August 1, 1968

Mr, James Reston

Washington Bureau Personal
The New York Times
1701 K NW.

Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear Mr. Reston:

I have been reading your column with the utmost interest and admiration for
years. There has been something wrong, for I have rarely had any urge to
quarrel with you; and even today I have to poke you mainly for the things you
did not say in your piece on the American political system.

You write about the failings of our system. You, James Reston, are a very
important part of that system, No one else, at this moment fn history, could
have a more cogent influence on the public exposure of political talent. For
example, your early non-criticism of HHH had a great deal to do with sending
off his campaign.

I see no vice in this besides the perception of your role as a columnist
and aS a policy-maker for the world's most important newspaper. I can see that
you have great problems in juggling your functions as critic and confidant of
the Establishment in Washington.

MOLS BY

The Times, need I say, is an indispensable instrument of our democracy.
But its very quality creates a monopoly upon which rests a responsibility it
does not fulfill. For example, where are the Walter Lipmanns and the radical
commentators (right and left) who could help sensitize your readership to the
issues aborning?

And so on.

I know many of the answers. For all of its public responsibilities, the
Times fs a profit-making corporation and must not take too many chances; this
sets important limits on its role as a constactive political instrument. But
isn't this, too, one of the explanations of political mediocrity? You could
also reply: it's awful, but where is any better?

Sincerely,

Joshua Lederberg

Executive Head

Department of Genetics
JLimlw