Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Book reviews - András Tarnóc: The Return of the Holy Crown. (Giant Tibor: A Szent Korona amerikai kalandja 1945-1978. )

As Giant points out, the idea of returning the Holy Crown and the crown jewels emerged several times before 1945 and even the American government's position was not a unanimous one owing to the somewhat murky conditions of its acquisition qualifying it either as a war booty, or a property of a foreign nation to be held in the U.S. for temporary safe keeping. While the Hungarian government made repeated efforts to reacquire this national relic, American policy makers did not deem the political conditions in Hungary conducive to the return. The giving back of the Crown jewels was treated as a condition for the normalization of the relations between the two countries. Giant correctly evaluates the dual role of the Crown carrying different meanings for Hungarians in America and for those who remained in the Old Country. Largely conditioned by living in Hungary between 1920-1945, the post-World War II immigrant generation embraced the Doctrine of the Holy Crown, viewing the national relic as a symbol of the Hungarian community incorporating all Hungarian people and Hungarian territories. Those remaining in Hungary after 1956 and also the Hungarian government primarily viewed the Holy Crown as a historical relic. Modifications of the international political environment and the attendant easing of the tensions of the Cold War laid the foundations of the American effort aimed at the return of the crown jewels. The Carter administration's decision to return the Holy Crown and the attendant crown jewels to Hungary can be treated as an example of the exercise of presidential power. Richard E. Neustadt envisions three primary factors of presidential power: formal powers conferred by the Constitution, professional reputation, that is the President's standing in the eyes of the Washington establishment and finally the public perception of the chief executive's authority (164). According to Neustadt, it is the power to persuade, that is convincing the legislators or other members of the political environment, that the action to be taken by the president is beneficial for them and for the nation as well is the most influential component of the executive decision making apparatus (35). Elaborating and implementing its plan for the return of the Holy Crown, the Carter administration had to cope with a formidable challenge concerning the components of Neustadt's model. The President's constitutional authority to decide in the issue was 137