Days That Call for Daring

By Hugh Sidey

"And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o 'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action." --Hamlet

These are the dangerous days for Jimmy Carter. He is by himself. Not even Rosalynn knew all about the Tehran rescue mission. Nor can she or anyone else shape beyond a point what happens inside the President.

If, as Shakespeare's Hamlet warns, Carter's enlarged conscience makes a coward of him, then by almost every measure in this sad nation, the future is bleak. It is a season for new resolve, for a display of determination that this White House has never reached before. These days cry out for daring, defiance, even jauntiness. Carter tried, failed, but his message now should be, let the world beware.

All across Washington, adversaries and critics in remarkable harmony pulled for yet another rebirth of Jimmy Carter. "There is no other nation on earth that .could have planned and executed, even as far as it went, such a mission," said James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense. "Let the Soviets chortle. They could not have done it."

And from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger came the same support. He urged Carter to proclaim the virtues of failed action in a just cause over inaction, to seize this moment and make it a test of his moral strength and call the country to follow. "I believe," said Kissinger, "the country is better off now."

No White House experience repeats itself. But there are similarities from the past. Theodore Sorensen, John Kennedy's aide, recalls that in the first hours of the Bay of Pigs disaster, Kennedy was angry. "It fired him," said Sorensen. J.F.K. launched a Government-wide review of his people and U.S. capabilities. It helped spur him on the race to the moon, and he sought a meeting in the summer of 1961 with Nikita Khrushchev. Kennedy would not be humiliated or despondent. He vowed to win. Without the same superiority of power and with the crisis so distant, Carter has it tougher. The country's need, however, is greater.

The raid on the prison camp in North Viet Nam and the response to the seizure of the Mayaguez were far from models of success, but Nixon and Ford trumpeted the audacity of the missions and pride replaced doubt.

The size of Carter's task is not to be ignored. A man like Kennedy, who was well liked and new to the job, won instant sympathy and backing in his failure. The chemistry is different for Carter. He does not have the same respect or affection, and under these conditions in the presidency, failure often appears even greater than it is.

The old hands know what is going to happen now around Washington. Some will counsel the President in the virtues of doing nothing. Some will condemn the military minds that planned the strike. The allies will scream even louder than they have. The President will be alone with his obligation, his conscience and his will more now than ever before. How he puts this all together will decide if he survives as President, if the U.S. marches ahead or cringes.

Kissinger, a sometime critic, offers a line for the President: "Tell the world that this is what happens when you push the U.S. too far. This mission failed, but next time we will make it work."

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