Khorosho,' Said Brezhnev

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This disarray among U.S. officials naturally interests the Soviets. "We read closely what is written in your country about the state of Carter's presidency," a Soviet official said in Vienna. "We follow the polls. We read all your eminent columnists who write about the political ineptitude of the White House. Of course, it is not without precedent for us to deal with a U.S. President who is politically wounded." The mischievous reference was to Nixon and his second summit with Brezhnev in Moscow in 1974. If the Soviets had followed normal protocol, the SALT II signing would have taken place in Washington, but Moscow insisted on the neutral ground of Vienna. The usual reason given was Brezhnev's health, but the Soviet diplomat seemed also to be suggesting that the Kremlin wanted to distance itself, physically and symbolically, from Carter's problems in the U.S. and the Senate's possible repudiation of the treaty. In addition, the Kremlin insisted that the language of the summit's final communique be limited to generalities—a gesture that also was reminiscent of 1974.

Despite all these wary precautions, a summit conference is a momentous event. Finally Thursday came, and it was time for Carter to head for Vienna. At precisely 8:10 a.m., he emerged from the White House with Rosalynn and Amy. He was going to the summit, Carter said, "with hope but without false expectations." To well-wishers led by Vice President Walter Mondale, the President added: "I'll certainly do the best I can." Then the Carters boarded a helicopter on the South Lawn and choppered to the gleaming blue and white Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base for the flight to Vienna. The President was accompanied by Vance; Defense Secretary Harold Brown; National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; General George Seignicus, Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; General David Jones, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and four Georgians from the White House: Hamilton Jordan, Frank Moore, Jody Powell and Gerald Rafshoon. All of them carried under their arms black, 3-in.-thick briefing books, stamped in gold with the presidential seal and the legend: PRESIDENT CARTER'S MEETING WITH SOVIET PRESIDENT BREZHNEV.

Eight hours later, Carter arrived for his first visit to the ancient and graceful city that for 2,000 years has been at the crossroads of East and West. Vienna was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire and capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Here, at the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna, Prince Metternich organized a balance of forces that lasted for a century, until World War I.