Chapter 54: Inviting Me To Impart, Huh?
“Haven’t we always been communicating by telephone and fax?”
Lin Ran felt baffled.
Nothing major had happened recently.
Lin Ran had certainly caused a stir in academia, but it was limited to academia.
For most of the public, they didn’t care that a Chinese descent mathematician had solved Fermat’s Conjecture; if it had been a black mathematician, they might have been more interested.
Chinese descent people can win the Nobel Prize in Physics, so is it strange to win a Fields too?
The major event before that should have been May 1st, before Lin Ran left America, when an American U-2 airplane flew over Soviet Union airspace and was shot down by Russians.
This event was hyped up a lot on television and newspapers at the time, further dramatizing the tense Cold War situation for the global public.
Another possibility was that John Morgan had realized the value of the three shipping-related patents in his hands and wanted to discuss patent transfer with him.
But that shouldn’t require such urgency, since shipping is a long-term business, and it takes a long process from obtaining the patent to achieving economic benefits through commercialization.
Beyond that, Lin Ran racked his brains but couldn’t think of anything that would make the other party so anxious.
After he got into the other party’s Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, John Morgan finally explained the general idea in a rambling way:
“The election situation is very unfavorable for the Morgan family right now. Nixon’s and Kennedy’s support rates are already very close, and damn Nixon still plans to accept Kennedy’s invitation for a public debate; they’ll have a television debate on the 29th of this month.
Damn it, Nixon might really lose this election, and if that happens, it will be very unfavorable for us.”
The Silver Cloud II was a luxury sedan that Rolls-Royce had just released last year, and it already had an independent front suspension and steel plate spring rear suspension system.
Lin Ran was sitting in the back seat, still marveling at the comfort and quietness of the Rolls-Royce, thinking that rich people really knew how to enjoy life, when John Morgan’s words made him jolt:
“Nixon? Don’t you Jewish people support Kennedy?”
“Who told you I’m Jewish? We’re Episcopalians. Plus, the Morgan family has always leaned toward the Elephant Party.” John Morgan explained.
“Jewish scholars led by Professor Horkheimer, and most Jewish people in the Federation, support the Donkey Party and Kennedy because they need Kennedy to support Jewish people’s interests.
Including Kennedy’s speech to the Zionist Organization of America last month, where he emphasized friendship with Israel, which further consolidated Jewish voters’ support.
The Elephant Party aligns better with Morgan’s interests.” John Morgan added.
Lin Ran rubbed his chin. As someone with God’s perspective, he knew Kennedy would win this round. The butterfly effect he brought was still limited to the field of mathematics, and the changes to shipping hadn’t spread yet, so it shouldn’t affect the outcome of this election.
John Morgan thought that since Lin Ran was of Chinese descent, he might not have made himself clear enough:
“In a place like America, if you want to grow your business big, it’s impossible not to have relationships with Washington and the White House, especially in aerospace, which right now completely depends on White House funding. The NASA director is also directly appointed by Mr. President.
Congress’s review is just a nominal formality. If Kennedy is elected and we didn’t support Kennedy, it’s very possible that even if our technology leads NASA, they won’t give us the orders.
The original plan was that if Nixon is elected, given the Morgan family’s tradition of supporting the Elephant Party in the past, he would at least create a fair competition environment for us.
But if it’s Kennedy, that tradition is broken.
If we want to switch to supporting Kennedy, we must act fast, best before the president’s television speech, so that’s why I wanted to discuss this with you as soon as possible.”
Lin Ran felt even more baffled: “I’m just a Chinese descent guy from Europe. You discuss supporting Kennedy or Nixon with me? Shouldn’t you ask your family?”
John Morgan said helplessly: “General Aerospace has already been spun off; it’s now my business, not the family’s business.
Kennedy being elected won’t affect the family business, but it will affect General Aerospace.
The family’s view is that I don’t need to take any action, just wait for the results.
Plus, in previous American elections, the Elephant Party’s win rate has overwhelmingly exceeded the Donkey Party’s.
And the current President Eisenhower is from the Elephant Party, while Kennedy has many negative factors, like Catholicism and Irish descent, both negative.
Even if their polls are close now, when it comes to actual voting, the public will still choose Nixon.
So they don’t think Kennedy will win.
But from the polls and Nixon accepting the television debate, I already sense something off.
I want to discuss it with you; I want to hear your views on this.”
Lin Ran asked in return: “If we switch to supporting Kennedy now, is it still in time?”
John Morgan looked straight at him, a hint of hesitation in his eyes: “Will Kennedy really win? Right now, they’re just close in poll data, and the upcoming television debate is unfavorable for Nixon.
But that doesn’t mean Nixon is doomed to lose. The Morgan family hasn’t made a decision yet, but quite a few Morgan family members have already expressed support to Nixon.
The Rockefeller family is openly supporting Nixon.”
This kind of thing really couldn’t be discussed over telephone or fax. John Morgan was very hesitant; it related to whether General Aerospace could get NASA’s orders, and whether he could compete for the position of Morgan family patriarch through General Aerospace.
“Rockefeller? Rockefeller also supports Nixon?” Lin Ran was stunned. In his impression, the big capitalists of the 21st century all uniformly supported the Donkey Party.
“Of course, didn’t you know that New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller is an Elephant Party member? If Morgan is just some family members stating their position, Rockefeller is supporting the Elephant Party in the family’s name.” John Morgan said.
After thinking for a moment, he seemed to come up with something: “Randolph, like this: there’s Nixon’s fundraising dinner tonight, so I’ll take you to see it.
And right after the dinner, there are other fun things, just right to broaden your horizons. I see you’ve been living like a Puritan.
After you see it, we can plan properly.”
A sly smile appeared on John Morgan’s face. Lin Ran looked at his expression and thought: Is he taking me to see the wild side of America’s upper class?
But Lin Ran remained composed on the surface: “Okay, I’ll head back to Columbia University first, and wait for you to pick me up tonight.
Also, one more question: Can we meet Nixon himself?”
