Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Thursday | 16 January 2025 | Epaper

That farewell to power

Published : Saturday, 21 January, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 276
Syed Badrul Ahsan
There is a certain charm in resignations and abdications by men and women in public life.
And with that comes a bit of sadness in knowing that a resignation is in effect a cutting short of what could have been an illustrious career. When French president Francois Hollande made it known some weeks ago that he would not be seeking re-election this year, it was one more instance of a political life screeching to a sudden, unexpected halt. Hollande has never been a leader in the mold of Francois Mitterrand, but in a good number of ways he was a socialist prepared to make his mark on the world. In the end, he was defeated by Islamist fanatics, an influx of refugees and a rise in extreme rightwing politics. Hollande's popularity, at the time he decided to walk away from power, stood at an abysmal five per cent.
 Nothing can be more heartbreaking than the idealism of a politician coming to naught because of policies going
wrong. Lyndon Baines Johnson's legacy in part lies in his Great Society plans and in his civil rights act. He was great at making legislative deals, which was one reason why John F. Kennedy thought it wise to have him as his running mate at the election of 1960. As president following JFK's assassination, LBJ set about shaping his own domestic agenda, a goal helped immensely by his electoral victory over Barry Goldwater in 1964. Unfortunately, Vietnam destroyed him and his chances of a second term in the White House. Nearly clobbered by Eugene McCarthy at the New Hampshire primary in early 1968, Johnson informed Americans that he would not seek and would not accept the nomination of his party for a second term as president.
Johnson's decision to forgo a fresh presidential term was indeed saddening. But nothing could have prepared people in the democratic world for the tragedy that was Watergate and the consequence of it that was the resignation of an elected American president. Richard Nixon, who won a narrow victory over Hubert Humphrey in 1968, went on to win a landslide against George McGovern in 1972. And yet, less than two years later, he became the first American president to resign in the face of a scandal of his own making. Nothing could have been more embarrassing for him or for the American people. Over the twenty years which remained of his life, Nixon was busy reinventing himself as a writer, essentially on foreign policy.
Many of his successors eagerly sought his advice on dealing with foreign statesmen.
One western political leader who lapsed into silence after his years in office was Charles de Gaulle. Having inaugurated a new era in French politics through the Fifth Republic, De Gaulle turned into one of the foremost statesmen, along with the likes of Harold Macmillan and Konrad Adenauer, of his era. His obsession with restoring French grandeur came in tandem with his efforts toward ensuring French individualism in such areas as Nato. He had France withdraw from the military aspects of the organization, openly advocated a free Quebec and vetoed British entry into the European Common Market. His sense of history was profound and his comprehension of contemporary global politics admirable. An upright politician, he made it clear that he would quit the presidency if French voters did not accept certain constitutional reforms he promised in 1969.
A majority of voters rejected the proposals in the referendum he called in April of the year. True to his vow, Charles de Gaulle resigned and went into seclusion in his village. He was succeeded by Georges Pompidou, who had served under him as prime minister.
In terms of modern history, Willy Brandt can truly be regarded as the man who envisioned a world beyond the Cold War. His tryst with destiny came in 1969 when he took over as West German chancellor as the head of a coalition of Social Democrats and Free Democrats. He atoned for the atrocities committed by the Nazis; he travelled to East Germany in 1970 to promote Ostpolitik, the policy that was to be a harbinger of the bigger diplomatic openings by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the early 1970s.
Brandt resigned office in 1974 when an East German mole was discovered working for him in Bonn. It was a searing moment in history, for Brandt's departure from power was effectively a brake on the politics of idealism. A more heart-wrenching abdication was the forced resignation of Czechoslovakia's Alexander Dubcek in the aftermath of the Warsaw Pact invasion of his country in August 1968. His Prague Spring, which promised a new era of communism with a human face, rattled orthodox communist leaders of the likes of Leonid Brezhnev. Dubcek's reforms came to an abrupt end with the invasion. Within months, he was out of power.
The young David Cameron had an entire future ahead of him. Brexit came in the way. He is today a former prime minister.

Syed Badrul Ahsan is Associate Editor, The Daily Observer


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