Washington Post about Boris Pechatkin’s meeting with president Ronald Reagan. May 1988: Muscovites wowed by Reagan
(The Washington Post by Finger Lake Times, Geneva June 1st 1988) MOSCOW — Just a few years ago. President Reagan was compared to a crazy cowboy and even to Adolf Hitler in the Soviet news media. In the last four days, the Soviet public has met the real Reagan, and to judge by the reactions of many, they have discovered someone they didn’t expect.
Officials here express some bitterness that Reagan has pressed «human-rights» so actively, and allies of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev express frustration that Reagan appears willing to settle for a ceremonial summit when, they say, the Soviet leader is eager to do bold business. But men and women on the street and in their apartments seem intrigued by the American.
Culling quotes from beloved Russian poeti, reciting Russtan proverbs rare enough to excite a native curiosity here, Reagan seems to have charmed members of the constituencies he has encounjered.
His success has come in part from the surprise many Russians have shown merely at seeing Reagan in public performance. His image has rarely been shown here, almost never in a way that allowed him to project his television personality.
«On television, Reagan gives the impression of a very forceful character,» Albert Turpu, an Estonian from Tartu, said in a telephone interview. «He’s someone who is strongly decided in his views and they are respectable views. He stands up well to everyone.»
«People in this country respect authority,» a Muscovite said Tuesday night after Reagan spent much of his third day in Moscow in meetings with Soviet citizens. «He conveys the impression of being in control; people like that.»
«What I have read a lot about Reagan is that he is a fervent anti-communist,» said Mikhail Vasyanin, a 20-year-old student who was in the audience when the president delivered a vigorous testimonial for democracy Tuesday at Moscow State University. «But if an anti-commumst could speak so eloquently about principles that are important to us, too, thafs impressive.»
Boris Perchatkin, 42, a Pentecostal church organizer who attended the president’s Monday afternoon meeting with Soviet dissidents, added: «His words gave us the feeling that our fight is not something trivial, but something important which we should redouble our efforts to continue.»
Even Gorbachev appears pleased with Reagan in their joint appearances on television. Despite Soviet officials’ displeasure with Reagan’s human rights crusading here. The personal chemistry between the two leaders is good, according to a senior adviser to Gorbachev.
The fact that Reagan is listening closely to Soviet views rather than simply rejecting them was particularly noticeable in the one-on-one sessions between the two traders, according to Evgenii Primakov, a prominent academic who advises Gorbachev on foreign affairs.
«The acting and the charm worked fine,» another senior Soviet official said.
«But the main thing is that beneath them there seemed to be a certain sincerity. In this country, people have a strong sense of sincerity and people feel it with Reagan.»
Reagan’s television personality is something new for Soviets, whose leaders have never been famous as performers on the tube. Soviet viewers first encountered the televised Reagan on Saturday night, when the main television channel here broadcast his inter-view with two Soviet cor-respondents recorded last week in the Oval Office.
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