Existing comment:
Ronald Wilson Reagan, 6 Feb 1911 - 5 Jun 2004
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, born 2 Mar 1931
This image documents the 1987 summit meeting in Washington, D.C., that eliminated medium-range missiles from Europe and the Soviet Union. The previous year, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev had made marked progress in a meeting in Reykjavik, in which Reagan demonstrated his willingness to move away from the hard-line position of his first term. Arms-control negotiators at that meeting were appalled when Reagan suggested that both countries simply disarm. Ultimately, the Reykjavik summit foundered because the president sensed that the USSR's domestic crisis would force Premier Gorbachev to become even more conciliatory in the next round of talks. Reagan's confidence was borne out in the 1987 agreement, where the USSR acceded to American terms. As the president put it, "strength and dialogue go hand and hand." |