The Last Proconsul

Ramrod-straight, sober-faced, patrician, calm: he was almost the Hollywood image of an American ambassador. For six exhausting years he exercised more authority than most of his diplomatic colleagues ever dreamed of possessing. Always immaculate, even in Saigon's long, humid afternoons, always self-possessed, even in the face of deliberate snubs from the South Viet Nam government, Ellsworth Bunker, for better or worse, was at the epicenter of the longest and most difficult war in American history.

He was called "the Blue-Eyed Sorcerer" and "the Icebox" by the Vietnamese, who respected his courtly patience but feared his power. "Ah, if we had had a Vietnamese like him to put up against Ho Chi Minh," officials used to lament, "how very different things might have been."

This week the last American proconsul is leaving Saigon. It will be years before his record can be properly assessed. For much of his tour, he was undisputed commander of both U.S. military and diplomatic-political activities in Viet Nam. As such, he presumably will have to bear some of the blame for the policy decisions that turned Viet Nam into an international tragedy.

Bunker came to the country during a peak period of American involvement on the battlefront. Eventually he came round to the fact that Viet Nam was essentially a political rather than a military war--and helped speed the withdrawal of American G.I.s from the combat zones. At the same time, he tried to assure the government of Nguyen Van Thieu that it was not being sold down the Mekong. The solution he so staunchly advocated--Vietnamization--was adopted, but its long-run efficacy will be argued for years to come.

Through the fusillades of criticism and volleys of praise, Bunker moved unscathed, to the surprise of many who felt the agonies of My Lai more strongly. Asked to sum up his chief, a high-ranking aide said: "One thinks of the grace and courtliness with which he treats everyone he meets, but that does not mean he is uncritical. There is a flinty Vermont look sometimes that makes people realize very clearly that they have not done things the way he expected them done. He has dominated our country's largest operation overseas without ever raising his voice and without using a cudgel."

An often-cited weakness was his lack of firsthand knowledge of the land and people outside Saigon. He spoke neither French nor Vietnamese. He learned about Viet Nam largely through briefings, refined and delivered by optimistic senior staffers who drew their information from men in the field but filtered out doubt and dissent.

That official optimism was in large part responsible for one of Bunker's most serious misestimates during his Saigon years. In 1971 he urged Thieu, at Washington's behest, to hold free, honest elections that would legitimize the Vietnamese President in the eyes of the world. To bring this about, genuine opponents were needed. To Bunker's embarrassment, Thieu eventually ran uncontested--and the elections were duly derided in the U.S. as a sham.

Home to Vermont. TIME Correspondent Peter Simms interviewed Bunker in Saigon on the eve of his departure last week and asked him what he thought he had accomplished. Bunker's answer: he feels that his efforts brought Viet Nam from a time of mere leaping from one crisis to another to a point where long-range planning is possible. He is undiscouraged by the uneasy peace that now prevails: "I think that after a generation of war, one cannot expect peace to descend overnight. It will require time and patience." Thieu, he feels, faces four major tasks: refugee resettlement, war-damage reconstruction, economic development and ensuring greater effectiveness for his government.

After a round of farewell parties in Saigon, Bunker will move on to Nepal, where his wife Carol Laise presides over the U.S. embassy, and celebrate his 79th birthday. Then a leisurely return home via Rome and London--skipping Paris, he interjected--a look at his homes in Washington and Vermont, a visit to his daughter in Brazil, and finally a return to Washington for reassignment. "As far as the U.S. in Viet Nam is concerned," he said, "the degree of progress is that we can work ourselves out of a job." Bunker may have worked himself out of Viet Nam, but he is already looking forward to a new posting.

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