The U.S. press had prepared (with crossed fingers) for its first mass invasion of Moscow.* Molotov, the soul of hospitality, had assured Jimmy Byrnes in December that everything would be done for the visiting correspondents; they could cover the Foreign Ministers' meeting as they had reported the Paris and New York sessions. And U.S. Ambassador Walter Bedell Smith had been assured that newsmen could "write with complete freedom on conference matters."
That assurance meant that correspondents must keep their eyes on the conferenceĀand not go peeking down side alleys. Even so, 73 reporters, photographers and radiomen got set to sail or fly...