7 MARCH 1998, Page 25

Best apart

Sir: Paul Johnson, in his review of the for- mer US Ambassador's memoirs (And another thing, 21 February), repeats the story of Raymond Seitz asking Ted Heath which postwar British prime minister and American president had the best relation- ship and being surprised by the answer, `Heath and Nixon'. Both men miss the point (and wisdom) of Ted Heath's reply: that the relationship was the best because it was the most distant.

D.J. Woodhead

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