1930

It's difficult to be modest about 1930's "gifts to the world." The work of countless classmates would qualify, but I'm limited to my usual 350 words. For starters, let's go with our two late congressmen, Herm Schneebeli and Bob McClory, for their honesty and statesmanship, and Bob in particular for his part, though a Republican, in the proceedings which brought about the resignation of President Nixon.

Equally famous in his own field is our recently deceased Sam Stayman, "whose name," said The New York Times, "is known to millions of bridge players throughout the world because of the Stayman Convention, a form of inquiry in bidding. Mr. Stayman was considered one of the world's greatest bridge players, but he was best known for the Stayman Convention... which is used almost universally."

Needless to say, my ultimate nomination is Nelson Rockefeller, whose gifts to the world are beyond counting. Let's go back a long way, to 1940, when Rocky, as U.S. coordinator of Inter-American Affairs during the war years, invited 130 Latin-American journalists to the United States to see how we live and work. In October 1990 The New York Times marked the 50th anniversary of this program with an editorial about its accomplishments. Later moved to the State Department and then to USIA, where it now resides, this program in its first 50 years brought 100,000 distinguished visitors to our shores, including 53 who eventually became chiefs of state or heads of their governments. Said The Times, "Rarely has so modest a public investment yielded so ample a harvest in friendship and enlightenment."

Well, let's not forget that, as the years rolled by, Nelson was a four-term governor of New York State and a vice president of the United States—and a human being too. For you who missed the anecdote in last November's Dr. Wheelock's Journal, I'll condense it. After Rocky's vice presidency, a lady in Nashville said, "Mr. Rockefeller, we're afraid you're not conservative enough for us." Rocky replied, "Madam, I have more to conserve than anybody." I rest my case.

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