Word: brezhnevs
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...first visit to the U.S. of a Soviet party boss since Nikita Khrushchev's boisterous tour in 1959, Leonid Ilich Brezhnev spent eight days in America, apparently taking ebullient joy in almost every moment of his stay as Richard Nixon's guest. His mission was, of course, deadly serious: he wants U.S. money, technological know-how and hardware to develop the Soviet economy. In return, he implied future flexibility on arms control and proffered access to the Soviet Union's cornucopia of raw materials and a considerable amount of purposeful good will and bonhomie...
...result was a marked contrast in the demeanor of host and guest. Shadowed by Watergate, Nixon often seemed subdued and ill at ease, anxious to stick to the schedule and limit the hoopla. Brezhnev, though largely kept out of public range for security reasons, acted when he had an audience like a back-slapping drummer. He took every opportunity to clown for photographers, converse with reporters and mix with folks, chatting and shaking hands. There were moments when the President of the U.S. almost found himself shunted to the sidelines, and on one occasion Nixon observed...
Some mysteries remain, of course, but Brezhnev spent three hours and 20 minutes with the correspondents, expansively showing off the trappings of his office and cleverly fielding questions. His main, rectangular office, on the third floor of the Council of Ministers block, is larger but less elegant than the Oval Office in the White House. Pointing to his intercom, he proudly noted that he can use it to contact any member of the ruling Politburo...
...curtains to reveal double glass doors leading to a private hideaway that included a TV set, a refrigerator and a medicine cabinet. "This is where I usually eat," he said. "You see this little couch in there? If I get a chance, maybe I can get a nap there." Brezhnev added that he spent "a terrifying amount of time" in his offices-one in the Kremlin, another on the opposite side of Red Square in the Communist Party headquarters building, where the Moscow-Washington hot line is located. He could not remember the last time that he had used...
...Brezhnev appeared a little tired as he sat down to conduct a press conference in a large room that is used for meetings by the Politburo every Thursday afternoon. Sipping black coffee and alternately smoking Russian and American cigarettes (Philip Morris multifilter), he seemed to revive as the translated questions and answers progressed across a 50-ft.-long, green-felt-covered table. Among his comments...