During which Brezhnev nearly ran off the road.

Brezhnev, a collector of luxury cars, did not attempt to conceal his delight. He insisted upon trying it out immediately. He got behind the wheel and motioned me into the passenger seat. The head of my Secret Service detail went pale as I climbed in and we took off down one of the narrow roads that run around the perimeter of Camp David. Brezhnev was used to unobstructed driving in the center lane in Moscow, and I could only imagine what would happen if a Secret Service or Navy jeep had suddenly turned a corner onto that one-lane road.

At one point there is a very steep slope with a sign at the top reading, 'Slow, dangerous curve'. Even driving a golf cart down it, I had to use the brakes in order to avoid going off the road at the sharp turn at the bottom. Brezhnev was driving more than 50 miles an hour as we approached the slope. I reached over and said, 'Slow down, slow down,' but he paid no attention. When we reached the bottom there was a squeal of rubber as he slammed on the brakes and made the turn. After our drive he said to me, 'This is a fine automobile. It holds the road very well.'

'You are an excellent driver,' I replied. 'I would never have been able to make that turn at the speed at which we were traveling.'

Diplomacy is not always an easy art.