions from the President-elect on how powerful his role would be?

"No, because I don't work that way.

I trust him and think he trusts me. I said matter-of-factly that for me to be effective in that role I had to maintain a certain amount of integrity and sometimes independence. If I ever lost that, I wouldn't have anything to contribute to his Administration."

Who had urged him not to take the post?

"My friends: people who care for me very much. The history of our Ambassadors to the U.N. back to Lodge shows that they all tend to get raw deals. I was very much aware of the dangers. I think I'm a good enough politician to deal with them."

How does Young answer those who say he is abandoning black Americans for the world scene?

"By saying that I don't think we can solve the problems of blacks in America until we solve the problem of stabilizing the resources and the social structures in the Third World."

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