I married my wife Whitney in May of 1987. That was a significant, important turning point in my life – but it’s not the one I’m going to talk about today, although they are somewhat related.
As it happens my new bride and I honeymooned – not in one of the world’s garden spots, but in Moscow. At the time I was the ABC senior foreign correspondent based in London,
Since he had taken power in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev – a Soviet leader – had been the subject of great debate between those who felt that he was actually a different kind of Soviet leader – and those who felt that he simply had a better P.R. department. I had worked in the Soviet Union off and on since the early sixties, and so it was felt that I would have an opportunity to provide a perspective on the man by spending some time in his home turf.
In 1987 two new words had entered the foreign policy wonk’s vocabulary, courtesy of Gorbachev. The first was "glasnost" which in Russian means openness or transparency. The other was "perestroika" which means restructuring. Now, if he really was serious about even some transparency and openness within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union – and if he actually would consider restructuring part of the political policies of that country – then Gorbachev would indeed be revolutionary.
That summer, these were among the events that occurred and which I reported.
A young German flew a small private plane right into Red Square- and he was not immediately shot on sight.
An Izvestia correspondent was publicly critical of the Soviet Union’s negotiating position on intermediate missiles.
A Pravda reporter publicly challenged the Soviet government’s policy of using insane asylums as a way to deal with dissidents.
And a popular Russian magazine ran an expose of problems that Soviet soldiers were having in Afghanistan and suggested that the troops be brought home.
Membership in the Young Communist Party – Komsomol is what it was called – once obligatory for all aspiring leaders, was falling sharply as it was no longer fashionable among the young Soviet elite.
The Russian Orthodox Church was having a renaissance.
I also watched Gorbachev himself, in various parts of the country, standing for hours in town squares and meeting rooms, explaining and debating Soviet policy – with great patience and passion.
This was clearly not Stalin’s Soviet Union – nor was it even Brezhnev’s. Having reported on the US/Soviet confrontation for a quarter of a century, I truly sensed that we had reached a turning point. Two years later it was gratifying to stand at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate watching joyous East Germans stream over that hated Berlin Wall.
Indeed, the Cold War had come to an end.
Thank you.