Newspaper Article

CONNECTICUT OPINION; THE VISION OF CHESTER BOWLES

Relic, Peter, Peter Relic is Superintendent of Schools in West Hartford

1987

Overview

''You in the West see yourselves as 'the Free World,' but it was [Chester Bowles] who knew that we in emerging Asia and Africa see you as 'the Rich Nations.' '' ''Bowles had a world view; he compared Gandhi in southern Africa, then Natal and Transvaal, to Washington at Valley Forge and Bolivar at Boyaca. No American, before or since, has had that kind of intellect or sensitivity.'' They recalled pictures of the man, the lean, smiling face, the close-cropped hair, and they wondered aloud what would have happened had American policy after Indian independence from England been predicated on Mr. Bowles's understanding rather than that of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and others who little appreciated Gandhi and Nehru - better if Mr. Bowles had been the architect for Indian-American relations (they reminded me that he was one of the craftsmen of the 1960 Democratic platform). They dissected the United States alliance with Pakistan's military dictatorship and the pact that India, the world's largest democracy, has with the Soviet Union. And the students mentioned with pride that Mr. Bowles told President Truman that he preferred an ambassadorship to India, rather than to Europe, citing his belief that ''the history of our time will be written largely in Asia.''

• Publisher: New York Times Company
• Subject: Bowles, Chester / BOWLES, CHESTER (1901-86) / RELIC, PETER