The day Ronald Reagan became president, he was given a small plastic card to carry in his pocket. It contained the secret codes that would launch America’s nuclear missiles against enemy nations. If word should ever come that nuclear missiles were headed for the United States, the president had only six minutes to decide whether to launch American bombs. The decision, Reagan was told, could mean killing at least 150 million people. This system was called MAD—for Mutual Assured Destruction.
So far, the threat of a devastating nuclear war had stopped either side from starting an attack. But Reagan couldn’t help thinking that six minutes wasn’t much time to make such an important decision. “The MAD policy was madness,” he thought.
Reagan dreamed of a world where no one would have to live in terror of nuclear missiles. He asked the heads of the armed forces to develop a way to defend against incoming missiles. This project was called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI. But SDI would need years of research and billions of dollars.
In speeches, Ronald Reagan made it clear that the United States was prepared to win the Cold War. He did not waste words—he called the Soviet Union the “Evil Empire.”
At the time, the Soviets had hundreds of missiles aimed at cities in Europe and the Middle East. When they refused to remove them, America and its allies decided to install their own missiles in Europe, aimed at the Soviet Union.
President Reagan’s foreign policy had many critics. Some thought the new missiles made a Soviet attack more likely, not less. There were big demonstrations in Europe and in America, too. European newspapers compared Reagan to a “gun-toting cowboy.” Even so, when he ran for re-election in 1984, Ronald Reagan won in a landslide. His opponent, Walter Mondale, carried only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
During Reagan’s second term, his popularity suffered because of the Iran-contra scandal. The “contras” were a group of Nicaraguan rebels. They were fighting against the pro-Communist government in their country. The U.S. Congress had cut off funds for the contras. Some officials, however, tried to find ways to support them in secret. Some members of Reagan’s national security staff made a deal with Iran. Missiles were sold to Iran, although this was against U.S. policy. Some of the money the Iranians paid to the United States for the missiles went to the contras.
President Reagan eventually fired the people responsible and apologized on television. Even so, he thought Congress was wrong to pass laws that interfered with the president’s right to conduct foreign policy.
The Soviet Union, meanwhile, had a new leader. Mikhail Gorbachev knew that the Soviet Union had deep social and economic problems. He wanted to reform the Communist system in order to save it. Reagan liked Gorbachev, but he also bargained hard. He refused to give up his plan to build a defense against nuclear weapons.
In 1987 President Reagan was asked to make a speech in West Berlin. The speech was delivered outdoors in the shadow of the Berlin Wall.
Reagan challenged Gorbachev to give the people of East Germany their freedom. “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!” he thundered. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
The crowd roared its approval.
Even some of Reagan’s speechwriters thought he had gone too far. But Gorbachev continued to work with Reagan. A year later, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a treaty to ban one type of nuclear weapon. It was an important first step. After the treaty was approved by the Senate, the president and Mrs. Reagan visited Moscow. When they went out for a stroll, they were mobbed by friendly crowds.
Before the visit ended, Ronald Reagan spoke to a group of students. He told them that they were living through an exciting time “when the first breath of freedom stirs the air.” No one could say what would happen in the future, but he hoped that it would be the first step toward a “new world of reconciliation, friendship, and peace.” |