The improbable triumvirate

From the book's dust jacket:

**The Improbable Triumvirate**
KENNEDY-KHRUSHCHEV-POPE JOHN
An Asterisk to the History of a Hopeful Year, 1962-1963
Norman Cousins

For thirteen months—beginning with the resolution of the Cuban
missile crisis in October 1962 and ending with the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963—a new spirit of
optimism was at work in the world. The dramatic end of that
crisis signaled an upturn in the prospects for peace. Three men
came to symbolize these new prospects—President Kennedy, Nikita
Khrushchev, and Pope John.

This book deals with some of the little-known footnotes to the
history of that hopeful year, especially as it bears upon the
interaction of the three leaders. It is mostly a human-interest
story, for it shows what great changes can come about in the
world when leaders look beyond ideological dogma and national
interest to human interest, and when they are willing to assume
political risks in the pursuit of peace.

The book tells of some remarkable exchanges between Pope John and
Premier Khrushchev. It was the Pope who took the initiative in
establishing direct contacts between the Vatican and the Kremlin.
A specific result of this was the release, after years of
internment, of two archbishops. Mr. Cousins was chosen as an
emissary of the Vatican to negotiate the release. During this
time, President Kennedy asked Mr. Cousins to play a role in the
preliminary negotiations for an agreement to halt testing of
nuclear weapons. The book deals with the role of public opinion
in making the nuclear test-ban treaty possible. As an outgrowth
of the experiences related here, Mr. Cousins was asked by the
president to work on the campaign for ratification of the treaty.
This book provides an account of that work.


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Norman Cousins is currently editor of *World*, a new magazine
providing global coverage of ideas and the arts, which began
publication in June 1972.

A graduate of Columbia University, he became editor of *Saturday
Review* in 1940, a position he held for more than thirty years. He
is President of the World Association of World Federalists, which
is working for world peace through world law, and Honorary
President of World Federalists, U.S.A.

Mr. Cousins has been the recipient of numerous awards given for
his contributions to American education and to world peace,
including the Peace Medal of the United Nations awarded by U
Thant. In 1963, he received the personal medallion of Pope John
XXIII for his part in the successful negotiations with Premier
Khrushchev leading to the release from prison of Cardinal Josyf
Slipyi of the Ukraine and Archbishop J. Beran of Czechoslovakia.

In 1963, Mr. Cousins served as cochairman of the Citizens'
Committee for a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, formed at President
Kennedy's request to organize public support for the U.S.
Senate's ratification of the test-ban treaty. He is the author of
many books in which he has written extensively of his ardent
interests in education, the environment, and the need for a new
approach to world problems based on human interest.

Mr. Cousins and his wife live in New Canaan, Connecticut. They
have five daughters, including an adopted daughter from
Hiroshima.