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Muscovites watched from a distance as the diplomatic motorcades, led by blue-and-yellow police cars, crisscrossed the Soviet capital. They also gathered in front of television sets for news of what was transpiring in the Kremlin. For many, the stiff, unsmiling black-and-white portrait of Chernenko that appeared on the screen seemed to say it all. Soviets morbidly joked that if they had missed the Andropov funeral, they would "catch the next one." A man overheard on an elevator offered his own explanation of the succession: "Chernenko couldn't make it the first time when he was competing with Andropov. Now that the better man is gone he'll get his chance." Said a worried Moscow housewife: "We are going back to the old ways. Andropov was a strong leader and a strict disciplinarian. Chernenko is like Brezhnev, softer. The Soviet people need someone who will make them work."
In his acceptance speech before the Central Committee, Chernenko tried hard to allay the misgivings he must have known many of his countrymen felt. "Continuity," he said, "is not an abstract notion. It is a living, real cause." He praised Andropov and urged that the best tribute the nation could pay the late Soviet leader would be to "carry on and further advance" his work. But Chernenko also called on party activists to "realistically evaluate what has been accomplished, neither exaggerating nor belittling it."
The Kremlin's new master offered no bold foreign policy initiatives. He restated his nation's commitment to the principle of "peaceful coexistence" and railed against the "reckless, adventurist actions of imperialism's aggressive forces." The Soviet Union, he said, did not seek military superiority, but would not allow others to upset the strategic balance. In a passage that must have pleased the military establishment, he promised to "see to it that our country's defense capacity be strengthened, that we should have enough means to cool the hot heads of militant adventurists."
Chernenko balanced his tough words with vague assurances that Moscow recognized that it had a responsibility for "preserving and strengthening peace." Said he: "We are for a peaceful settlement of all disputable international problems through serious, equal and constructive talks. The U.S.S.R. will cooperate in full measure with all states that are prepared to assist through practical deeds to lessening international tensions." Washington analysts carefully scrutinized such passages last week, looking for signals that the new regime might be more amenable to finding a way out of the superpower deadlock.