We were staying at the chateau of some friends, the Aga Khan and his wife, Sally. It was beautiful but very cold. Ronnie wanted to have some time alone with Gorbachev so that they could establish some kind of personal relationship and size each other up. So we took a walk, and down by the lake there was this boathouse that was wonderful–right size; a small, not huge fireplace; beautiful view of the lake–and we both said, “That’s it, that’s where it should be.”
We came back, Gorbachev arrived, and after a few minutes in the meeting, Ronnie said to him, “Why not go outside and get a little fresh air?” Gorbachev was on his feet before Ronnie finished the sentence. And off they went. I think people were only expecting them to be gone for a few minutes–15 or 20. Well, it stretched to 25 minutes and [then-White House Chief of Staff] Don Regan said to Jim Kuhn, Ronnie’s personal assistant, “This meeting is running way over time. Don’t you think [we] should break it up?” And Jim said, “No, I think I’d better talk to George Shultz.” And George said, “If you’re dumb enough to break this meeting up, then you don’t deserve the position you have.” And so they let it go. The meeting went on for about an hour and a half. By the end of it Ronnie and Gorbachev had a pretty good picture of each other, and they had set up two other summits–one in Washington, and another in Moscow. When they reported those plans, their advisers just about fainted.
Ronnie found Gorbachev very comfortable, very easy to be with. He sensed that underneath all the communist beliefs, that in Gorbachev there was a deep spiritual belief–and a belief in destiny.
Later, at a dinner in the Kremlin during the Moscow summit in 1988, Gorbachev said to me, “You know, your husband and I have a wonderful …” and then he couldn’t find the words. I said, “Are you trying to say chemistry?” And he said, “Yes, yes, I am, and that’s very rare.” I said, “Yes, I know it is and so does my husband, and my husband is aware of it.” And Gorbachev said, “Well, I know what your Constitution is, but I wish he could stay on for another four years.”
