"Why does the Associated Press ‏(AP)‏ send a Greek, Cassidis, to Moscow?" the Soviet dictator queried his Washington embassy after learning AP brass had assigned Cassidy to the Kremlin.

The ambassador hurriedly straightened out the boss: "Cassidy comes from an old, non-noble Irish family."

"The non-noble business must have done it," says Cassidy, who served as AP's Moscow bureau chief from 1940 to 1944.

It was in his second year that AP directed Cassidy, who was fluent in Russian and French, to obtain an interview with Stalin on the possibility of the Allies establishing a second front in Europe. The Battle of Stalingrad was on, with the Soviets bearing the entire weight of the battle. A second front would divert part of the German war machine.
Cassidy, who disliked having to say no to a story idea, refused to accept Stalin's reply that he was too busy making war.

For Cassidy, Stalin said he would sit still for a few written questions.

In fact, Stalin replied to two of his letters, making Cassidy his first and most publicized pen pal.

"Those were the first two letters he had ever written to a newspaper man and they created quite a sensation around the world," Cassidy said later. "I still have them hanging on my living room wall."

Cassidy said the most important event he witnessed was the fall of Paris. He had lived in the Maginot Line with the French Army until Paris fell in June 1940. During that time, he was made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor.