NOT QUITE SO SIMPLE

by Senator Mark O. Hatfield ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 17, 1968

After recalling his childhood, Hatfield reviews his career as governor of Oregon and liberal Republican Senator. A selfwritten campaign biography is necessarily low-keyed, and one begins to wish for some of the zest of the flag-waving, popularity-seeking politicians Hatfield disdains; there is too much on fish commissions and lumber development to engage the out-of-state reader. His self-justifications on the order of Why-I-voted-against-the-1953-referendum are more interesting, but the book's chief value derives from the outline of Senator Hatfield's Vietnam position since 1945 when he visited Haiphong. His criticism of U.S. policy provide an extensive outline of the liberal case against the Johnson administration. His specific recommendations include de-emphasis on killing Viet Cong. emphasis on reforms and protection for the South Vietnamese people we have been destroying, and an effort to reach political solutions. To the GOP he recommends courting antiwar votes. Readers with a prior interest in Hatfield will be glad of an opportunity to review his positions; others will find it somewhat colorless and, despite Hatfield's background as a political scientist, quite superficial.

Pub Date: July 17, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION