Into the Red

Moscow to get IBM's Watson

During the Vienna summit, President Carter introduced to President Brezhnev a tall, distinguished white-haired man as the next U.S. Ambassador to Moscow. Brezhnev was delighted. The nominee was Thomas J. Watson Jr., 65, son of the founder of IBM and an innovator who took over the company in 1956 and turned it into the largest computer manufacturer in the world before retiring in 1974 as chairman of the board. What especially pleased Brezhnev and the Soviets about the Watson nomination is the fact that he is a successful businessman with an excellent knowledge of the problems of international trade. The Soviets dearly want to increase their trade with the U.S., and they hope that the new ambassador will help.

Watson, who is expected to be readily confirmed by the Senate, was recommended for the post by W. Averell Harriman, 87, another top businessman who was chosen, by Franklin D. Roosevelt, to serve in Moscow in 1941. Watson had earlier been considered for a Cabinet post. Says a top White House aide: "He's a very strong, competent and enlightened man. He's also tough as nails."

Watson was endorsed by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. The two have been friends for years, and Vance was once a board member of IBM. Watson chaired the General Advisory Committee of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, a group composed of 15 prominent citizens. Under Watson, the committee met at least once a month and reported to both Vance and Carter.

Although he does not speak Russian, Watson has some firsthand knowledge of Soviet life. During World War II, he spent six months in Russia as part of the Lend-Lease airlift program, piloting Army Air Force transports that carried goods across the Bering Sea from Alaska. With other business and labor leaders, academics and politicians, Watson was a member of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations that in 1977 urged cooperation with the Soviets on arms control, science, cultural affairs and trade.

Watson will replace Malcolm Toon, 62, a career diplomat who managed to antagonize both Moscow and Washington.

He irritated the Soviets by openly proclaiming himself to be a hardliner, and he undermined himself with Washington by differing with Vance's policies, which Toon felt were not tough enough.

Toon, who is expected to retire from the Foreign Service at the end of the summer, had been a supporter of SALT. But now he has some doubts, worrying about the problems of verification. That had nothing to do with his being replaced in Moscow, but Watson will have an advantage in Carter's eyes: he is a firm advocate of SALT, and the Administration may use him to help sell the treaty to the Senate.

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