July 6, 1974 – CBS Radio: The World This Week – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
July 6, 1974 – Nixon and The Moscow Summit. A month before his unprecedented resignation, President Nixon went to Moscow to meet with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev to discuss a range of issues and to conclude with a sense of mixed achievement. The two sides were not able to agree on the limiting of offensive nuclear weapons. They did agree to limit (to one each) installations of anti-ballistic missile bases for defensive purposes and to limit the size of underground nuclear tests. But the big goal remained elusive because, it appeared, the Russians were behind and wanted to catch up in the number of Multiple warhead missiles. The past Tuesday night, Nixon addressed the Russian people and made a similar address to the American people the following night. Nixon and Brezhnev seemed to get along quite well, but it was the manner of Soviet censorship that marred an otherwise cordial trip. Seems the issue of Soviets dissidents was a thorny one – so thorny that, when correspondents filed their reports mentioning the subject, Russian technicians pulled the plug, interrupting broadcasts to the U.S. – and even the issue of pulling the plug brought about pulling the plug.
While Nixon returned to Washington, Secretary of State Kissinger stayed in Europe to brief leaders on what was and wasn’t accomplished in the Moscow talks. He landed in Rome to discuss Italy’s current economic crisis. For the first time in over 25 years, Italy was faced with an international problem that concerned the whole of the Atlantic community. Kissinger assured Italian President Giovanni Leone,that the U.S. was ready to join with others, if need be, to help rescue the Italian economy with financial support. Kissinger then went to the Vatican to have a one-hour discussion over the Middle East with Pope Paul, which both agreed was a political minefield for all sides involved.
And the issue of Opium poppy production in Turkey was the source of consternation in the West. The U.S. withdrew its Ambassador to Turkey amid reports that an agreement to halt poppy cultivation was abandoned. Turkey had agreed three years earlier to stop growing Opium poppies in exchange for a $35 million compensation for lost revenue. About half had been paid, but Congress was balking at paying the remaining half since the Turkish government made the decision to resume planting and harvesting weeks earlier.
And that’s just a little of the events which took place, the week ending July 6, 1974 as presented by CBS Radio’s The World This Week.
The last story on this broadcast brought a tear to my eyes. Little do we think of the miracle of Corneal Transplants nowadays..
My wife died in September, 2015, and had just had her Corneas corrected. We donated her Corneas after her death, so that someone else could see. It was the most gratifying decision I ever made. I like to think that somewhere out there, a piece of my beloved is bringing joy to someone else.