Chapter 322: Everyone Can Come
“No country would be extravagant enough to let a professor play the role of SPY. He can play a far more important role in other positions than SPY.”
Rusk added another sentence.
This is also the consensus in Washington.
Even conservative congressmen who oppose Lin Ran because of race, calls for peace, cooperation with the Soviet Union, and other things, no matter how much they question Lin Ran in public interviews, claiming that Lin Ran is very suspicious and that we need to intensify the investigation into him.
But in the process of private conversations, no one really thinks that Lin Ran is working for the Soviet Union.
If Lin Ran were really sent by the Soviet Union, in the previous two years he had countless opportunities to return to Moscow from places like Geneva, London, and Stockholm.
Even if in 1962 he went straight back to Moscow after receiving the award in Stockholm, the professor at that time was already enough to cause a severe impact on the free world from public opinion to technology.
So even the craziest Cold War hawks wouldn’t think so.
It’s just these university students who like to fantasize, after reading a few conservative conspiracy theory reports, start fantasizing various 007 stories in their brains.
And the professor undoubtedly matches almost exactly the character in their fantasies. Even before the professor appeared, 007-like fantasy characters weren’t as omnipotent as Lin Ran, playing so many roles.
007 has never played a diplomat or NASA director. In terms of level, 007 has at most had honorary positions like official representative.
Dean Rusk added: “I once had a dream at night that the professor was a Soviet Union diplomat. In that dream, the professor was simply too difficult to deal with on the diplomatic battlefield.
Oh my god, that was simply a nightmare.
He could predict all your movements, distinguish which were real and which were feints. He was so insightful into morale. In that dream, the professor single-handedly orchestrated the merger of East and West Germany.
That was an unprecedented defeat for America’s European strategy.
After I woke up, I was still thinking, in the dream did I go back to before World War I? Under Bismarck’s leadership, Russia, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire formed an alliance.
Anyway, guys, believe me, the professor won’t work for the Soviet Union, and that day will never come.”
In this spacetime, Lin Ran hasn’t said that sentence: never say never.
What Rusk doesn’t know is that this is called setting up a flag, and setting up a flag often leads to getting slapped in the face.
After hearing this, the students were very interested in the dream Rusk mentioned.
“Mr. Secretary of State, can you tell us in detail about your dream?”
“How did the professor manage to merge East and West Germany?”
“Is the dream you had similar to Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle?”
Philip K. Dick at this time is no longer an obscure writer, but a globally famous science fiction writer. His co-authored novel and movie The Truman Show with Lin Ran were both huge successes. The novel swept the world, not to mention the movie, which took the top five in global box office the year before last.
Lin Ran’s endorsement effect is beyond doubt, and Philip K. Dick’s wild ideas are also powerful enough.
The combined effect made Warner Bros. and Avon Books rich.
Warner Bros. has been urging him to release a sequel, to quickly write the story after Truman leaves the studio. Avon Books is also urging him to strike while the iron is hot and quickly release a sequel.
Since they can’t urge Lin Ran, they can only catch Philip K. Dick and urge him.
Even his previous novels by Philip K. Dick became famous as a result, among which The Man in the High Castle, which is very metaphorical and particularly stylish, is very popular.
Especially among university students.
Among the 13 university students present, at least 10 have read The Man in the High Castle.
“Let me think. The professor successfully seized President Kennedy’s desire for peace, seized De Gaulle’s doubts about America, seized West Germany’s call for unification. In short, the professor seized all the opportunities. At the 1961 Vienna Summit, he promoted compromise within the free world, and in the fall of 1961, the Four-Power Berlin Unification Conference was held, and in 1962, the German Unification Treaty was signed.
Germany superficially became a neutral country, but in reality, the Soviet Union controlled Germany’s security and economy, and the free world withdrew troops from Berlin.
That was absolutely a disaster. I don’t remember more specifics, but in my dream, the professor did it.”
Rusk’s expression under the night lights looked somewhat frightening.
This timeline he mentioned made these university students think even more of The Man in the High Castle. The Man in the High Castle is a timeline where World War II Germany and Japan won, while the timeline Rusk dreamed of was probably Lin Ran leading the Soviet Union to Cold War victory.
Another university student with curiosity written all over his face asked loudly: “Mr. Secretary of State, there’s a theory that the professor isn’t Chinese descent, but a perfect product cultivated by Nazi Germany’s Himmler Life Source Project.
He’s actually not Chinese, but Aryan descent.”
This is also a conspiracy theory created by the media. The general idea is that Lin Ran’s skin is too white, his height too tall, his features not particularly deep but definitely different from the stereotypical flat features of Chinese descent.
So there have always been rumors, starting with Lin Ran having white person bloodline, and later this conspiracy theory evolved along with Lin Ran’s increasing prestige.
From white mixed race to the pinnacle product of Nazi Germany cultivating Aryans.
Including Lin Ran studying in Göttingen, which is also considered that Göttingen was the base for cultivating Lin Ran. The Nazis in this university town cultivated this perfect Aryan descendant.
And Lin Ran’s lifelong goal is to destroy America and the Soviet Union, then revive the Führer and bring back the Third Reich to the world.
In some science fiction works, an evil PhD named the professor controls NASA, under the guise of researching spacesuits and human space survival, studies biological science, and ultimately successfully revives the Führer, but is eventually defeated by the protagonist.
This kind of rumor is very popular among the broad grassroots white person groups. Originally, a Chinese descent person achieving such great accomplishments instinctively makes people a bit unhappy. Now it’s good, he’s one of us, and the elite of the superior race. You can discriminate against me!
The grassroots white people really think this way, and this is an important reason why Lin Ran has influence among the broad grassroots white people. Conspiracy theories have prompted the expansion of his influence, not limited to groups with higher education.
Rusk was speechless. He thought young people still have too much imagination, or too little homework assigned.
“Black hair and black eyes are also Aryan standards now?” Rusk not rolling his eyes was already good manners.
His son Richard Rusk added: “Maybe the professor is like the superheroes in superhero comics. He also has superpowers, able to change his hair, eyes, even appearance. His true face is actually.”
Before he finished speaking, Rusk grabbed the ashtray and smashed it fiercely on the dining table: “Alright, guys, you should rest. These completely baseless conspiracy theories shouldn’t be discussed with me. Maybe before bed you can use this as a bedtime story to scare each other.”
“Father, we haven’t finished asking!” Richard Rusk said dissatisfied.
Rusk looked at his son, then said: “Alright, one last question.”
After Richard Rusk and his classmates exchanged glances, they huddled together to discuss for a long time, then one typical white person nerd image guy wearing glasses among them asked:
“Mr. Secretary of State, I’d like to ask, why can’t others negotiate successfully with the Soviet Union, but only the professor succeeds in one go?”
Looking at the inquiring eyes of these young people, Rusk sat back down in the chair at the dining table:
“Alright, guys, I can only talk from my perspective, not representing the professor, not Mr. President, and certainly not the White House. Just my personal thinking.
Simply put, the professor’s visit timing was perfect. At that time point, peace talks and ceasefire were acceptable to all parties.
In the past, whether you watched the news or television, it was always us continuously killing North Vietnam soldiers. Of course, some media reports said we also killed civilians, but that’s not important.”
Someone wanted to argue a couple of sentences: how is killing civilians not important? North Vietnam people aren’t people, right?
But they couldn’t resist the others wanting to hear Rusk finish. These 13 people are all political science students. Hearing the Secretary of State personally explain the logic behind this is such a rare opportunity. If not for Richard’s last name being Rusk, they absolutely couldn’t have a face-to-face talk with Rusk.
Therefore, the others held down that white girl who wanted to stand up and debate.
“The important thing is, last year, in the process of us trying to negotiate with Kosygin through the Soviet Union, even if North Vietnam wanted to negotiate, under such losses, they had no way to explain to their own public. Do you understand?
We lost tens of thousands of soldiers, while America soldiers had few casualties. We want to sign a temporary ceasefire agreement, not permanent. North Vietnam couldn’t bear the consequences of signing such a temporary ceasefire agreement.
If we tear up the agreement, the opposition from the public would make them lose grassroots mobilization ability, make it hard for them to continue maintaining jungle war advantages. Without public support, North Vietnam would be vulnerable.
And now, right after the Spring Offensive, they caused the deaths of over 4000 America soldiers, they captured the embassy, broke into Saigon. In short, they could explain to the public: we achieved victory, we achieved certain battle results.
The Soviet Union has always not minded peace talks, not minded acting as intermediary. Even for the Soviet Union, Vietnam being divided into North and South is something they’re happy to see. Even back then, if China were divided into two countries, the Soviet Union would be happy to see it, even if one of them would be our ally, not theirs.
The Soviet Union always considers its own interests, not so-called camp perspectives for allies’ interests.
Finally, us America. If just America itself, anti-war sentiment has always been strong.
You all are the best proof.
More importantly, after the Spring Offensive, even with so many America soldiers dead, even with so many America soldiers’ deaths seen by the whole America public via live television broadcast, from polls, anti-war sentiment not only didn’t decline but rose sharply.
This proves that the public can accept the reality that the Vietnam War is a failure, can accept that we stop the war, even with the Spring Offensive, even with soldiers killed in action.
Since public opinion is like this, America stopping the war has no more obstacles.
Precisely because the timing is so ingenious, the professor was able to successfully mediate between the three parties and bring back the good news of signing the temporary ceasefire agreement.”
Rusk’s analysis, peeling back the layers, gave the university students present a feeling of sudden realization.
Richard Rusk followed up: “This really has nothing to do with the professor’s halo of never failing?”
For young people, such calm analysis is far less interesting than legendary stories.
Rusk picked up his briefcase and walked toward the stairs, saying as he walked: “Maybe it does, I don’t know.”
After saying that, he turned around again, looking at the young people downstairs with a smile:
“Richard, if the professor really has such a halo, before I leave the White House, I’ll definitely ask him properly how to obtain such a halo, then come home and teach you.”
After Rusk disappeared at the end of the stairs, Richard Rusk’s classmates surrounded him:
“You must tell us then!”
Everyone expressed the same meaning.
Later, Richard Rusk wrote a bestseller: The Professor’s Path to Success, hailed as a classic in success studies, with the first chapter on how to build a success halo.
The influence of the peace talks was so direct.
Originally after the Spring Offensive, Lyndon Johnson’s approval rating plummeted sharply, from about 50% down to between 26 and 35%.
The most favorable poll approval rating was only just over 35%.
Describing it as a plunge is not exaggerated.
And the White House’s originally optimistic war evaluation, thinking the war was like “light at the end of the tunnel,” was proven empty talk.
Even within the government, they began questioning the effectiveness of the troop surge strategy, turning to consider withdrawal or negotiation paths.
At this time, the most subtle reversal appeared. When government officials felt we needed to shift from “winning the war” to “honorable end” for a realistic change, the White House had already done it.
The White House and Hanoi signed a ceasefire agreement lasting a full year.
A one-year ceasefire agreement, bluntly put, after one year of ceasefire, it can be renewed. As long as domestic anti-war sentiment remains high, we just don’t fight, is North Vietnam going to counterattack?
The timely shift by the Lyndon Johnson government invigorated the White House bureaucrats. Everyone in their hearts had only one thought: the professor still has a way.
Not everyone can slowly analyze the essence behind things like Dean Rusk.
Everyone just says the professor is awesome.
And at this time, a third contender emerged in the party: Robert Kennedy, John Kennedy’s brother.
At this time, Lyndon Johnson has three challengers in the party: Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and George Wallace.
But George Wallace has already announced withdrawal from the Donkey Party to run as an independent candidate.
This Wallace is not that Wallace.
He is a conservative in the Donkey Party, representing the Southern states forces within the Donkey Party. He has served three times as Governor of Alabama, and is also the longest-serving governor in the Donkey Party.
Alabama is the state where Huntsville City is located.
However, Lin Ran really doesn’t like this guy, because his viewpoints are somewhat extreme.
He supports Jim Crow laws. The general meaning of this law is that white people can only move in white people areas, black people only in black people areas. Black people cannot use public facilities built for white people, and these public facilities include schools.
When he was elected Governor of Alabama in 1963, the famous scene in his inauguration speech was: “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
Even the most extreme racists have to say to Wallace: you’re too extreme.
Why he wants to leave the Donkey Party to run is because black people overwhelmingly support his competitor, forcing him to leave the Donkey Party to run.
The black people hate him to death.
Of course, as Martin Luther King’s publicly acknowledged close friend, the beacon of the Civil Rights Movement, who publicly published systematic oppression theory, providing theoretical weapons for these black people, Lin Ran definitely isn’t liked by Wallace either.
No way to chat and laugh with the other party.
At the same time, the effect of the peace talks dawn on Lyndon Johnson’s election situation is significant.
As mentioned earlier, the sharp drop in poll approval ratings.
Besides that, his approval rating had already fallen below McCarthy’s.
But after the peace talks, in the New Hampshire party primary, Lyndon Johnson got 53% of the votes, while McCarthy only had 39%.
After Robert Kennedy ran, Robert’s approval was 49%, Lyndon Johnson only 45%.
After the peace talks, both sides’ approval ratings achieved a golden cross, and Lyndon Johnson led again.
It can be said that Lin Ran pulled Lyndon Johnson back from the abyss.
Inside the White House, Humphrey, who was eyeing the presidential position covetously, could only put aside his little thoughts.
If Lyndon Johnson doesn’t voluntarily withdraw, it’s really hard for him to have competitive thoughts against the other.
After all, everyone works in the White House; one prospers, all prosper; one loses, all lose. Can’t say the Vietnam War is completely unrelated to oneself.
After returning to Huntsville, Lin Ran continued to devote himself to the work of reusable rockets.
At this time point, the biggest difficulty with reusable rockets compared to the future spacetime is precision. Using multiple rocket engines requires symmetric position engines to achieve almost identical thrust.
The current handcrafted process by workers makes perfection very difficult.
This is a limitation of the overall process. They have been trying to solve this problem.
This day after returning home, Lin Ran received a call from Jenny.
“Professor, I met Jacqueline tonight. She came to lobby. Robert Kennedy hopes to come to Huntsville City to see you.”
Jenny, as a former Geneva reporter and later White House reporter, during her time as a White House reporter, because of her Hearst family identity, counts as friends with Jacqueline.
On February 16, Robert Kennedy at the same location in the Washington Capitol Building where John Kennedy announced his candidacy in 1960, officially announced his candidacy.
In his speech, he emphasized ending the Vietnam War, solving poverty and racial injustice, calling for building new America leadership.
In the speech, he criticized Johnson’s war policy as unacceptable and promised an honorable end to the war.
The most embarrassing thing is, right after he announced, the Lyndon Johnson government had already honorably halted the war, putting Robert Kennedy in an awkward situation.
