Directive Quotes
Cixi had been one of the many concubines of the Emperor and she bore a son who was first in the line of succession. The Emperor’s wife, Empress Zhen had no children but was the senior official of the Empire when her husband died. Instead of being rivals, Cixi and Zhen were very close friends so when it had to be decided who was to rule until Cixi’s son became of age, the women agreed that Zhen would see to the education and the training of the child and manage the court, and Cixi would manage the government and the Empire as regents for the child. However, in 1875, the boy died and there was no clear successor. Cixi with Zhen’s approval then issued this edict and in effect seized control of the entire empire of China.
At the height of the Watergate scandal, the president wanted special prosecutor Archibald Cox fired, because Cox was developing evidence against the president. The attorney general, Elliot Richardson, refused to fire Cox and resigned. The chief of staff then turned to the deputy attorney general, William Ruckelshaus, who also refused and resigned. Finally, the Solicitor General, next in line of authority, agreed to fire the special prosecutor. These events happened on a Saturday night and became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre”. This event persuaded most Americans that Nixon was guilty of felonies and was desperately trying to cover things up. Congress would include “obstruction of justice” in it’s list of crimes that they would have impeached Nixon for had he not resigned.
The Vatican & the Chinese Communist Government had been at odds for years with much of the Chinese church going underground. Fr. Jin had been jailed for a decade. Then the government allowed him and the Catholic Church and operate openly, but there were still Vatican conflicts over numerous issues including the right of the Government to approve senior appointments of church officials—a privilege the church claimed exclusively. The Vatican ordered Jin not to cooperate and especially not to reopen the national theological seminary which the government had ordered closed. There had been no training for Chinese priests and Jin wanted to reopen the national theological seminary but the Vatican refused cooperation waiting for the government to capitulate to the Vatican’s various demands. Fr. Jin defied the Vatican & reopened the seminary. Without officially admitting their failed tactics, the Vatican let the discipline issue against Jin drop & the national theological seminary thrived.
There was no Civil Rights Law during Kennedy’s administration, and Black African diplomats who were driving from New York to Washington would be refused accommodations and amenities at restaurants and rest stops along the way. They often protested to the State Department who approached the President asking what they should tell the diplomats.
In the midst of World War II, FDR asked Wendell Wilkie, his former Presidential opponent, to make a fact finding, good-will tour to The Middle East and the Soviet Union. One plane stop on the tour was in Mongolia where the local communist leader had been instructed by Stalin to care for Willkie’s safety. The quotation is very important becasue it illustrated Stalin's method of control and administration: Liquidate (murder) those whose attitude or performance was not to his satisfaction. Unfortunately, even though Willkie wrote of this incident, no one in America--especially not the Media--picked up on this. This was about 20 years before the world learned of Stalin's "liquidations". In the inerim many idealists in America and the rest of the world, became or flirted with Communists as they knew the good and the worst of the bad had not been public knowledge.
