Meanwhile, back in Egypt and in most of the Mid-East, people were praising the bold leadership of President Eisenhower who had left commanding SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe) before becoming president of the USA (1953-1961). One way Gamal Abdel Nasser celebrated his success was to invite students from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon to come at Egypt’s expense and see the damage done by Britain, France, and Israel—mostly in Port Said. At that time, I was on my Junior Year Abroad (from Davison College) at AUB.** About thirty students flew to Cairo. While eating our hotel lunch the next day, a man flung open the door and said with speed and seriousness: “President Nasser will receive you at his home if you can come now!” The surprise visit was a rewarding one for all of us.
One political act by the USSR which had just preceded the actions of Britain, France, and Israel was the USSR’s invasion of Hungary. President Eisenhower had condemned that action and to not condemn the bombing of Port Said would appear too partisan. Some Hungarian sailors had jumped ship in the port of Beirut to avoid returning to a USSR-occupied homeland. Some visited the AUB campus and spoke to us.
The Panama Canal has a much different history and is not even in the USA. President elect Trump’s comments about ‘wanting the canal back’ are reminiscent of Nasser’s feelings about the Suez Canal, which the UN, USA, USSR, and many other nations backed. The next few months will tell us how similar the two canals were treated in a world coming out of colonialism; but how different the historical context and outcome of the two cases appear to be.
*If you live in north Texas, you know that Eisenhower was born in Denison.
**I stayed in the Mid-East and Africa and graduated in 1958.
