Ronald Reagan on Homeland Security

President of the U.S., 1981-1989; Republican Governor (CA)

Dealt with Soviets but insisted on verification with teeth

Sometimes a leader has no alternative but to deal with someone untrustworthy. The only option is to lock up every detail in the clearest possible language, ensuring that it's all written, and that there are witnesses.

Ronald Reagan exemplified the best way to approach such situations. His refusal to award trust that hadn't been earned changed the nature of our country's relationship with the Soviet Union. Over arms control, he insisted on verification; he wouldn't take the Soviets at their word because it would have been reckless to have done so. The Soviet Union wasn't entitled to that civility. Reagan forced the Soviets to make concessions up front before the United States made any in return. We know we're going to live up to any treaty. We have laws and protocols that ensure it, and our culture demands it. That wasn't true of the Soviet Union. Reagan insisted on inspection mechanisms with teeth, of the kind that previous administrations might have refused to pursue to completion.

Source: Leadership, autobiography by Rudolph Giuliani, p.330-331 Oct 1, 2002

Build morale & increase fire power to combat Communism

I also thought the administration was a disaster in the arena of national security. While it was cutting back on our military power, we were losing ground to Communism in much of the globe. The morale of our volunteer army was plummeting, our strategic forces were growing obsolete, and nothing was being done to reduce the threat of a nuclear Armageddon that could destroy much of the world in less than a half-hour’s time. Source: RonaldReagan.com Dec 25, 2000

“Star Wars” enabled historic peace with Soviets

I called a meeting of the Joint Chiefs and said: Every offensive weapon has resulted in the creation of a defense; isn’t it possible that we could invent a defensive weapon that could intercept nuclear weapons? So SDI was born, and some named it “Star Wars.” If I had to choose the most important reason for the historic breakthrough in the quest for peace with the Soviet Union, I would say the Strategic Defense Initiative. Source: RonaldReagan.com Dec 25, 2000

SDI averts biblical prophecy of Armageddon

Reagan was awed by the biblical prophecy of Armageddon, which he translated into a vision of nuclear hell on earth. He proposed to avert it in two ways: development of an antimissile defense through the Strategic Defense Initiative and reduction of nuclear arsenals through negotiations with the Soviets. “A nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought.” It seemed logical to Reagan that all such weapons must be eliminated. As he put it in his memoirs:

My dream became a world free of nuclear weapons. Some of my advisors did not share this dream. They said a nuclear-free world was unattainable. Since I knew it would be a long and difficult task to rid the world of nuclear weapons, I had this second dream: the creation of a defense against nuclear missiles, so we could change from a policy of assured destruction to one of assured survival.

Source: The Role of a Lifetime, by Lou Cannon, p. 741 Jul 2, 1991

"Evil Empire" speech succeeded where nukes failed to impress

"When I called the Soviet Union an 'evil empire,' I meant it!" The most vilified presidential utterance in modern times, the truest, and most seminal. Those two words, which translate so unmistakably into Russian, convinced Yuri Andropov more than any number of bombs that the US was morally ready to fight the century's ultimate war. Source: Dutch, by Edmund Morris, p.642 Jan 9, 1988

Trust but verify: INF cut 1000s of missiles

Monday, December 7, Gorbachev arrives to sign INF treaty. Reagan's speech is not particularly friendly. "Our people should have been better friends by now." After lunch, they sign INF treaty in East Room. Dutch trots out trust-but-verify once too often for Gorbachev, who replies with an irritated smile, "You repeat that at every meeting." Still,the treaty is an epochal event. As Gorbachev says, "It will be inscribed in the history books." For the first time in Cold War, US and USSR have committed to reducing their respective nuclear arsenals. 1,846 Soviet and 846 US missles to be trashed within the next three years.

December 9, Regan demands a date for Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Reagan, "SDI is essential to our goal of total nuclear disarmament."

Source: Dutch, by Edmund Morris, p.630-631 Dec 7, 1987

SDI: kill missiles, not people; share with Russians

The Strategic Defense Initiative was one project for which Reagan took direct responsibility, pushing it forward despite the doubts of some in his own circle. An implausible scheme in itself, it is a perfect expression of Reagan’s politics, which are at one with his personality. “Star Wars” is a “nice” weapons system-defensive, not offensive; killing missiles, not people; finally sharable with others (even the Russians) in an act of American altruism. SDI was a “final solution” in the benign sense, the one answer to all our problems.

Its simplicity of intent was not the least of its charms for a man who felt uncomfortable with the complexities of weapons systems-he confessed that he never understood what “this throw-weight business is all about.” Such technical matters would never plague his rhapsodic discussion of SDI: No one understood all its multiple if sketchy projections. It was more a wish than a single project, and such wishes are the very stuff of Reagan’s leadership.

Source: Reagan’s America, by Garry Wills, p. 358 Jul 2, 1987

Close “window of vulnerability” against Russian attack

The Soviets are achieving such superiority in ICBMs that they can launch a ground strike taking out all our land-based missiles, after which we cannot use our submarines or cruise missiles to deliver a retaliatory blow, because the Russians would still have enough ICBMs to launch another strike, so we would have to submit to dictated terms of surrender;
The Russians could hit a selected target here or in Europe with nuclear weapons, and threaten the above sequence unless we short-circuited it by surrender;

Even without launching an attack, Russia could threaten either of the two processes above, and get the same results without any attack at all. As Reagan summarized the argument in this extreme form, “the Russians could just take us with a phone call.” Source: Reagan’s America, by Garry Wills, p. 337 Jul 2, 1987

Share SDI instead of MAD

The summit should focus, Reagan felt, not on arms control per se but on the madness of MAD, which led to nuclear stockpiling. Once that neurosis was taken care of, "the mountains of weapons to which you refer can shrink."

Reagan said, "I have an argument to share with you--our anti-missile shield. We don't know if it is possible, but we are optimistic. If we come up with a solution, let us share it, make it available to everyone. Remove all fear of a nuclear strike."

No idea could have seemed more addled to Soviet perceptions than a universal defense against the ultimate offense, unless the President's shield was the sort of defense that kills. Yet he was insisting, "It's not a weapon, it's a system, a worthy dream."

Source: Dutch, by Edmund Morris, p.562 Nov 19, 1985

Reykjavik: refused to trade SDI for nuclear disarmament

Gorbachev had offered to scale down the Warsaw Pact's huge conventional arms superiority over NATO. Reagan thought, we have negotiated the most massive weapons reductions in history.

Gorbachev demanded something in return, "This all depends on you giving up SDI." Reagan had been bracing for this. "SDI isn't a bargaining chip. If you are willing to abolish nuclear weapons, why are you so anxious to get rid of a defense against nuclear weapons?"

Gorbachev kept smiling, while the president got angrier. Both realized that their rush toward a zero option in Europe had been cowardly, a feint to postpone the unresolved issue. "It's [that] or nothing," Gorbachev said.

"The meeting is over," Reagan said.

"Mr. President, you have missed the unique chance of going down in history as a great president who paved the way for nuclear disarmament."

Reagan said, "That applies to both of us."

Gorbachev said, "I don't know what else I could have done."

Reagan said, "You could have said yes."

Source: Dutch, by Edmund Morris, p.598-599 Nov 19, 1985

SDI: intercept and destroy ballistic missiles

Let me share a vision of the future which offers hope. It is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome Soviet missile threat with measures that are defensive. Let us turn to the very strengths in technology that spawned our great industrial base and that have given us the quality of life we enjoy today.

What if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant US retaliation to deter a Soviet attack--that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles?

Current technology has achieved a level of sophistication where it's reasonable for us to begin this effort. My fellow Americans, tonight we're launching an effort which holds the promise of changing the course of human history.

I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents no to the cause of mankind and world peace; to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.

Source: Dutch, by Edmund Morris, p.474-477 Mar 23, 1983

No nuclear freeze due to danger from the “evil empire”

In your discussions of nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to not to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between good and evil. I ask you to resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your support for this administration’s efforts, to keep America strong and free. Source: Speech in Orlando Florida Mar 8, 1983

Defense is not a budget issue; do B-1, MX, Trident & Stealth

Reagan said, "Defense is not a budget issue. You spend what you need." He reminded his advisor that he had campaigned on the theme of restored national security. His election had signaled to the Soviet Union that this these would become policy, and Congress's approval of his first budget made it official. "There must be no perception by anyone in the world that we're backing down one inch on the defense buildup."

Just for a start, he announced that the US intended to rearm with 100 B-1 bombers, 100 MX multiple-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles, a second generation of Trident subs, and a new, radar-invisible, stealth warplane.

Source: Dutch, by Edmund Morris, p.450 Oct 2, 1981

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