Soviet Union Nothing Less Than a Coup

More power for Gorbachev, less for his party, but hard going is ahead as Lithuania leads the republics down the road to independence

Question: What is the difference between the Soviet Union and the U.S.?

Answer: In the U.S., Gorbachev would probably be elected President.

Popularly elected he was not, but Mikhail Gorbachev nevertheless swore himself in last week as the first real President the U.S.S.R. has ever had. As the parliamentarians at the third session of the Congress of People's Deputies rose to their feet, Gorbachev walked from his seat to a small table by a red hammer-and-sickle flag. Placing his right hand on a copy of the Soviet constitution, he intoned, "I solemnly swear to serve faithfully the peoples of our country,...

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