Intent on Avoiding Nancy-Raisa Tiff : Barbara Bush Takes the Reins at First Ladies’ Last Luncheon

NEW YORK —  Barbara Bush took charge at an exclusive U.N. luncheon today for Raisa Gorbachev and Nancy Reagan, putting everyone at ease with her good humor and jokes.

“How do you say ‘cheese’ in Russian?” Barbara Bush, the wife of President-elect George Bush, quipped as the three women stood for a formal picture with Marcela Perez de Cuellar at her posh East Side townhouse.

Barbara Bush, standing next to the Soviet first lady, seemed intent on defusing any problems at the gathering, the last for the U.S. and Soviet first ladies, who have had run-ins on previous occasions.

As the translator interpreted the word “cheese” for Raisa Gorbachev, thus giving Barbara Bush her answer, the group broke out in smiles and laughter.

Barbara Bush also asked Raisa Gorbachev if she was tired after a 10-hour plane flight from Moscow to New York.

Nancy Chimes In

Before she could answer, Nancy Reagan chimed in: “She’s never tired.”

Barbara Bush then asked: “Even after 10 hours in a plane?” and Nancy Reagan responded for Raisa Gorbachev: “She never looks tired.”

A diplomatic Barbara Bush then said: “We all want your secret.”

Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev then briefly touched hands in an affectionate gesture.

Since the two women first met in Geneva in 1985 there have been tales that they privately detested each other.

The women posed for their portrait before joining 20 other women at an elegant luncheon downstairs in a room with a marble fireplace, crystal chandelier and tall windows overlooking the East River. Each place was set with crystal bearing the U.N. insignia and at every place setting lay a small present wrapped with a peach bow.

‘The Big Apple’

Raisa Gorbachev spoke through an interpreter inside the town house, but earlier she had responded to reporters’ entreaties to speak with them and had used some English.

“I’m happy to be here in this city you call ‘The Big Apple,’ ” she told reporters, saying the words the big apple in English.

During a tour of the United Nations earlier today, Raisa Gorbachev, dressed in a sober gray suit with an aqua blouse, strolled with Marcela Perez de Cuellar through the modern glass-and-steel building, pausing to chat repeatedly and look at many of its international artworks.