Word: nixon
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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TIME has obtained a confidential memorandum that Nixon sent to Reagan in July 1986 after a session with Gorbachev in Moscow. The 26-page document captures the essence of Nixon's exercise in discreet diplomacy. It shows him trying to persuade Gorbachev that he can do business with Reagan precisely because Reagan is a conservative. And then, in reporting on the meeting, it shows him trying to persuade the President that he should seek a major strategic arms deal, which Nixon implied could be achieved with only minor concessions on Reagan's cherished Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the Star Wars...
...Nixon wrote the memo when Reagan and Gorbachev were both riding high. Anatoly Dobrynin, the longtime Soviet Ambassador to the U.S., whom Gorbachev had recalled to Moscow, told Nixon that Gorbachev was "politically very strong, and President Reagan should seize the opportunity to deal with him." Nixon's memo implicitly endorsed Dobrynin's advice. Nixon said he found Gorbachev in person to be "either the greatest actor the political world has produced or . . . a man totally in charge with the power and ability to chart his own course...
...Nixon's depiction of Reagan to Gorbachev was similar. The former President told the Soviet leader that Reagan was "enormously popular, with the highest public approval rating of any President in his second term." Therefore Reagan, unlike Jimmy Carter, "could get Senate approval of any agreement he made." Moreover, Nixon continued, "I told ((Gorbachev)) that after President Reagan left office, he would be enormously popular and would have great influence on public issues due to his incomparable communication skills. It was, therefore, very much in Gorbachev's interest that President Reagan have a stake in a new, improved U.S.-Soviet...
...Nixon and Gorbachev, SDI was "the only major substantive issue we discussed." Nixon's memo summarized Gorbachev's forceful objections to the program in a way that seemed calculated to make it difficult for Reagan to dismiss them as unreasonable...
According to Nixon, Gorbachev "said it was simply a myth that the Soviet Union opposed SDI because they feared the enormous cost to their economy. He went on to say that his opposition to SDI was not based on his fear of its ((offensive)) military potential or of our technological edge. He said, 'We have our own space defense program and our research is making progress in different ways than yours is. In any event,' he added, 'we will be able to evade and overcome any SDI system that the U.S. might eventually deploy...