On the Right

New York, Jan. 22—The word in New York is that Nelson Rockefeller intends to run for President in 1976, and that John Lindsay intends to run for re- election as mayor in 1973. Ifitisso, it is a matter of local and national interest what these gentlemen have learned from their experience in office. Concerning the education of the Governor, I pledge something in due course. Concerning the education of the Mayor, it is instructive that on a single day, in New York, two things of symbolic importance happened. One was a wisecrack. Committed by a hyper-liberal political columnist, Mr. Pete Hamill, who is just unpredictable enough to be interesting. He said that the next mayor of New York should “be from one of the boroughs, either a Catholic or a Jew, and not too tall. He should also not have gone to Yale.” The significance of that quotation, for the uninstructed, is that here is a liberal saying that anyone who hopes to succeed John Lindsay as mayor of New York must on no account resemble John Lindsay. I.e., the people desire something quite different.

That very day, Mr. Lindsay swore into office a new Commissioner of Parks (and of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, to give the title whole). He succeeded a lovely man, a belletrist of high standards, about whom it is said that it was as unfair to him to give him an administrative job of such brawling exaction, as it would have been to put T. S. Eliot in charge of MGM. But the new man, Richard Clurman, is an extremely interesting designation, not only because he is immensely talented, but because he is much more in the tradition of Robert Moses, who during his long service to New York City and State specialized in doing things, rather than in elaborating civic or municipal ideologies. Mr. Clurman is a renowned doer. He was given by Henry Luce the job of administering the Time-Life News Service, making him for a period of time the man in charge of the largest news-gathering system at the disposal of a single journal. In this job he excelled, showing always the tough curiosity of his boss, though unlike Mr. Luce his off-duty concerns have been cultural rather than philosophical and religious, which is why, a couple of years ago, he was appointed head of New York’s City Center of Music and Drama, the “oldest and largest civic performing arts institution in America,” as they say.

About the Author

William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review magazine in 1955.

New York, Jan. 22—The word in New York is that Nelson Rockefeller intends to run for President in 1976, and that John Lindsay intends to run for re- election as mayor in 1973. Ifitisso, it is a matter of local and national interest what these gentlemen have learned from their experience in office. Concerning the education of the Governor, I pledge something in due course. Concerning the education of the Mayor, it is instructive that on a single day, in New York, two things of symbolic importance happened. One was a wisecrack. Committed by a hyper-liberal political columnist, Mr. Pete Hamill, who is just unpredictable enough to be interesting. He said that the next mayor of New York should “be from one of the boroughs, either a Catholic or a Jew, and not too tall. He should also not have gone to Yale.” The significance of that quotation, for the uninstructed, is that here is a liberal saying that anyone who hopes to succeed John Lindsay as mayor of New York must on no account resemble John Lindsay. I.e., the people desire something quite different.

That very day, Mr. Lindsay swore into office a new Commissioner of Parks (and of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, to give the title whole). He succeeded a lovely man, a belletrist of high standards, about whom it is said that it was as unfair to him to give him an administrative job of such brawling exaction, as it would have been to put T. S. Eliot in charge of MGM. But the new man, Richard Clurman, is an extremely interesting designation, not only because he is immensely talented, but because he is much more in the tradition of Robert Moses, who during his long service to New York City and State specialized in doing things, rather than in elaborating civic or municipal ideologies. Mr. Clurman is a renowned doer. He was given by Henry Luce the job of administering the Time-Life News Service, making him for a period of time the man in charge of the largest news-gathering system at the disposal of a single journal. In this job he excelled, showing always the tough curiosity of his boss, though unlike Mr. Luce his off-duty concerns have been cultural rather than philosophical and religious, which is why, a couple of years ago, he was appointed head of New York’s City Center of Music and Drama, the “oldest and largest civic performing arts institution in America,” as they say.