Brezhnev proposes an "active dialogue" with the U.S
Leonid Brezhnev had been speaking a mere seven minutesbefore live television camerasat the opening session of the 26th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party. Characteristically, the ailing, 74-year-old leader had limped to the podium, and his diction was slurred. Then the television image suddenly switched from the meeting to a studio announcer, who read the remaining 3½ hours of Brezhnev's text. The unsettling cut appeared to be an attempt to draw attention away from the Soviet leader's infirmities, but it had the opposite effect. For...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
