Turning the pages back...

December 9, 1987

The Boston Globe wrote recently: "The date the Cold War began is impossible to determine. Its end, however, can be stated precisely."

Globe staffer Mark Feeney explained: "On December 9, 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev hosted a reception at the Soviet Embassy in Washington and, recognizing George F. Kennan in the receiving line, embraced him. 'Mr. Kennan,' he declared, 'we in our country believe that a man may be the friend of another country and remain, at the same time, a loyal and devoted citizen of his own; and that is the way we view you.' "

Four decades earlier, Mr. Kennan had been the architect of the policy of containment which defined U.S. conduct toward the Soviet Union. In 1952 Stalin declared Mr. Kennan, who at the time was U.S. ambassador to Russia, persona non grata and an enemy of the Soviet people. But in 1987 the leader of the USSR, according to the Globe, "was saluting the man who, as much as any other, might be said to have brought about his nation's defeat in the Cold War. It was, perhaps, the most remarkable moment in one of the most remarkable careers in 20th century U.S. history."

Source: "American sage: Making history as well as writing it, George F. Kennan masters a century" by Mark Feeney, Boston Globe, October 26.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 3, 2000, No. 49, Vol. LXVIII

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