GETTING TO KNOW THE ENEMY 271cameras, he failed to achieve complete success mainly because he
rambled in his answers and failed to stick to the point – and Brokaw
inadvertently aggravated the problem by being unduly deferential. But
Gorbachëv did at least put himself over as a reasonable, amiable fellow.
This won him media headlines next day. He also caused a sensation
through his off-the-cuff decision to order the chauffeur to halt the
official limousine near Connecticut Avenue on the way to the White
House. Gorbachëv wished to mingle with the crowd. When Shevard-
nadze in the following vehicle noticed the sudden standstill, he
thought there had been an assassination attempt; he rushed from his
limousine toward the one in front before catching sight of the General
Secretary stretching out his hand to American well-wishers. Gor-
bachëv called on the crowd to encourage America’s politicians to
promote the cause of change. Security agents were scared that some-
one might pull out a gun on him. They shouted to everyone: ‘Keep
your hands out of your pockets!’ This served to enhance the Soviet
leader’s reputation for scorning convention.^86
Reagan arranged for Texan pianist Van Cliburn to give a recital on
one of the summit evenings. Cliburn was well known in the USSR
as the winner of the 1958 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, and the
Gorbachëvs were delighted to see his name on the programme. It was
a spectacular occasion. After Cliburn’s performance, which started
with the ‘Stars and Stripes’, Raisa Gorbachëva asked him to play
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. It was a request from the heart
that the pianist had to decline in the absence of an orchestra. Instead
he played his version of the song ‘Moscow Nights’ and the Gorbachëvs
sang along from the front row. Pianist and General Secretary embraced
at the end.^87 Gorbachëv held his own reception at the Soviet embassy
for ‘the American intelligentsia’ on another evening. Among the guests
were hostile figures such as Henry Kissinger and William Fulbright.
Also invited were actors, scientists, singers, artists and novelists who
sympathized with his purposes: Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Carl
Sagan, John Denver, Yoko Ono, Norman Mailer and Joyce Carol
Oates. Gorbachëv socialized with all of them, shaking hands and
accepting hugs. Nobody needed to teach him how to work the room.^88
American public figures became eager to win the trust of Soviet
officials. Edward Teller, the veteran anti-Soviet scientist, made a
proposal for research cooperation on ‘controlled fusion’ in nuclear
physics. He wrote to Shultz that Andrei Sakharov was someone who
could work productively on the topic (although he acknowledged that