Apr. 30, 1963 - President James Monroe’s great-grandson handed a copy of the Monroe Doctrine to a visiting Russian consul today and told him to tell Premier Khrushchev “the document is very much alive.” “The document is completely dead,” countered the consul, Igor Kolosovsky. The exchange occurred as about 40 members of the Soviet embassy staff in Washington and their families made the James Monroe law office shrine their first stop in a two-day Virginia tour. The visitors were shown the desk on which Monroe wrote the 1823 doctrine, warning foreign governments against encroachments in the Western Hemisphere. Kolosovsky was obviously startled when the former President’s great-grandson, Laurence Gouverneur Hoes, handed out copies of the document and made his remark. Mr. Kolosovsky’s colleagues joined in the exchange, repeating, “A dead document. Yes, quite dead.” Some of the Russians refused to accept the copies, while others took them. Mr. Hoes then suggested a wager: “A Coca-Cola against a dinner at the Mayflower Hotel that we will get you Russians out of Cuba.” Mr. Kolosovsky said, “History will judge.” But he kept his copy of the doctrine.
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