Russian President Boris Yeltsin was having what appeared to be a great day. Everything seemed to be going his way - a disarmament accord, meetings with President Bush, adulation from Smithsonian tourists.
Then his bubble was burst by none other than Barbara Bush.The burly Russian, it seemed, merely wanted a dance with the American first lady at the White House state dinner held Tuesday night in his honor.
But, he was overheard telling Bush, "I invited Barbara, she wouldn't dance with me."
Instead, the Russian president danced with Robin Gerstner, wife of the chairman and chief executive officer of RJR Nabisco. They were among the invitees to the prestigious dinner.
Reporters couldn't discern why Barbara Bush spurned her potential dance partner, but she didn't seem to mean anything personal by it.
When reporters closed in on Yeltsin to ask his reaction to the day, she took his hand and pulled him away to mingle elsewhere.
"I am being taken away," Yeltsin said.
Both Bush and Yeltsin were in an upbeat mood at the state dinner.