. . . or click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup – January 7, 1978 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
On this January 7th in 1978 Jimmy Carter arrived back at The White House from his whirlwind 9-day/7-country/19,000 mile World tour. Exhausted but in high spirits, Carter reflected on the experiences he brought back from this visit overseas with a combination of satisfaction and elation. Generally he felt the visit brought a sense of goodwill and further cooperation between the U.S. and the countries he visited, although he was quick to add it was too soon to tell just to what extent the effect of his visit had on long-term relations. And aside from an open microphone gaffe where Carter said Indian Prime Minister Desai needed to be sent a cold and blunt message regarding Indian Nuclear policy, things went off without a hitch.
Bolstered by the success of this visit, Carter was planning similar visits to Latin America and Africa starting in March. The President got the travel bug.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance also arrived back in the U.S. fresh from trade talks with Hungary and gave an update on those talks as well as hopes for a comprehensive Peace settlement in the Middle East.
However, Israel announced work beginning on new and expanded settlements in the Sinai between this day and January 16th, the day top-level talks between Israeli and Egyptian officials were slated to begin. Some felt the building of new settlements now would do potential harm to an Israeli-Egyptian accord. But others felt establishing the settlements now would prove to be a good bargaining chip in the upcoming talks.
In Vietnam – Vietnamese Radio reported Cambodian troops had crossed the border into Vietnam, and issued a warning that Cambodia must bear all consequences for such a move. Cambodia claimed successes in clashes with Vietnamese troops inside Cambodia. It was a day of claims and counter-claims from that part of the world.
The new issue of Science Magazine reported evidence that Japan had sought to build an Atomic Bomb during World War 2. They failed because military authorities didn’t put enough money into the program and Japanese scientists concluded an Atomic Bomb was impossible even for the U.S. during the war. And then came Hiroshima.
And news that the following day, January 8th would have been Elvis Presley’s 43rd birthday. Events and celebrations were being planned all over Memphis, and were expected to draw some 15,000 people with as many as 5,000 people a day filing past the grave of Elvis at Graceland Mansion. Despite the celebration there were some who felt that the memory of The King was being over-commercialized with an Elvis Memorabilia Fair and a 30-hour Elvis Movie Marathon concluding with a screening of Viva Las Vegas.
And that’s a small slice of what went on in the world this January 7th 1978, as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
