Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin
Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin
Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin
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power, but th<strong>at</strong> the U.S. should actually support it. 86 Schlesinger and Komer may<br />
have reached these conclusions on their own, but perhaps they had also read Lister’s<br />
reports from the field. Regardless, it appears th<strong>at</strong> Lister helped to win Schlesinger and<br />
Komer a new ally in the administr<strong>at</strong>ion in the form <strong>of</strong> Averell Harriman. Harriman’s<br />
visit to Italy in March 1961, when he requested Lister’s opinion on Italian politics,<br />
convinced the senior diplom<strong>at</strong> to support Schlesinger and Korman.<br />
Schlesinger wrote th<strong>at</strong> <strong>by</strong> June 1961, when Prime Minister Fanfani visited<br />
Washington, the Kennedy administr<strong>at</strong>ion had made up its mind to support the<br />
apertura. According to Schlesinger, Kennedy told Fanfani th<strong>at</strong> if he “thought the<br />
center-left a good idea, we would w<strong>at</strong>ch developments with symp<strong>at</strong>hy.” 87 Schlesinger<br />
recalled th<strong>at</strong> the difficulty was in convincing a staunchly conserv<strong>at</strong>ive St<strong>at</strong>e<br />
Department to implement the policy. 88 Another account <strong>by</strong> Leopoldo Nuti casts<br />
Kennedy as undecided as to how much to advoc<strong>at</strong>e for a center-left government, but<br />
still willing to give Schlesinger free reign to oper<strong>at</strong>e. 89 Perhaps the visits <strong>by</strong> Italian<br />
Socialists to the White House th<strong>at</strong> Lister arranged eventually helped persuade<br />
Kennedy to reach out to Nenni. Lister l<strong>at</strong>er said th<strong>at</strong> it was Schlesinger who “played<br />
the leading role in changing Washington policy regarding the Italian center-left.” 90<br />
Impact on the Emergence <strong>of</strong> the Center-Left<br />
Even if Schlesinger was the key to persuading Kennedy, George Lister still<br />
made a significant contribution to the emergence <strong>of</strong> a center-left government in Italy.<br />
23