Edward L. Rowny
June 21, 1993
Epilogue
Events moved at a rapid pace between the last interview for this oral history,
August 1991, and the time this epilogue was written in June 1993. In the interim
I finished writing my book, It Takes One to Tango, on May 15, 1992. The book
is an anecdotal account of how five presidents I served: Nixon, Ford, Carter,
Reagan, and Bush, approached the problem of dealing with the former Soviet
Union. The book recounts, in summary form, some of the biography dealt with
in greater detail in this oral history. Rather than repeat the material covered in the
book, which should be read as a companion piece to this oral history, I will deal
here only with some of the events which led to the writing and publication of the
book.
The title was suggested by Georgie Anne Geyer. Irecounted to her that on one
occasion I became frustrated with General Ivan Beletsky's stalling tactics during
SALT II. I told him that I had been taking all the initiatives while he had done
nothing to reciprocate. "It takes two to tango," I said.
"No," he countered, "you're thinking like an American." He then told me how
young Soviet officers met dancing partners. "At Saturday night dances, rather than
ask a young woman to dance, an officer would pick up a chair and dance with it.
When one of the women smiled approvingly, the officer knew he had her hooked.
So, you see, it takes only one to tango."
I was encouraged during the arduous process of writing my book by Bert Brown,
Tom Clancy Peggy Noonan, Bill Safire, and Larry Ring. For research and advice
I called upon Susan Munro, Patricia Barwinczak, and Richard Smith. I was
fortunate in getting Al Sanoff, a senior writer for U.S. News and World Report, to
edit my book. Sanoff read the draft chapters carefully and made major suggestions
on the contents and style of writing. Virginia McGuire patiently and faithfully
typed the numerous drafts. My good friend Betty Ladd kept my nose to the
grindstone when I became discouraged. -
By a stroke of luck, I met Frank Margiotta at a National War College reception.
A former Air Force colonel, Margiotta had founded the U.S. branch of Brassey's,
a publisher of military and political books in England. Margiotta was enthusiastic
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