ABSTRACT
Russell’s role in the Cuban crisis, his praise of Khrushchev and his criticism of American policies and Kennedy’s actions, brought him, perhaps more than ever before, to the critical attention of the American public. The news media with the exception of the very small left-wing press were unanimous in their bitter condemnation of Russell’s views. In the months following the crisis hardly a day went by without the American press carrying some attack against him. His advanced age and his philosophical reputation were more than once used to cast aspersions on his political judgement. Fairly typical of this criticism was an editorial in the Idaho State Journal of 6 November 1962, which, under the heading “The Philosophy that Failed,” accused Russell of not serving “the cause of liberty” and declared that “nothing is easier in this world than to stand on a box and shout: Disarm!” and that what is needed “are men who will not waste their energies proclaiming the goal but address themselves instead to the complex, agonizing, endless task of building a basic, enduring sense of trust in a now divided world…It is not too late even for the aged, misguided Lord Russell to begin this hard quest.”
