The Bridge Builder

When Lyndon Johnson picked his Postmaster General, lohn Gronouski, to be U.S. Ambassador to Poland, just about everyone remarked on his lack of diplomatic credentials. But the President had something more in mind for his ex-Cabinet member than sitting around Warsaw waiting to see elusive Polish officials. In effect, he made him his envoy to Eastern Europe, with specific marching orders to travel and to build as many new bridges as possible between the U.S. and the Communist nations. Last week Gronouski finished the first phase of that mission, a tempestuous, ten-day tour of Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria aimed at scouting the chances for improved East-West trade relations.

Room for Initiative. Gronouski, the grandson of a Polish immigrant and a former university economics professor, has turned into an effective, if somewhat unconventional, diplomat. He pumps Polish hands, kisses Polish babies, stalks the streets of Warsaw in his cocked grey astrakhan, gabs with Polish waiters at embassy cocktail parties. That casual curiosity stood Gronouski in good stead during his Eastern European swing. The first stop was Rumania, the most independent of the former Soviet satellites and the most eager for U.S. trade (TIME cover, March 18).

After private talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Gheorghe Macovescu and intensive briefings from U.S. Ambassador Richard Davis and his staff, Gronouski swept out on a tour of Bucharest's nighttown with his wife, the Davises, and other embassy types. The group staggered to bed at 3:30 a.m., but was up within a few hours to fly on to Prague. There, Gronouski grilled Ambassador Outerbridge Horsey, popped in on a French industrial exhibition, sampled the brew at the Action Vat (a beer hall), prowled the heights of Hradcany Hill, and finished up with a 4 a.m. breakfast at the Jalta Bar.

So it went from stop to stop. In Budapest, discussions with Hungarian foreign ministry officials and a visit to Cardinal Mindszenty; in Sofia, trade talks with Bulgarian economists and a chug-a-lug of the first cold Coca-Cola from a new bottling plant. Then back to Warsaw to prepare his report. Gronouski's summation: "There hasn't yet been a great deal of change [in Communist economic systems], but there is a great deal of thinking. With one exception--Rumania--the countries I visited are experimenting with new economic reforms. That gives more room for individual initiative and opens the doors for more trade."

Time for Position. Gronouski would like the U.S. to lower tariff barriers with Eastern Europe and grant to the countries he visited the "most-favorednation" trade status already extended to Poland and Yugoslavia. The sticking point, inevitably, is the war in Viet Nam. Though Lyndon Johnson has drafted a trade bill that would remove statutory tariff restrictions against Eastern Europe, it has been quietly shelved. Congressmen, especially in an election year, do not care to risk a "soft on Communism" label. That leaves Bridge Builder Gronouski frustrated. "This is the time to get into position," he told reporters in Budapest. "If we wait five or ten years, the opportunity may pass."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.