The room was silent after Vance's remarks. Even the Americans in the audience thought the speech was a disaster. “That night was the only time in my life I've been embarrassed to be an American,” Phil Wolff, the chief of staff of the Lake Placid games, said. “I spent three years fighting in World War II. Nobody has a deeper love of this country than I do, but that was not right to be so derogatory and political when we're supposed to be welcoming all our guests from around the world.”
In the end, the IOC affirmed its intent to hold the games in Moscow. But the White House was unbowed. Cutler drafted legislation that would give the president legal authority to prevent the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) from participating in the Olympics and ban all U.S. media organizations from sending reporters to Moscow. Lawyers in the Department of Justice protested, noting that Congress had refused to grant the president the power to control the media even during wartime. Cutler also continued to advance the idea of holding alternate games about two weeks after the Olympics, “to be held at several sites including an American site, open to athletes from all nations, including those who go to Moscow.” But the idea wasn't catching on.
