European Diary, 1977-1981 (13 page)

SUNDAY, 10 APRIL.
East Hendred.

Easter church from 10.15 to 11.15, then croquet with Edward.
⁹⁰
Family lunch, followed by a visit from the David Owens from 2.15 to 4.15. It was very good of them to have come, because it could hardly have been convenient, for they had driven up from Plymouth that morning and David was seeing Nkomo at 5.30 before preparing to fly to Africa that evening. I had a good talk with him, although in a way it does now remind me slightly of talking to Tony (Crosland) in the last four or five years. There is a certain reticence on both sides. We got on to the subject of the Summit towards the end, where he was rather anxious to justify himself and to say that he had done the best that he possibly could, although explaining that Giscard was making a lot of new difficulties. He also said that Callaghan, who had started by being very bad on this point, as bad as Schmidt and Giscard -I said, ‘Not fair to say that Schmidt was as bad as the other two'–was in his view becoming steadily better. However, it was quite a useful conversation, although I hate being a
demandeur
with David.

SUNDAY, 17 APRIL.
East Hendred and Washington.

1.05 Pan-American plane to Washington, which, amazingly, was in the air at 1.15. Quick and agreeable flight. Slightly irritating not to be able to go by Concorde, a plane which never seems to go from the right place at the right time. I was considerably amused to discover on the plane a large party of British MPs, about ten in all, led by Nicholas Ridley and Brian Sedgemore, travelling first-class of course, who, when asked what they were doing, said they were members of the House of Commons Public Expenditure Committee who were going to Washington to study methods of effective control and saving. I hope they don't spend as much as they save.

We were met by Fernand Spaak, our Ambassador, Peter Rams-botham, the British Ambassador, and American protocol people. We drove into Washington on a most beautiful spring afternoon, temperature about 75°, sky cloudless, all the trees out and the atmosphere still and fresh. We were installed in Blair House, which I had only visited once before when Joe Fowler
⁹¹
gave me a dinner there in 1968. It is splendidly furnished with a lot of good early American furniture, as well as mementoes of Presidents. We had a huge suite with a library, a drawing room, two bedrooms and, strangely, three bathrooms. My bedroom was a sort of Eisenhower memorial room. However, in a curious way, the practical amenities were by no means up to the splendour. The main disadvantage was that no window could be opened, for security reasons I suppose.
⁹²
As a result we were unable to establish contact with the sparkling atmosphere outside and had throughout rather stuffy air-conditioning. My bathroom also was remarkably inconvenient and I never managed to get any hot water to come out of the bath taps. Equally, the rather beautiful quite large paved garden at the back was ruined as a place to sit or even walk in by the sound of one of the noisiest air-conditioning machines ever heard. It was like being in a small forge.

MONDAY, 18 APRIL.
Washington.

This was the crucial central day of the visit. I awoke inevitably very early, and did a good deal of further work on briefs between 6.10 and 9.30. A most beautiful morning again and Jennifer and I walked for a mile. Then left at 11.25 in a cavalcade of cars for the one-minute drive to the White House. Into the Cabinet Room, where we were greeted by Mondale and Vance,
⁹³
as well as Brzezinski
^*
and one or two other people. Then I was taken into the Oval Room for a private talk with Carter. He and I stood with our backs to the fireplace for photographs, while the following extraordinary exchange took place:

He said, ‘I expect you know this room well. Have you been here often before?' I said, ‘Yes, I think I have seen four of your predecessors here.' He very quickly said, ‘That means you start with Kennedy, does it?' So I said, ‘Yes, though I also met both Truman and Eisenhower, though neither when they were in office and therefore not in this room.' I then added, conversationally, ‘But, to my great regret, I never set eyes upon Roosevelt. Did you, Mr President, by chance see him when you were a boy?'

'See him,' said Carter incredulously. ‘I have never seen
any
Democratic President. I
never
saw Kennedy. I
never
saw Lyndon Johnson [astonishing]. I
saw
Nixon, and I both saw and talked to Ford of course, and that's all. You see I am very new to this scene of Washington politics.' This he said without prickliness or chippiness or bitterness, simply as a matter of fact of which he was half but not excessively proud. It was quite different from the aggressive.'defensive way in which Lyndon Johnson would have reacted had one got on to an analogous conversation with him about the Kennedy years.

After this we sat down as I had said that I wanted to have a word or two alone with him, discussed how he would like to take the agenda in the formal meeting, and told him that I was concerned about relations between Germany and America, giving him a very brief description of my conversation with Schmidt, and said that I was sure Schmidt would like to improve relations and that I
thought this could be one very useful outcome of the Summit. Carter responded easily, with interest and warmth.

We then proceeded to the Cabinet Room and settled down for our meeting across the table. There was a total of fifteen or sixteen people in the room, a few more on their side than ours, but not many. Carter conducted the meeting well. It lasted about fifty minutes and I do not suppose that he spoke for more than ten minutes of the time himself. I must have spoken for a total of thirty minutes at least, mainly because I was the only person who spoke on our side and also because a lot of questions were put to me. On their side interventions were made by Vance and, once, by Brzezinski, and too frequently by Henry Owen,
⁹⁴
the loquacious Brookings Institute man, who is now in charge of the preparatory work for the Summit.

The atmosphere was very friendly, the Americans making it absolutely clear how keen they were to work closely with us and what nonsense they thought it that we were being excluded from the preparatory meetings for the Summit. Carter gave the impression of being well structured both physically and mentally. He has a neat body, in spite of his odd face, holds himself well, moves compactly, and conducted a tight meeting.

After it was over we went to the State Department, I riding with Vance in his car, and discussing on the way a mixture of gossipy items and subjects of real importance. Lunch, again about eight a side. Blumenthal, Strauss and Cooper
⁹⁵
were there, the first two not having been present at the White House. Quite a good, general discussion at lunch. After lunch half an hour's talk with Vance alone in his room. I decided to repeat to him what I had said to the President about Schmidt. I think that he is fairly cool about the French, although he is anxious to have tolerable relations.

He expressed great admiration and affection for David Owen, said that he got on very well with Genscher, but found Guiringaud by comparison stiff, rigid and very unwilling to go in any way
outside his instructions or to engage in a relaxed conversation. I said he was lucky not to have had to deal with Sauvagnargues.
⁹⁶
He also agreed that Carter and Schmidt, certainly if they set themselves to it, would get on thoroughly well together, but that relations between Carter and Giscard were likely to be a good deal more difficult. Vance also told me, almost with incredulity, although I heard it with no such incredulity, that they had had semi-official protests from the French Government about having very briefly received Michel Rocard, the number two man in the French Socialist Party, at the State Department.

After this meeting Vance escorted me down to the front of the State Department and I returned to Blair House for a brief pause before a meeting at 3.30 with Robert Strauss, the new Special Trade Representative, who called upon me there. Quite a good meeting with him. He, as at lunch, was very anxious to recall our previous encounters and to establish a relationship of personal friendship, and, although obviously a political ‘pro', should be more than tolerable to deal with on the personal level. He does not know much about Multinational Trade Negotiations
⁹⁷
yet (nor do I) but he has people who do and will probably pick the subject up quite quickly. He is clearly determined to make a personal impact in this field, which means pushing the MTNs to a successful conclusion. He took the Trade job rather reluctantly but having done so will want to make the most of it.

I then set off for a more formal meeting, with more people present, with Blumenthal at the Treasury. Blumenthal was accompanied by his Under-Secretaries, Solomon and Bergsten, and chose to talk a lot about North/South CIEC (Conference for International Economic Cooperation) matters. Despite their choice of subject they were not wholly well-informed, certainly not Blumenthal, who had not much applied his mind to these matters, and nor on one point was Solomon, who had. They both, however, gave the impression of being quite impressive intellectually, and Blumenthal was very good on trade matters, though knowing less about monetary affairs.

Back at Blair House I had an hour's visit from Teddy Kennedy which was partly politics and partly gossip. He looked very well and seemed perfectly reconciled to his new role of being a major senator, but not a figure with any likely immediate presidential prospect. I asked him if he still managed to find time for instance to do much speaking around the country, and he said, ‘No, there isn't much point, and as a matter of fact I don't now get many invitations.' He was reasonably friendly towards Carter, not overboard about him, but not bitterly, irresistibly critical like George McGovern.

That evening we gave our dinner party for about forty at Blair House. The Vances came, and also the Charles Schultzes (Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers), as well as some other Government figures, Richard Cooper, etc. It was difficult, however, to get people from Congress and of the three or four legislative notables whom we asked, I think that only Rhodes, the Republican Leader in the House, turned up. However, a lot of old friends, like Harrimans,
⁹⁸
Bruces,
⁹⁹
McNamaras, Arthur Schlesingers,
¹⁰⁰
came with apparent alacrity. The food was not very good and the drink (provided by the house) entirely American. David Bruce, when we lunched with him the next day, retaliated by giving us Haut-Brion 1945!

TUESDAY, 19 APRIL.
Washington and Chicago.

A walk from 7.15 to 8.00. Then back to Blair House for a Voice of America programme followed by a meeting with Henry Owen on the preparatory work for the Summit. Then a press conference at 11.30, followed by one or two individual interviews and the Bruces' lunch with Joe Alsop
¹⁰¹
and Ben Bradlee (editor of the
Washington Post)
at 1.15.

At 2.30 I went to see Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the House, who in some ways is a caricature of a Boston Democratic politician, but at the same time quite different from his equally Bostonian predecessor, McCormack. He was for instance extremely impressed when he discovered that I had a Harvard honorary degree–it must be said that his constituency embraces Cambridge—whereas McCormack would have been totally unmoved by that and thought it a typical bit of eastern establishment international frippery.

Then a good meeting with a selection from the Senate Foreign Affairs and Finance Committees. About twelve senators present, mostly important ones. Hubert Humphrey presided, his appearance having changed most dramatically since his illness. He now looks like a death head mask, shrunken, but at the same time seemed for the moment fit and vigorous. Also Russell Long, Frank Church, Abe Ribicoff, Jack Javits, George McGovern and a number of others I knew less well. We talked around for about an hour or so. Then from there to the British Embassy where I did a debriefing with the ambassadors of the Nine, and direct from there to the 7.30 plane to Chicago, arriving in a thunderstorm, with a slow drive in from O'Hare to the Whitehall Hotel, the Drake being full.

WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL.
Chicago and New York.

Lunch speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. Only about a hundred people, almost entirely male and business, but a fairly receptive audience who produced a very good question session afterwards. The speech itself was rather long, about thirty-five to forty minutes, but also went quite well despite (1) my cold and (2) a curious indifference on the part of those present to my reference to Adlai Stevenson, who had been chairman of the Council for six years in the thirties. Afterwards a quick visit to the Art Institute opposite, which was as spectacular as I had remembered it, then back to the hotel, followed by a tedious one-and-a-quarter-hour drive to O'Hare. This, however, was nothing compared with the tedium at O'Hare itself, which really is the major disadvantage of the otherwise splendid city of Chicago. We moved off from the terminal about forty minutes late and then proceeded to sit on the ground for another one and three-quarter hours, so that when we got to New York we were two and a half hours late. To the Plaza Hotel.

THURSDAY, 21 APRIL.
New York.

Recorded an ABC breakfast programme with John Lindsay,
¹⁰²
whom I was pleased to see again. A call on Waldheim at the UN at noon. Having heard very little in his favour, I found him somewhat more impressive than I had expected. He was not very interested in or knowledgeable about economic affairs, which he left to his French deputy who was present, but he talked well about political issues like Cyprus, Southern Africa and the Middle East.