President Kennedy took Mao seriously

r
renqiulan
楼主 (文学峸)

 

The world hardly knew that President John F. Kennedy, when alive, studied Mao Zedong's “On Guerrilla Warfare,”and strongly encouraged his White House staff to do the same.

Also, just the privileged few witnessed that, when confronted with the China problem, Kennedy asked his wife Jackie to fix not one but two Bloody Marys for him. Yes, the young president didn't mind boozing a bit during his White House meetings.

Kennedy correctly understood that Mao was determined not to live in the Soviet shadow. Insightfully he considered “the guerrilla leader of the world” as a bigger threat to America in the long run.


Incidentally Kennedy had received intelligence warning him that Mao's China would soon become the fifth nuclear power after the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France. Indeed, Mao got the Bomb on October 16, 1964, in less than a year after the assassination of Kennedy.

In his inner circle Kennedy never hesitated to admit that he felt an urge to understand Mao. As a matter of fact, he spent a lot of presidential time trying to read Mao's mind. He was a serious president. 

Until just before his untimely death, Kennedy had been strategizing to counter the Maoist movement in Asia and beyond.

On the one hand, Kennedy was ready to single-handedly destroy Mao's nuclear installations. On the other hand, he would offer Mao a “peaceful solution” even at Chiang Kai-shek's expense.

In the meantime, he was exploring a détente with either the Soviet Union or Mao's China so as to keep both in check.

Kennedy had practically outlined a China plan for the succeeding administrations. Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, in a spectacular manner, took a leaf out of Kennedy's book. However, neither of them openly acknowledged their debt to Kennedy.


Author: renqiulan
(To me, a book is a pile of blank papers until I read it. )

 


盈盈一笑间
谢谢秋兰的book review. 多谢分享。明早再仔细看。good night!
r
renqiulan
感谢盈盈!明天谈。晚安!
蓝灵
"To me, a book is a pile of blank papers until I read it."
蓝灵
Quite an epigram. Hi, renqiulan!
r
renqiulan
An epigram? Just a personal statement. Thanks and hi, 蓝灵!
蓝灵
"To me" or "For me"? I have been under the impression that
蓝灵
the two are interchangeable. But I can't help taking it with
C
CBA7
秋兰好文,谢谢分享!
蓝灵
with a grain of salt. Mind sharing your opinion on this one?
C
CBA7
“President Kennedy took Mao seriously”,
C
CBA7
we take Qiulan seriously :)
r
renqiulan
哪里呢?只不过是聊聊几句读后感,几段美中关系史话而已。感谢小西夜访寒斋!
C
CBA7
I always take beautiful leaves out of Qiulan's book reviews,
C
CBA7
I really appreciate that.
r
renqiulan
Hahaha! Someone says, "Don't life too seriously. You'll
r
renqiulan
never get out of it alive." It won't hurt to have a sense of
r
renqiulan
dark humor. But then I am kidding myself here.
C
CBA7
秋兰总是这么谦逊啊,谢谢秋兰!
C
CBA7
I'm a humor lover :)
r
renqiulan
I hope one day I can say I have earned your kind words.
r
renqiulan
Speaking of which, I still wonder why there's no indigenous
r
renqiulan
term for humor in Chinese.
r
renqiulan
不是谦,而是实话实说。说起寒斋,想及周作人句:旁人若问其中意,且到寒斋吃苦茶。
方外居士
The author of 论游击战is marshal朱德,not Mao
C
CBA7
Maybe Chinese in general are serious, but I'm an exception:)
方外居士
Although they share same idea.
r
renqiulan
Thank you, 方外居士! I heard about that. However, I couldn't
r
renqiulan
find Zhu De's version in circulation. Maybe you can help me.
C
CBA7
谢谢秋兰分享。期待有朝一日到秋兰的雅舍品茶取经 :)秋兰晚安,圣诞快乐!
r
renqiulan
This is from translator Samuel B. Griffith III: "In 1937,
r
renqiulan
Mao set his ideas out in a small book entitled On Guerrilla"
r
renqiulan
最喜知堂老人这句:支颐独自听狼嗥。再谢小西,祝圣诞快乐!
方外居士
Mao’s book is 论持久战。it is more about strategy on
方外居士
Why/how china can defeat japan at high level, not the tactic
r
renqiulan
The exception proves the rule. You're exceptional.
r
renqiulan
Right.Still I have yet to find Zhu De's Chinese original.
方外居士
Zhu de’s book is the tactics on how to win
r
renqiulan
Coincidentally, I did touch upon "strategizing" in my post.
r
renqiulan
Kindly let me know where I can get Zhu De's book.
r
renqiulan
In American English "to me" is more about myself whereas
r
renqiulan
"for me" is less about myself.
方外居士
It was published in 1938, I don’t think it’s on market

方外居士
Maybe found in some libarary
r
renqiulan
Thanks, 方外居士!I just found the image of the original. It's an
r
renqiulan
anthology of several authors' works, collectively entitled
r
renqiulan
"On Guerrilla Warfare 論游擊戰”(民國時期文獻)
r
renqiulan
The English publisher has let Mao stand out as the author
r
renqiulan
for sale promotion.
方外居士
Yes. Mao’s name is a good trade mark for the book
r
renqiulan
Che Guevara had authored a book under the same title.
蓝灵
That makes sense to me. Thanks!
r
renqiulan
Exactly. Merry Christmas to you! Goodnight.
r
renqiulan
Merry Christmas to you! Goodnight, 蓝灵 !
蓝灵
Merry Christmas and good night, renqiulan!
r
renqiulan
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."
永远老李
Who can find an English word for “枭雄”?

I think Mao is a 枭雄. Mao is both good and bad. As matter of fact, he is extremely good and extremely bad. He is a powerful and influential figure indeed. I am not surprised an American president once studied him and read his book.

 I am wondering if Xu Jinping ever reads "Art of deal".
 

方外居士
Merry Christmas !
盈盈一笑间
Good morning 秋兰. Merry Christmas !
盈盈一笑间
占位点赞。待会儿来细读秋兰的佳作!今天真是太忙了。实在抱歉。:))
盈盈一笑间
秋兰是博学的中国通和汉学家。读了你的文章,需要静下心,思考。。多谢分享读书心得,让我对JFK有更深入的了解。
盈盈一笑间
原来尼克松和基辛格都从肯尼迪这本书中取经。那这本书对后来的乒乓外交和尼克松访华,以及那个时期的美国队华政策产生深远影响呀
卫宁
学习了,谢谢分享。秋兰圣诞快乐!
r
renqiulan
Thanks,永远老李! An English word for “枭雄”?Beat me.Your thoughts?
r
renqiulan
I really appreciate your insight into Mao's character.
r
renqiulan
As for President Kennedy's attention to Mao, I think he
r
renqiulan
might want to study the Chinese soul through Mao.
r
renqiulan
谢谢盈盈!实在不敢当。有兴趣倒是真的。
r
renqiulan
政治嘛。
r
renqiulan
不敢当。谢谢卫宁!