Word: soften
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Once he took possession of Uncle Walter's chair, Rather experienced a rough ride. Ratings began to dip, and CBS's image makers began tinkering with Rather's dress and demeanor. Early on, they put him in sweaters in an effort to soften his intensity. For a while, Rather tried hard to be warm and homespun, his writing full of purple prose and corny puns. (Before the start of the Reykjavik summit, he announced, "Ready, set, Gorbachev.") Later he reverted, with equal strain, to a straitlaced, sober, almost glum delivery...
...sense of destiny and the Strolling Strings soften the crusts of Gorbachev and his crew of Soviets who mingled below the portrait of Abraham Lincoln? At the end, when Pianist Van Cliburn played Moscow Nights, Strauss thought he saw a bit of mist in the eyes of the Gorbachevs as they sang along. It was surely the most startling music in the East Room since Harry Truman played The Black Hawk Waltz...
...President also seemed to soften the 1983 description in which he called the Soviet Union "an evil empire...
...soften the wounds of a harsh day's toil...
...summit in 1988. Insisting on "more than merely a continuation of discussion," Gorbachev called for a "palpable breakthrough" in strategic- arms reductions and in "barring weapons from outer space" -- a reference to the Reagan Administration's Strategic Defense Initiative. There have been recent indications, however, that the Soviets might soften their die-hard opposition to space-based defenses in favor of gaining some predictability about how and when such systems might be deployed. Having held fast on that issue last month while Gorbachev first refused, then agreed to set a summit date, the Reagan Administration just may find...