THE BIG FOUR 251one of his trips to Moscow, in April 1987, Shultz attended a Jewish
seder. Gorbachëv barked at him: ‘You live in America: govern Amer-
ica!’ For good measure, he added: ‘Send your Ambassador over to our
Central Committee and get some suggestions for how to change your
country. You meet with irritants. You ignore the masses of happy Jews!’
Shultz stood his ground. The time had passed when the General
Secretary could tell the Americans how to comport themselves.^16
The atmosphere lightened once Reagan had decided that concilia-
tion was in the national interest. Gorbachëv accepted that the Presi-
dent came from ‘the most conservative part of American capitalism
and bosses of the military-industrial complex’; but he also saw that he
had a capacity to ‘embody purely the human qualities, interests and
hopes of ordinary people’.^17 Reagan confided to Shevardnadze that a
unique chance existed if the President and General Secretary could
stick together; he declared: ‘And we’re the only ones who can save
the world.’^18 Kenneth Adelman later summarized what many in the
White House and Kremlin thought about this: ‘They were in fairy-
land.’^19 Reagan sent handwritten letters to Gorbachëv, striving to
lessen the formality of their exchanges. He got to know him better by
holding frequent conversations with only note-takers and interpreters
in attendance.^20 Reagan knew almost no Russian except the mantra
he memorized with help from Suzanne Massie: ‘Trust but verify
[Doveryai, no proveryai].’^21 The English language was unknown terri-
tory to Gorbachëv, but somehow they managed to communicate
warmly, and Reagan commended the General Secretary to the Ameri-
can public as a leader worthy of respect.
Reagan was slower to hit it off with Shevardnadze. At their first
encounter, on 28 September 1985, Reagan called for talks to com-
mence at a level above the bureaucratic officialdom. Shevardnadze
took offence: ‘Neither I nor Mr Shultz is a bureaucrat.’^22 Reagan tried
to relax things a few days later by telling some Irish jokes. Ambassador
Dobrynin countered with his own anecdote about the Georgians. This
was hardly soothing for Shevardnadze, himself from Georgia, who
disliked humour based on national stereotypes and hated Russian con-
descension about the Georgian people. But he could see that he would
never get on with the President unless he could join in the jovial atmos-
phere. He assured Reagan that he was no sourpuss and mentioned
that one of Vice President Bush’s anecdotes had very much amused
him.^23 Gradually he got on easier terms with the President. At a diffi-
cult point in White House talks in March 1988, Reagan exclaimed: