While Livingston was Secretary of State, James Buchanan was the American Minister at St. Petersburg, charged with the negotiation of a highly important commercial treaty. All went well until the terms of the treaty had been practically agreed upon, when he had an interview with the brilliant Count Nesselrode, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who protested against what he termed the unfriendly attitude of the American press toward the Emperor and Russia, apropos of Poland. Not only, he complained, had the “Globe,” which he characterized as “the Government paper,” failed to correct the false impressions of the press generally, but it “had itself been distinguished by falsehoods.” He hoped, therefore, that the President “would adopt measures to remove this cause of complaint in the future, at least against the official paper in Washington.”[375] Recovering as quickly as possible from his astonishment, Buchanan explained that the press in the United States was not subject to governmental supervision, but the practical-minded Nesselrode was not at all impressed. He baldly charged that the “Globe” “formed an exception to the rule and was a paper over which the Government exercised a direct control.” Such being the Russian understanding, the Count was disappointed at the failure of Livingston, when he had met the Russian Minister to the United States in New York City, to offer assurances that no more offensive articles would appear in that journal, and even more chagrined to learn, after that interview, that the “Globe” had been “more violent than before.” Buchanan was forced to concede that the “Globe” was commonly called the “official paper,” but earnestly protested that it was free from governmental control. He was “persuaded that even the influence of Mr. Livingston over the editor” was not much greater than his own, and he had no influence at all. Here Buchanan was on safe ground, but Nesselrode was not so easily convinced. With a disconcerting smile of incredulity, he suggested that “General Jackson himself must certainly have some influence over the editor.” Finding himself in a blind alley, Buchanan was lamely admitting that the President might have such influence, when Nesselrode, taking instant advantage of the admission, and without waiting for the conclusion of the sentence, requested him to ask Jackson to “exercise it for the purpose of inducing the ‘Globe’ to pursue a more cautious course hereafter.” Buchanan, glad of the opportunity to drop the subject, hastened to assure the Count that it would afford him great pleasure “to make his wishes known to the President.”[376] Thus, such was the genius of Blair and Kendall in impressing themselves upon the affairs of the Nation that, within three years after the establishment of the “Globe,” they had become political powers in the Republic, and so much international figures that their editorials were carefully read in the foreign offices of Europe.