ROMULO: Barefoot Boy of Diplomacy

by Adele CARLOS P. DeLeeuw ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 19, 1976

Readers who take the ""barefoot boy"" nickname literally will be surprised to learn that Romulo was a protegee of Philippine Senate President Manuel Quezon while still in high school, and that he gave up his American sweetheart at the request of his ""guardian"" in the United States, none other than President Taft. But deLeeuw's failure to define Romulo's social milieu is merely symptomatic of her thin misty-eyed treatment: the segments on Bataan and Corregidor adopt the tone of wartime Hollywood patriotism (""the Japanese had been ferreted out of their holes,"" etc.); and, after inadequately summarizing Romulo's position on various world issues, the author has an annoying habit of cutting off discussion with the observation that ""later events proved him right."" More background on Philippine politics and less genteel sentiment might have helped us to evaluate Romulo's reputation as the ""Philippine Kissinger.

Pub Date: April 19, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Westminster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION