Change of Style at the U.N.

Carter picks Donald McHenry to replace Andrew Young

When U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young resigned after his secret approach to the Palestine Liberation Organization, the nation's black leaders erupted in hostility toward Jewish groups, which they blamed, somewhat unfairly, for the ouster of the highest black in Government. Last week President Carter named an adroit successor to Young: Donald F. McHenry, 42, a top deputy at the U.N. mission. Though close to Young and equally absorbed in African affairs, McHenry is a polished career diplomat who is as well known for prudence as Young is for impetuosity.

Carter had considered others for the post, including former Iowa Senator Dick Clark, former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, Panama Canal Negotiator Sol Linowitz and Ambassador to China Leonard Woodcock. But McHenry had the advantage of being a black as well as having the support of Young. His main disadvantage was that he was not well known. Then the Soviets came to his assistance when they tried to rush Ballerina Ludmila Vlasova out of the U.S. McHenry was put in charge of the laborious negotiations with the Soviets at Kennedy Airport. Deputy White House Press Secretary Rex Granum said that the President was impressed with Mc-Henry's "toughness and coolness under fire and strong, forceful negotiating techniques." The appointment, said Young, "reaffirms the Administration's commitments to the United Nations and to the policies that we have worked together so closely on."

McHenry's rise to his present post has been low-keyed and skillful. Born in St. Louis, he graduated from Illinois State University and earned a master's degree in international relations at Southern Illinois University. In 1963 he joined the State Department as a junior officer in the Office of United Nations Political Affairs and rose quickly through the ranks. A liberal concerned with the humanitarian side of foreign policy, he left the department when Henry Kissinger became Secretary, and joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

When Carter was elected, McHenry returned to a more congenial environment in the State Department and was made Young's deputy. Like Young, he has strong views, though he tends to express them more tactfully and precisely. Says his daughter Christina: "When he says something, he knows exactly what he is saying." He is described as the classic understated statesman with a scholar's rather than a preacher's approach to diplomacy. At his best in behind-the-scenes maneuvering, he led a protracted effort to get the Front Line African states, as well as South Africa, to agree to an independent Namibia. Talking to the press last week, McHenry lamented the high visibility of his new post. "It's difficult to accomplish foreign policy objectives in a fishbowl," he said. "I can't sneak around any more." But he plans to maintain something of a private life. Though divorced from his first wife, he spends as much time as he can with his two daughters, who live with him in Manhattan, and his Oxford-educated son, who is in Boston paradoxically training to be a chef.

Black leaders were pleased by McHenry's appointment. Said Coretta King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr.: "I feel he will be a tremendous asset to our nation. He will continue in the same spirit as Andy in terms of trying to win friends for America." The Rev. Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was equally enthusiastic. "There may be a change in style from Andy. McHenry won't be as informal, but there won't be a change in the battle for world peace." While more restrained, Jewish leaders also expressed satisfaction with Carter's choice. Said Howard Squadron, president of the American Jewish Congress: "I suspect Carter is trying to demonstrate continuity of policy and commitment to the black community. I think that's reasonable."

After he settled on McHenry, Carter returned to the subject of blacks vs. Jews in a speech he gave in Atlanta last week.

"Many nations," said the President, "are in danger of being torn apart by ethnic divisions, by political rivalries, by religious conflict. We must seek resolution of differences and we must stand with each other to prevent all these quarrels of the world from being imported into our own national life." sb

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