George

IT IS unlikely that there has ever been an office as inherently weak in terms of real power, and as disagreeable in the occupying of it, as the office of United States Ambassador to the United Nations. It is unlikely that such a small office has ever been occupied by a man as large in intellect and spirit as Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It is unlikely that the occupant of any such office ever held in his hands as much power to shake larger offices as Mr. Moynihan held during the hours when he was contemplating resignation.

The events that brought on this contemplation are well-known. Mr. Moynihan has been speaking in an unroutinely sharp way in response to the routine denunciations of the U.S. and its interests by the many and multiplying enemies of the U.S. in the UN. Mr. Moynihan’s comportment has been disconcerting, embarrassing, and intolerable for the U.S. foreign policy establishment. It is not certain that the British Ambassador to the UN was encouraged by officials of the U.S. Government to give his speech denouncing Mr. Moynihan for rocking the UN boat [see also “On the Right,” p. 1495], but it is no less than reasonable to suspect that such encouragement was given, if only by the echoing silence of the State Department, which has not come to Mr. Moynihan’s defense during this testing period.

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George F. Will

George F. Will has been a columnist, beginning with National Review, since 1973.

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IT IS unlikely that there has ever been an office as inherently weak in terms of real power, and as disagreeable in the occupying of it, as the office of United States Ambassador to the United Nations. It is unlikely that such a small office has ever been occupied by a man as large in intellect and spirit as Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It is unlikely that the occupant of any such office ever held in his hands as much power to shake larger offices as Mr. Moynihan held during the hours when he was contemplating resignation.

The events that brought on this contemplation are well-known. Mr. Moynihan has been speaking in an unroutinely sharp way in response to the routine denunciations of the U.S. and its interests by the many and multiplying enemies of the U.S. in the UN. Mr. Moynihan’s comportment has been disconcerting, embarrassing, and intolerable for the U.S. foreign policy establishment. It is not certain that the British Ambassador to the UN was encouraged by officials of the U.S. Government to give his speech denouncing Mr. Moynihan for rocking the UN boat [see also “On the Right,” p. 1495], but it is no less than reasonable to suspect that such encouragement was given, if only by the echoing silence of the State Department, which has not come to Mr. Moynihan’s defense during this testing period.