November 22, 1973

Pres J F Kennedy's role in history discussed 10 yrs after his assassination; most scholars give Kennedy high marks for idealism, strength and style but many are coming to believe that he prolonged cold war, that he was incomplete politician, that he pursued confrontation statesmanship and that he was wellhead of dangerous and unattractive cult of powerful Pres; comments by T Cronin and Profs J D Barber, E C Hargrove, E M Schlesinger Jr, R E Neustadt, J M Burns and W Leuchtenburg on Kennedy noted; illus

US defense officials on Nov 21 say that US has intelligence information suggesting that USSR might have moved nuclear warheads into Egypt at height of Arab-Israeli war in Oct; Nixon Adm officials, however, reptdly disagree on how conclusive information is; US Sec of State H A Kissinger says at Nov 21 news conf that there is 'no confirmed evidence'; Sens J C Stennis and S Symington say that evidence does not convince them; intelligence information was reptdly obtained before Nixon Adm ordered global alert of US mil forces on Oct 25; Kissinger at that time is reptd to have warned USSR through Soviet Amb A F Dobrynin about danger of introducing nuclear weapons into Middle East war; Kissinger says that if USSR were to introduce nuclear weapons, it would cause 'fundamental shift in traditional practices and one hard to reconcile' with effort to bring about responsible solution; emphasis in Kissinger's comments on word 'confirmed,' seems to leave open implications that US has at least circumstantial evidence that Soviet nuclear warheads have been sent to Egypt; many defense analysts consider methods sufficiently reliable to confirm movement of atomic warheads; other officials, particularly in higher civilian ranks of Defense Dept and in State Dept, believe that intelligence techniques provide circumstantial rather than conclusive proof; interpretation of information is further complicated by detection of nuclear warheads leaving Egypt at about same time that some were entering; officials point out possibility that Soviet ship observed entering Egyptian port with nuclear weapons left with most, if not all, weapons still on board; 1st repts suggesting presence of nuclear warheads became apparent when USSR sent Scud missiles to Egypt, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads; sr defense officials on Nov 2, confirming presence of Scud missiles, said there had been no 'confirmatory evidence' that nuclear warheads had been sent at that time; some officials, however, believe that since Nov 2 evidence has accumulated to point where they think that there is reasonable probability that atomic warheads were sent to Egypt; officials skeptical about information indicate USSR is hesitant about sharing nuclear weapons with other countries and that USSR would presumably be reluctant to station atomic warheads in country where they could be seized by Arab terrorists

Governor Rockefeller and Republican legislative leaders endorsed the concept of a state subsidy to help communities hold down transit fares, but said they would await Congressional action on mass‐transit aid before making any moves. Page 56.

Stock prices rallied yesterday in heavy trading after falling to a two‐year low on Tuesday in the face of the widening energy crisis. Volume was 24.26 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Nixon's popularity seen reviving in South; resurgence of his standing in South, which has steadily been source of his greatest strength, began even before his Southern tour on weekend of Nov 16-17; his visit to Fla, Ga and Tenn is seen boosting it further; Southerners have practically stopped calling for his resignation or impeachment; number of Southern Dems have begun to defend him; Montgomery Advertiser ed cited as typical of attitude toward Nixon; ed says there was 'fever' for impeachment after firing of Cox but it has ebbed and it expects Nixon to remain in office; study of Nixon's standing in South also shows that young but growing Repub party in South appears to have suffered only slight setbacks because of Watergate and, because of fast work by party leaders, is already recovering; revival of Nixon's popularity is coupled with revival of South's distrust of natl news media; 1 of unexpected beneficiaries of Watergate seems to be Gov Wallace; apparently anticipating eventual shift toward Nixon, Wallace has refused to discuss Watergate; other signs of Nixon's reviving popularity in South detailed