Hope sparked by Gorbachev's 1990 visit to Minnesota has faded during Putin's rule

Joy was in the air that blustery June day in 1990, along with hope, cheer and the sense that a new world was dawning.

It arrived in the persons of Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, and his wife, Raisa, who made an unlikely visit to Minnesota at a time when the Berlin Wall had fallen and generations of antagonism seemed ready to crumble as well.

Tens of thousands of Minnesotans turned out to cheer the Gorbachevs, who mingled with the crowds, shaking hands and exchanging greetings. Business leaders gathered with the Soviet leader, envisioning new markets and growing cooperation between the two superpowers.

Now, some 30 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the world has condemned the country that replaced it — Russia — and its president, Vladimir Putin. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked protests, boycotts and economic sanctions. Hope has turned once again to fear.

It's a bitter moment for Minnesotans who remember those seven hours in 1990 when all things seemed possible.

The visit united "people from 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall' to people who thought [former President Ronald] Reagan was dangerous," said Bruce Benidt, a Minneapolis public relations man and former journalist who wrangled the 2,000 reporters from around the nation and the world who gathered at the Metrodome press center on June 3, 1990.

"It was a celebration. He had people cheering for him, and he basked in it. And we basked in being there," Benidt said.

A highlight of the trip was a visit by Raisa Gorbachev to the home of a typical American family. Steve and Karen Watson, with their four children, hosted the wife of the Soviet leader for tea and cookies at their south Minneapolis home near Washburn High School. More than 5,000 people thronged the neighborhood, trampling flower beds and cheering wildly for the Russian woman whose youthful disposition and chic fashion sense made her a symbol of what seemed a new Soviet Union.

In the Watson home today, there's a simple wooden chair with a plaque affixed to the back: "Raisa Gorbachev sat here, June 3, 1990." The Watson children have gone on to their own adult lives, but the parents are still there and retain vivid memories of the day.

They describe a whirlwind of activity in the 10 days leading up to the Gorbachevs' trip, including a visit from then-Gov. Rudy Perpich along with a team of KGB and U.S. Secret Service agents checking out their home in advance. The day of the event began with a bomb-sniffing dog making a trip through their house.

Raisa Gorbachev spent much of the visit quizzing the Watsons about their home life. What were their jobs? (Steve was an elementary school teacher and Karen was a nurse.) How could they afford a home? How did they care for their children?

Karen Watson said she believes Raisa Gorbachev was sincerely motivated by a desire to improve life for people of the Soviet Union.

"This was not a frivolous visit," Steve Watson said. "This had meaning and significance. In a way, it was critical to where they were at that time."

Back in the U.S.S.R.

And where was the Soviet Union? In big trouble. Gorbachev took office in 1985 and immediately set out to bring reforms to the country and improve its economy. He introduced the concepts of "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring). He allowed new political parties to form and encouraged new media to offer criticisms.

But his reforms were opposed by the old guard in the Communist Party's ruling elite, said Thomas Wolfe, an associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota who studies Russia and the Soviet Union.

"He was fighting a constant battle with those in the hierarchy who thought the old ways were good enough," Wolfe said. "Meanwhile, the liberals want more and the hard-liners want less. And he's in the middle trying to make peace between the two sides, and it's nearly impossible."

In the chaotic years after the breakup, Putin rose through the ranks of Russian politics and was elected president of the Russian Federation in 1999. Wolfe said the Ukrainian invasion should have been better anticipated by Western powers that have consistently misread Putin's ambition to re-establish an empire beyond Russia's borders.

"He's been pursuing the great-power agenda for as long as he's been there," Wolfe said. "And this has been something that, for Americans and Europeans, has been very hard to follow. This is where a kind of fundamental misunderstanding has taken place."

'A feeling of intense grief'

The Watsons are shocked and saddened by events in Ukraine. For Steve Watson, the air raids bring back memories of his Cold War childhood, when children were taught to take shelter under their desks in case of a Soviet nuclear attack.

"Growing up, the Russians were the enemy," Karen Watson said. She doesn't believe that anymore, at least not about the people.

But they hang onto some of the hope from that day, nearly 32 years ago, when Raisa Gorbachev sat in that chair at their dining room table.