New York City at
Columbia University (pictured 2012). Yeltsin flew to the United States on September 9, arriving at
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, where he spoke to a group of reporters at the
Worldport. During his first morning in the city, he took a
helicopter tour to see the
Statue of Liberty. This was followed by a day and a half of interviews and further
sightseeing, visiting such
tourist attractions as
Central Park, the
Empire State Building,
Fifth Avenue, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and
Trump Tower. Plans to visit
Bloomingdale's flagship store in
Manhattan were cancelled due to time considerations. At 7:15 a.m. on September 10, Yeltsin was interviewed by
Good Morning America on
ABC, after which he visited the
New York Stock Exchange. Later interviews included ones with
Nightline on ABC,
Face the Nation on
CBS, and
The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on
PBS. At noon, Yeltsin attended a meeting of officials of the Council on Foreign Relations, including
George F. Kennan and
Cyrus Vance, where he was introduced by
David Rockefeller. His first large-scale public speaking engagement was later that day at
Columbia University. The speech had been arranged by Professor
Robert Legvold and took place in the
Low Memorial Library, with
Columbia University President Michael I. Sovern introducing him. That evening, he attended a dinner at the
River Club hosted by Rockefeller, and shortly before midnight, he boarded a plane to Baltimore.
Baltimore Originally, Yeltsin had planned to arrive in Baltimore by 10 p.m. on September 12. However, he did not arrive at
Baltimore/Washington International Airport until 1 a.m. the next day, and he was described by those around him as extremely tired. Yeltsin was scheduled to participate in a speech at 7:45 a.m., though he and his entourage did not begin to go to sleep until about 4 a.m., after a late meal. Yeltsin himself, however, had trouble going to sleep and only went to bed after consuming two
shots of
whiskey and two
sleeping pills. In total, he only slept for about two hours that night before waking for his meeting at the
Johns Hopkins Club. Yeltsin's speech was delayed by over an hour before he was able to deliver it.
Steven Muller, president of Johns Hopkins University, called the meeting that he organized "at best an unmitigated disaster". While colleagues of his defended his behavior and said he was not drunk during the engagement, it was reported in several sources, including
The New York Times, that he had been drinking heavily and was visibly intoxicated. Following his speech, he departed Baltimore for Washington, D.C., though not before receiving a medal from
Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke for participating in a city-coordinated literacy program.
Washington, D.C. (right) at the
White House on September 11, 1989
(picture of a later meeting in 1991). Prior to departing to the United States, Yeltsin had expressed interest in speaking to
George H. W. Bush, the
president of the United States, though by early September, nothing solid had been established regarding this meeting. However, while in Baltimore, Yeltsin received news that, on September 11, he would be received at the
White House. Because the
Bush administration did not want Yeltsin's White House visit to be perceived as a slight towards Gorbachev, who had never visited the White House, they decided that, officially, Yeltsin would be received by
National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, but that Bush would be present as well. Additionally, no members of the media would be present. Yeltsin was not made aware of this arrangement until he arrived at the White House. In total, Yeltsin only had a brief interaction with Bush, who was preparing for a speech at the time, and much of the information that Yeltsin had wished to talk to Bush about was instead delivered to Scowcroft. While at the White House, Yeltsin also met with presidential advisor
Condoleezza Rice and
Vice President Dan Quayle. Because of the White House visit, Yeltsin was forced to cancel several other engagements he had had planned in Washington, including a meeting with a group of politicians that included
Zbigniew Brzezinski,
Dick Gephardt, and
Barbara Mikulski. The only appointment that he was able to keep was with a group of several senators that had been organized by
Bill Bradley. One of the last people he met with while at the
United States Capitol was
Secretary of State James Baker.
Activity in other cities On September 12, Yeltsin visited Philadelphia, where he saw the
Liberty Bell. While in
Indiana, Yeltsin visited a
pig farm, and when asked by a farmer if he wanted to see pigs, Yeltsin jokingly replied, "Generally, I prefer to see Americans, but, I guess, pigs would do." On September 14, while visiting Minneapolis, Yeltsin traveled to
Rochester, Minnesota, to see former President
Ronald Reagan, who was recuperating from surgery at the
Mayo Clinic Hospital. Yeltsin said he hoped to meet with Reagan because he respected the former president for his role in improving Soviet–American relations.
Grocery store visit in Houston While in
Texas, Yeltsin gave a speech in Dallas, and on September 16, he traveled to Houston to visit the Johnson Space Center. While there, his entourage was given a private tour of the facility and shown the
Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center and a mockup of a planned
space station that
NASA was working on. Part of the reason for the visit was so that Yeltsin, who had campaigned in part on reducing funding for the
Soviet space program, could see the possibilities of what further funding for
aeronautics research could lead to. Yeltsin had a background in engineering and asked many questions regarding construction and design during the tour. Following the tour, Yeltsin and his group departed the facility and began driving to the airport. While on the way to the airport, Yeltsin decided to take an unannounced visit to a
grocery store. Yeltsin said that he wanted to visit a typical store in order to see what the average American shopping experience was like. The group decided to visit
Randalls #30 at 570 El Dorado Boulevard, near the intersection with
State Highway 3, in
Webster. The store manager received a phone call from the group shortly before their arrival, and he was given about 15 minutes to prepare. The visit was a low-key event, without heavy security or media presence, with the exception of reporter Stefanie Asin of the
Houston Chronicle. Yeltsin arrived at the store around 1:30 p.m. During his visit, Yeltsin inspected the product selection in the store and tried free samples of cheese and produce. According to the manager on duty at the time, Yeltsin was very interested in the frozen food section, and a picture of Yeltsin looking at a selection of
Pudding Pops was widely republished. He was astonished by the selection available in the store, which he was told offered about 30,000 unique products, and expressed disbelief that such a store was available to residents outside of major urban areas like New York City. He also asked the store manager if he had required specialized training to earn his position. Speaking through an interpreter, Yeltsin talked to employees and customers, asking them questions about how much they spent on groceries compared to what their salary was. In total, the trip lasted about 20 minutes, with Yeltsin receiving a goodie bag from the store staff before leaving. Following the grocery store visit, Yeltsin and his entourage flew to Miami, their final location before returning to the Soviet Union. During the flight, Yeltsin was in a state of shock regarding the grocery store and remained speechless for a long time. According to Sukhanov, it was during the flight that "the last vestige of
Bolshevism collapsed inside" Yeltsin. Following his silence, Yeltsin asked aloud, "What have they done to our people?", questioning the Soviet Union's struggles with food. In a later biography, Yeltsin commented regarding his grocery store visit, Yeltsin commented that if people in the Soviet Union were aware of the quality of the average American grocery store, "there would be a revolution", further saying that "Even the
Politburo doesn't have this choice. Not even Mr. Gorbachev." == Aftermath ==