Nancy Reagan maid returned to work at the White House. In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev became the first Soviet leader to visit Washington, D.C. since Nikita Khrushchev made the trip in 1959 at the height of the Cold War. Nancy was in charge of planning and hosting the important and highly anticipated state dinner, with the goal to impress both the Soviet leader and especially his wife Raisa Gorbacheva. After the meal, she recruited pianist Van Cliburn to play a rendition of "Moscow Nights" for the Soviet delegation, to which Mikhail and Raisa broke out into song. Secretary of State George P. Shultz
Rosa Raisa Italy and South America, but staked no claim to the role over Raisa in Chicago. Raisa over the next 16 seasons (1916-17 to 1931-32) sang almost five hundred times in Chicago and on its transnational tours. She also sang two long seasons in Mexico (1917 and 1919) returned to South America for three more seasons (1918, 1921, and 1929). She added "Norma" to her repertoire in Buenos Aires, singing it 22 times alone in that important city in three seasons. Leonora in "Il trovatore", "Tosca", Margherita in "Mefistofele", and "Lo Schiavo" were added to her role list in Latin America.