East-West: Going To Meet the Man

If the U.S. and Soviet leaders hit it off, the summit could be more than a cruise

George Bush has often said he prefers "what works and what's real" to "airy" theorizing. Yet as he prepped for the toughest challenge in his diplomatic career, this weekend's meeting in Malta with Mikhail Gorbachev, there were tantalizing signs that the President was coming down with a case of "the vision thing." As he described his attitude toward the Saltwater Summit last week, "I'm thinking of it rather philosophically now."

Mindful that his get-together with the Soviet leader will take place at a time of extraordinary upheaval in Eastern Europe, Bush has mused privately and publicly about the "historic" nature of...

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