Word: bidault
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...first fortnight came in a plenary session the day after Molotov had lost in the Rules Committee (actually the same people who make up the Conference) his two-day fight to tie the committee up with a rule requiring a two-thirds vote. France's Georges Bidault, first chairman of the Conference, opened the plenary session: "We are now called upon to vote on our rules of procedure, adopted yesterday by a competent committee." Then he blandly continued: "If there are no observations, will those delegates in favor of the adoption of these rules please raise their hands...
...rarely late for a meeting, was not in the room.* The British delegation and some others raised their voting hands; but U.S. delegate Jimmy Byrnes apparently assumed that no vote would be taken until Molotov made another speech. Byrnes and most of the other delegates did not vote. Bidault repeated his question...
Enter the Head Man. There was a stir in the back of the hall and Molotov bustled in with his brisk, bobbing swagger. His face was pink with anxiety and his tie (for once) was askew. He snapped his finger to attract the chair's attention, and Bidault wearily said: "The Soviet delegation has an observation to make." A reporter muttered: "Hold your hats, boys, here we go again...
Lack of Ambiance. The conference's first week was hopeful but unexciting. Under the bored and stony stares of Charlemagne and Saint Louis in the Luxembourg Palace, orators and translators droned on verbosely, while temporary chairman Georges Bidault listened politely from the sun flooded rostrum. Prime Minister Attlee did crossword puzzles. Molotov suffered in silence, his hands folded in his lap. Some delegates slept. Even the Gobelin-hung bar was quiet. Americans favored champagne; in the absence of vodka, the Russians went in for cognac. But, sighed the bartender: "Il n'y a pas d'ambiance...
...Bidault's opening speech was cautiously optimistic. Said he: "We have all suffered in trying to banish [war]. Gentlemen, it is now time to begin to succeed...