"A Fox in a Chicken Coop"

Few members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee followed its televised hearings on Viet Nam more closely than the junior Senator from New York, who is not even a member of William Fulbright's debating society. As the interrogation droned on, Robert F. Kennedy restlessly paced his Washington office, occasionally caught himself talking back to the screen. Bothering Bobby was his belief that Administration spokesmen were dodging a key question: What role should the Viet Cong play during a peace conference? And afterward?

Finally, Kennedy set a squad of speechwriters to work on that unmooted issue, stayed up to polish their prose until 3 o'clock in the morning and at noon delivered his minority opinion at a well-attended press conference. When somebody asked him what he aimed to do next with his proposals, Kennedy said with a grin: "I guess I'll take them home and show them to my wife."

Heavy Artillery. Perhaps the Senator should have done that in the first place. As it was, his unsolicited comments brought on a blizzard of criticism. The uproar was provoked by Kennedy's statement that the allies should allow the Viet Cong "a share of power and responsibility" in Saigon's government. "If negotiation is our aim," he had said, "we must seek a middle ground. A negotiated settlement means that each side must concede matters that are im portant in order to preserve positions that are essential." In other words, one way to end the war might be to guarantee in advance that the Communist guerrillas would be seated in a coalition government.

The Administration, which maintains that it is self-defeating to make any concessions in advance of negotiations, called in the heavy artillery. Under Secretary of State George Ball said the idea would lead "in a very short time" to a Communist government in Saigon. White House Adviser McGeorge Bundy reminded Bobby of what his late brother had said in a 1963 Berlin speech: "I am not impressed by the opportunities open to popular fronts throughout the world. I do not believe that any democrat can successfully ride that tiger." United Nations Ambassador Arthur Goldberg warned against giving up "all your points in advance" of negotiations.

No Beards. The heaviest barrage of all came from Vice President Hubert Humphrey in New Zealand, who took time out from his Asian tour to liken Kennedy's proposal to "a prescription which includes a dose of arsenic," putting "an arsonist in a fire department," and, for good measure, setting "a fox in a chicken coop."

Editorial reaction was less than sympathetic to Kennedy. New York Times Columnist C. L. Sulzberger concluded that "both Peking and Hanoi must have gained fresh encouragement by the joining of our Know-Nothings with our Know-It-Alls." Kennedy, he observed cuttingly, would have been "more honest to suggest abandoning Viet Nam without even bothering to negotiate."

Kennedy had got into trouble before over his remarks on Viet Nam--most notably last fall, when, defending the principle of dissent, he suggested that donating blood to the North Vietnamese or "anybody who needs it" would be "in the oldest tradition of this country." Recently he had carefully avoided identifying himself with the Senate's "peace Democrats." Now he found himself proclaimed as their leader, hailed by the rote liberals of the California Democratic Council and even editorially embraced by the Communist Worker, which for years had dismissed him as a fascist-capitalist-imperialist. "I don't want the support of the beards," he protested, too late.

No Disagreement. Interrupting a skiing weekend at Stowe, Vt., Kennedy began collaring groups of journalists in New York and Washington to explain his position. His only aim, he insisted, had been to clarify the "confusion" among Administration officials --to which White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers stiffly retorted: "I don't think it is the Administration that is confused."

In full retreat, Kennedy called for help from retired General Maxwell Taylor, an old friend after whom Bobby named his ninth child. Taylor obliged him, but only added to the confusion in the process. Though he is an architect and stalwart supporter of the Administration's policy, Taylor professed that Kennedy's position was "very, very close to what I consider my position."

It quickly got closer. Kennedy called Moyers to explain that all he was saying was that the U.S. should not "shut the door" on a Viet Cong role at a future conference or even in a future government, or else there might never be a conference. That issue, he now said, should be settled by negotiations, not before. Allowed Moyers: "If Senator Kennedy did not propose a coalition government with Communist participation before elections are held, there is no disagreement." At that point, finally, Bobby's reversal was complete. Said he: "I find no disagreement."

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