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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First, his contacts with Italian Socialists helped moder<strong>at</strong>e both their views towards the<br />
U.S. and perhaps their ideological commitments, making an alliance with the<br />
Christian Democr<strong>at</strong>s more conceivable. Second, Lister helped bring about wh<strong>at</strong> was<br />
perhaps a w<strong>at</strong>ershed moment—Kennedy’s long convers<strong>at</strong>ion with Nenni <strong>at</strong> the Rome<br />
garden party in June 1963. <strong>The</strong> convers<strong>at</strong>ion was a “highly symbolic” moment<br />
according to Nuti. 91 Lister helped this moment to occur in two ways. By influencing<br />
the Socialist stance toward the U.S., he made it possible for Nenni to publicly<br />
embrace Kennedy. And to some extent, his efforts may have helped a group <strong>of</strong> top<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficials led <strong>by</strong> Schlesinger to persuade Kennedy to act.<br />
Schlesinger l<strong>at</strong>er gave Lister “much credit for the development and<br />
consolid<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> the center-left, and the isol<strong>at</strong>ion and eventual collapse <strong>of</strong> the Italian<br />
Communist Party.” 92 At first blush, it might seem dubious th<strong>at</strong> Lister could have such<br />
a pr<strong>of</strong>ound effect on Italian politics. Yet, Italian politics <strong>at</strong> the time were sensitive to<br />
the intern<strong>at</strong>ional clim<strong>at</strong>e such th<strong>at</strong>, according to Nuti, the “gradual s<strong>of</strong>tening <strong>of</strong> the<br />
American position was bound to draw <strong>at</strong>tention, spur discussion, and have a<br />
remarkable political impact...” 93 Nuti argues th<strong>at</strong> the Kennedy administr<strong>at</strong>ion affected<br />
the timing and n<strong>at</strong>ure <strong>of</strong> the form<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> a center-left government in Italy, though<br />
Nenni was moving toward forming a center-left government <strong>at</strong> some point anyway. 94<br />
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