Word: tactfulness
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Observers predicted that Yoshida would need more shots of MacArthurian adrenalin if he was to survive in spite of his lack of tact. Sample: some time ago he invited two U.S. correspondents of Irish descent to dinner in an effort to enlist their help in mitigating occupation directives-which, said he, "as you Irishmen can understand, are too oppressive for the proud to bear...
...Mexican hot tamales. When he rendered Gromyko's cumbersome title, Représentant de I'Union des Républiques Socialistes Soviétiques, it shortened to le représ . . . tant de Union . . . tique. But at tense moments the versatile Mexican was a model of taciturn tact...
Intuition and tact made an indispensable formula. At first the Special Envoy could not fathom General Chou's insistence that the Communists needed more time to reorganize their army. Then he got a flash. Would it speed things up if U.S. officers taught the Communists the fundamentals of modern military staff work? General Chou leaped at the suggestion, hurried to Yenan and hurried back with approval. What had held the Communists back was the fear of fumbling and losing face in the process of streamlining their unwieldy forces...
Academicians were scandalized when Artist Goya found favor with King Charles IV of Spain. An accomplished duelist, harpsichordist and guitar player, as well as an unrivaled Casanova, Goya delighted the ladies and enraged the courtiers. His intuition was as astonishing as his lack of tact. "You look like the kind of man who goes about [burning] harmless prostitutes," he once remarked to an amiable old monk, who later became a prominent member of the Inquisition. His amorous ferocity was equally pronounced. "If I loved a woman, I shouldn't hesitate to use intimidation if all other methods failed...
...world could not get used to Russia's new idea of Russia. Shock and deepest pessimism resulted whenever the Russians (sometimes with skill but never with tact) revealed their conception of Russia's place in the postwar world...