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war and social upheaval: The Cold War -- biographies Gromyko
Cold War Biographies: Andrei Gromyko
Figure 1.--After serving as Sovier Ambassador to the United States durng World War II (1943-46), Gromyko moved to New York to serve as the Soviet Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1946). The American press began calling him Mr. Nyet and Grim Grom, because of he so commonly resorted to the Soviet veto in the United Nations Security Council. Here we see the family in New York. The press caption read, "Mme. Gromykp Also Takes a Walk: Mrs. Andrei Gromyko, left, wife of the Russian ambassador to the U.S. who created a crisis by walking out on the United Nations security council, takes a walk in New York with her daughter, Milya, anbd the child's nurse." The photigraph was dared March 30, 1946.
One author called Andrei Gromyko 'flinty face of postwar Soviet diplomacy'. [Whitney] He was born in Starye Gromyki, Mogilev Governorate, at the time part of the Tsarist Empire (1909). He married Lydia Dmitrievna Grinevich. Gromyko's political career began with his employment at the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) (1939). He was part of sweeping changes in the Foreign Ministry as part of the appointment of Vyacheslav Molotov. Stalin was impressed with Gromyko. He was appointed ambassador to the United States during World War II (1943). After the War he became the Soviet Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1946). The American press began calling him Mr. Nyet and Grim Grom, because of he so commonly resorted to the Soviet veto in the United Nations Security Council. Returning to the Soviet Union he became a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and later the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed the Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom (1952). With the death of Stalin and the demotion of Vyacheslav Molotov, Gromyko energed as the face of the Soviet Union to the West. He finally was appointed Foreign Minister. Nikita Khrushchev and later Leonid Brezhnev found him indispensable. As the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, Gromyko played an important role in defusing the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). He helped negotiate arms limitations treaties such as the ABM Treaty, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and SALT I & II. Under Leonid Brezhnev premiership, Gromyko helped build the policy of d�tente. When Brezhnev's health began to decline, Gromyko formed a troika with KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov and Defense Minister Dmitriy Ustinov that basically ruled in Brezhnev's name. As a result, conservate and hardline attitudes towards the West continued to dominte Soviet thinking. And he served as Foreign Minister for 28 years. He played a role in turning away from elderly, sclerotic leadership, and supported Gorbachev's accession to the leadership of the Soviet Communist Party (March 1985). Finally Mikhail Gorbachev moving toward Glasnost and Perestroika finally found his hard;ine views an obstacle. He eased Gromyko into the ceremonial post of the presidency. He wrote his menoirs in retirement, revising them shortly before his death. He explained that he felt old and out of touch. Gorbachev dropped him from the all-important Politburo, part of a sweeping purge of the Soviet old guard. Gromyko had to watch the policies of the totalitarian state he so vigorously championed being swept aside. [Witney] He died in Moscow (1989).
Sources
Whitney, Craig R. "Andrei A. Gromyko: Flinty face of postwar Soviet diplomacy," New York Times (July 5, 1989).
