Big Little Man

Americans and Britons, going home from Teheran, took with them an unforgettable portrait of an unforgettable figure: Joseph Stalin. Never before had he been viewed by so many of his allies; never before had he loomed so sharply. Those who had seen him conveyed a vivid impression to the world:

Stalin was the dominant personality at Teheran. Perhaps partly because he was new to so many there, he bulked over both Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt.

Marshal Stalin is 5 ft. 5 in. tall. But there was magnetism and a certain majesty in the figure with the brushlike mane, iron-grey mustache, a bright Marshal's uniform which was slightly too large for a perfect fit. In all that he did and said, he was quiet, impassive, at times almost immobile. He walked smoothly, effortlessly into every reception and meeting of the Conference. Sophisticated diplomats said that when he passed them in the gardens their hair rose and they quivered. He spoke softly, often in low whispers. To his hearers, his words seemed to come through an amplifier.

On occasion he was merry: downing champagne, toasting Roosevelt and Churchill, charging around the dinner table to touch glasses with one and all. But Stalin showed real emotion only once: when Churchill presented the Stalingrad sword (sent as a gift from King George VI "to the steel-hearted citizens of Stalingrad"). Stalin shivered almost imperceptibly, raised the sword to his lips and kissed the scabbard (see cut). President Roosevelt watched, deeply impressed. Others thought they saw "a little lump clumping in his throat." Almost inaudibly, Stalin thanked Churchill and the British.

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