Veep in Moscow

Brezhnev gives the job to a man with "rich experience"

Ever since Soviet Party Chief Leonid Brezhnev booted President Nikolai Podgorny out of office and assumed the presidency himself last June, Kremlinologists have been speculating about who might be named to the newly created post of Vice President. A Veep was needed to take over the fatiguing ceremonial functions of the presidency, like scooting out to the airport to meet visiting chiefs of state and pumping the hands of ambassadors at diplomatic receptions. Brezhnev, 70, reportedly ailing with arteriosclerosis and leukemia, was regarded as too old and frail for such chores. His selection of a Vice President might suggest his choice of a successor--when he retires or dies.

Last week the Supreme Soviet, Moscow's rubber-stamp parliament, unanimously approved Brezhnev's choice. He is Vasili Kuznetsov, 76, a veteran diplomat whose career peaked in 1953 when he was named Deputy Foreign Minister. He simultaneously served for two years as Moscow's Ambassador to Peking. (In the early '30s Kuznetsov earned an M.S. at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, and worked in the open-hearth division of the Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich.) In praising the new Vice President, Politburo Member Mikhail Suslov, 74, referred to Kuznetsov's "rich experience of life." In his speech of acceptance, Kuznetsov pledged to dedicate "all my strength" to fulfilling the high honor bestowed on him. As for who may some day succeed Brezhnev, the Kremlinologists will have to look for other clues.

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