Where I Stand 1972 — Hank Greenspun: Nixon-McGovern race has family votes split

Friday, Dec. 8, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

Note to readers: This column by Sun founder Hank Greenspun appeared on Oct. 8, 1972.

A house divided.

A father has been challenged by his daughter.

Fortunately, the house is just divided politically and there is no greater certainty than that the gap will be closed after Election Day if not before, because on most issues, my daughter, Janie, and I see eye to eye.

But for the present, she has challenged me to answer her declaration of independence from my political thought, informing me with assuredness that she will vote for Sen. George McGovern.

"... I plan to vote for him as I would have voted for Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, Adlai Stevenson and any of the other great Americans," Janie wrote. "Combat that argument, Dad. I would like to see how it is done."

The issue is perplexing for many dads, and fortunately, there is an answer.

It is Janie's first vote but quite a few more for old Dad, so at least he has a little experience and a lot of history on his side.

For many years, every dad, not just hers, from the moment the beautiful little things first come onto this Earth, and especially in Las Vegas, have heard the rumblings and lived in the shadows of the atomic tests at Mercury.

At the very beginning, with atmospheric testing, we had to open the windows slightly so they wouldn't break as we went with heavy heart from one baby crib to another, before we knew what the impact would be, hoping and praying that our children would not be harmed.

We knew many freedoms except the freedom from fear, because no one really knew what madness we were unleashing on the world.

We soon learned as communist Russia became a powerful nuclear power, China was an unknown quantity and France exploded its own A-bombs.

The fear was that some madman with a nuclear weapon could trigger a holocaust that would destroy all those beautiful little creatures -- and Janie was a curly-haired little blonde lying in her crib.

Many of us couldn't sleep at night with worry, asking ourselves over and over, "What are we doing to our children, unleashing this horrible weapon upon future generations and poisoning their little bodies and bone marrow with radioactive fallout from atmospheric tests?"

It was a nightmare.

Any president of the United States, or other world leader, who, in any way, could lessen this tremendous peril, this harrowing fear in the mind and thoughts of every parent, should go down in history.

Glorious President Jack Kennedy did it when he signed the atmospheric test ban treaty. He gave hope to the world, but then that world became darker because the Iron Curtain closed tighter and the vision of millions of burned bodies strewn across the earth became even more vivid.

China became an emerging nuclear power and the fear grew that smaller nations might soon be supplied and it became a fear of when, not if, nations would begin waving atom bombs at one another.

President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to open lines of communication to the communist world but no one could make the approach. And all the time the Cold War grew more frigid.

Along came Richard Nixon, in whom few had much faith at the time because of his attitudes toward communism, but the miracle occurred and he pried open that Iron Curtain, if not completely, at least a little bit.

He took the first step to Russia and China, and whatever motives his detractors may ascribe to his journeys, he brought hope to a world. He lessened the fears and a little light was brought to dark places.

He accomplished something for which every parent, every person who has any compassion for mankind, must be grateful. He opened up an area of communication where only bitterness and hatred existed.

If someone other than Nixon -- because of his image from the past -- had sent the walls tumbling down, it would have been acclaimed the greatest feat of the 20th century.

President Nixon was toasted in China and he toasted them. He had a meeting of the minds with the Russian leaders and this alone is a noteworthy accomplishment, even if it doesn't last. But he made the effort and a rapprochment between the competing powers is the possibility that could lead to a slowdown in the mad race to create more and more of these hellish weapons.

I do not view Richard Nixon with the same eyes as others who always had some hang-up about the man. I see him as a world leader who has probably saved mankind, or at the least lessened the peril of the destruction.

He has given us a little more freedom from fear. He has taken this heavy load off our hearts and minds. He has made it nearly possible -- no matter how minor the degree -- for my children and grandchildren to escape what has been haunting us, this horrible thought of what our generation has done to humanity by producing these weapons that no bomb shelter could defend against.

We could not have left this Earth without in some measure trying to end this terrifying peril.

Nixon has earned a place in history by going to China and Russia and saying, "Let's talk." It is true that many talks, conferences and international meetings have frequently been dissappointing. Some have even been colossal failures. But none of them has been as bloody a failure as war. And not one of them can be as disastrous as a nuclear war.

This is the judgment the American people must make. I don't care what his record has been in the past. I know what he has done for me and every other father who loves his children more than life itself.

We don't know what the other man will do.

So, my adorable daughter, I shall not only vote for President Nixon but sincerely love him, only because I love you more.

Combat that argument, Janie, if you can. But there's no way you can combat a father's love.

archive