University of Virginia Library

For Rockefeller

Alan Bromberg's rather inflammatory
letter about the Governor
of his and my home state of New
York requires a rebuttal to give a
clear picture of the truth. Mr.
Bromberg seems to think that his
ideas represent those of most New
Yorkers, and since New Yorkers
are a small minority at U. Va.,
he is in danger of actually convincing
students that this is the case.
In fact, his views seem to me to
have been refuted by the fact that in
1966, running against not only a
Democrat, but a Conservative and
a Liberal (and a few socialists of
various kinds) he received a
larger percentage of the New York
City vote (which ought to be extremely
hostile according to Mr.
Bromberg's thesis) than any Republican
in this century with the
exception of Jacob Javits.

The City University of New
York tuition controversy was, I
admit, a mistake on the part of
Gov. Rockefeller. I remember it
vividly because I was an undergraduate
there at the time and
wrote a letter to the Governor. It
might be noted, however, that
when he had a chance subsequently
to force the imposition of tuition
by withholding State aid, he
did not do so. As to the review
board issue, it might be noted that
the referendum was a purely city
issue which the Governor was not
required to have any part in, and
while he did not actively campaign
for it, he did support the
review board; in fact, however,
there was a vital transportation
bond referendum on the ballot the
same year, and the governor felt
that the bond referendum (which
was statewide, but would help New
York's subway system as one facet)
was important enough to require
his total attention.

The question of reapportionment
and districting is one about
which books could be written, but
Mr. Bromberg feels it "viciously"
partisan for Rockefeller to advocate
plans that aid the Republicans
against the Democrats. Can
he show me one politician who
would be so altruistic as to favor
a plan which would not over represent
his own party, if one
was available?

Finally, there is the garbage
strike. That was a mistake, but
I do not know of any man who,
in 10 years of high office, has not
done some things that were wrong.
John Kennedy is idolized by
thousands, maybe millions, but
let us not forget that in a term
of three years he made worse mistakes,
such as releasing a band of
Cuban exiles with the promise of
air support and then withholding
the support (having the effect that
Cuba was made angry but not
freed, and thus a worse enemy
than before) Nothing that Nelson
Rockefeller has ever done has come
near that.