Today, the Russian reader is unlikely to be told by the name of the American John Scali. And in the 60s of the last century, this name was mentioned with gratitude by the top Soviet leadership.
John Alfred Scali was born on April 27, 1918 in Canton, Ohio. After graduating from Boston University, Scali worked as a correspondent for ABC News. In this capacity, he played an extremely important role in the normalization of Soviet-American relations, when the USSR and the USA, as a result of the Cuban missile crisis, were on the verge of war.
As a correspondent for ABC, Scali became a mediator in the Soviet-American negotiations. On October 26, 1962, he passed on urgent information received from the resident of the Soviet foreign intelligence, KGB Colonel Alexander Fomin (real name - Feklisov), to the American administration.
It is noteworthy that the initiative to establish contact with Fomin-Feklisov came from Skali. Such a communication channel became vital, because due to the secrecy of the operation "Anadyr" carried out by the Soviet military, the USSR Embassy in the United States did not have all the information about the changes taking place in the military-political sphere.
Scali was personally acquainted with President John F. Kennedy. Feklisov realized that he was not just a journalist, but an important communication channel, and decided to take the opportunity to unofficially intimidate the US leadership. He, on his own initiative, warned the Americans that in the event of an attack by American troops on Cuba, Soviet troops would strike at American troops in Europe, in particular, in West Berlin. After that, the White House took steps to meet the Kremlin, and the Cuban missile crisis was resolved. And the Soviet-American communication channel through Feklisov and Scali continued to function for some time.
J. Scali's further career was more than successful: he left ABC in 1971, becoming an adviser to President Richard Nixon on foreign affairs, and in 1973 he became the US ambassador to the UN and held this post until 1975.
J. Scali died on October 9, 1995 in Washington and was buried at Arlington Cemetery.
Unfortunately, Feklisov's American counterpart, unlike himself, did not leave any memoirs. It would be very interesting to compare the notes of the Soviet and American heroes who averted a nuclear catastrophe.
