Lunching with the Kremlin Guys (and Other Adventures at the Glassboro Summit)
Sherwin Markman • June 8, 2021
We were a small group of men, not much older than the college students having lunch at tables all around us in the dining hall at Glassboro State College. Two of us were Americans, Dick Moose, from the National Security Council, and me, an assistant to President Lyndon Johnson. Seated with us were a half dozen youngish looking men who worked on the Kremlin staff of Soviet Premier Aleksey Kosygin. At the moment, our bosses were attending a formal luncheon at Hollybush, the elegant old house which was the residence of Glassboro’s president. We were all here as a part of the ongoing summit conference between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Our Russian guests had brought caviar and vodka to our informal lunch. The caviar was quickly consumed, and Dick and I politely declined the vodka. We were more than a little embarrassed that all we could offer our guests was the same cafeteria food available to the students.
Our conversation was animated but friendly as we traded anecdotes of what it was like working for powerful bosses; surprisingly similar experiences, as it turned out. We could have gone on for hours, but our lunch was cut short when we were summoned to return to Hollybush.
Entering the house, we found that the main group was still seated around the large dining table. Although their meal appeared long finished, conversation was continuing. Standing just inside the doorway, I witnessed an exchange I’ve never forgotten.
President Johnson was seated between Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Premier Kosygin. McNamara was bent forward, leaning past the president, speaking directly to Kosygin in a loud, emotionally tinged voice. He was talking about how the people around this table had the power to destroy humanity, or to save it, to which he added his fears about the future for his own children and grandchildren. Kosygin was listening impassively. When McNamara stopped, the only thing I heard Kosygin say was, “I have children and grandchildren, too.” The awful reality of that exchange shocked me.
This was June 23, 1967, and how we got there is a story in itself.
That month had begun with violence and great danger. On June 3, the Six-Day War exploded between Israel and the Arab states. Almost immediately, it became apparent that Israel was headed toward victory. Then, suddenly, the Soviet Mediterranean fleet, which had been located away from the hostilities, turned and headed toward Israel’s coast, intent on somehow turning the tide of battle against Israel. President Johnson, determined not to let that happen, ordered the American Sixth Fleet to block the Soviets. Although this entire event was kept from the public, Johnson’s order created an extraordinary risk of military confrontation. Then, to our great relief, the Soviet fleet turned back, and conflict was avoided.
A short time later, Premier Kosygin traveled to New York to appear at the United Nations. President Johnson believed that a meeting between the two leaders was needed, and he sent word to Kosygin, inviting him to the White House. Kosygin replied that he was visiting the U.N., not the United States, and that it would be more appropriate for Johnson to come and meet with him at the U.N. Johnson disagreed, and there the matter stood. Both sides wanted a meeting, but were deadlocked over where to hold it.
Our State Department solved the problem by suggesting that the meeting take place exactly halfway between New York and Washington. That happened to be Glassboro, N.J., home of Glassboro State College. At 5:00 p.m., the Russians agreed and the summit conference was set to begin at 11:00 a.m. the next day, 18 hours away. At that moment, nobody in Glassboro even knew we were coming.
It was then that Marvin Watson, the president’s chief of staff, summoned me from my office in the West Wing, and startled me with the instruction that the president had decided that I was now in charge of making everything ready for the next day’s summit.
I was told I must immediately gather a complete team and have them at Andrews Air Force Base ready to board a White House airplane standing by. Working feverishly, I brought together personnel from the Secret Service, F.B.I., communications office, press office, state department, Navy cooks and waiters, and a variety of others I can no longer recall. In any event, we filled the plane and landed in Philadelphia at 10:00 p.m.
We were met by a cavalcade of New Jersey motorcycle police, who escorted us to Glassboro, where, because the news had leaked, a mass of media was already gathered. Pushing my way through, I walked up to the front door of Hollybush and knocked. The door was immediately opened by Dr. Hugh Robinson, the college president, with his wife by his side. They were nervous but friendly as I introduced myself and described my mission. I told them that we required a proper place for the conference, and that included facilities for a large meeting of the delegations, an intimate meeting between the two leaders, separate meetings of the two delegations, a formal luncheon of the delegations, and, of course, comfort and security for all.
Dr. Robinson’s response was to lead me on a tour of his campus, where, followed by the media, we quickly visited the student union and the gymnasium. I stopped it there and told Dr. Robinson what I had already decided: that the only suitable place was Hollybush itself. I said there were some things that had to be done to make it ready. Reluctantly, he accepted my offer. Ultimately, but with great reluctance, Mrs. Robinson also agreed.
What had to be done — and was — during that long night was enormous. The changes included 14 window air conditioning units and a transformer to power them (the house had none, and the weather was going to be brutally hot); new chairs and tables; dining room table and chairs; kitchen equipment; doors and draperies; security fences; communications equipment; and more. Somehow, we found the skilled personnel and the furnishings. Everyone worked throughout the night, and everything was ready by the time the summit began.
The summit continued that day and another, and I never stopped working.
About 10 minutes before the second day session was about to begin and as the Soviet motorcade from New York was pulling into the Hollybush driveway, the president’s helicopter landed on the ball field next door. Out stepped Mr. Johnson accompanied by his wife, Lady Bird. I greeted them and the president immediately asked me what was planned. I told him that Kosygin was here and they would meet immediately. The president snapped that he didn’t like the plan. As I began to stutter that Kosygin was already standing there waiting, Lady Bird turned to her husband and said, “Now, Lyndon, it’s too late to change. Just do it as Sherwin has planned.” Which we did. I was — and am — endlessly grateful to her for that, and, as it happened, it all worked out just fine.
Toward the end, the president stated that he wanted to acquire the two chairs and table from the small study where he and Kosygin had met privately. He wanted them for display at his planned library.
I approached Mrs. Robinson, but she refused to sell one of the chairs, telling me it was a family heirloom. I offered to have the chair duplicated for her. She replied, then you take the duplicate. But Johnson would have none of that. There was nothing I could do to change her mind and I passed the ball to New Jersey Gov. Richard Hughes, who somehow succeeded where I had failed.
When the LBJ Library was completed, those three pieces of Mrs. Robinson’s furniture were prominently exhibited, but the display did not last. A few years after President Johnson’s death, it was taken down and the furniture stored in the library’s basement.
Which shows, I guess, that even the fervent wishes of a president of the United States for what should be shown at his own library can and will be, with the passage of time, ignored.
Sherwin Markman, a graduate of the Yale Law School, lives with his wife, Kathryn (Peggy) in Rock Hall, Maryland. He served as an assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, after which was a trial lawyer in Washington, D.C. He has published several books, including one dealing with the Electoral College. He has also taught and lectured about the American political system.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
