Why was Reagan convinced by 1986 that Gorbachev—despite his complaints against SDI—would come around on arms reduction agreement that both he and Reagan could live with?
Reagan was very unpopular in his last year in office, which happened to coincide with the 1988 presidential campaign. His approval rating was only around 40%.
This Vice President under Reagan was selected as the Republican nominee for President in 1988. He defeated his Democratic opponent that fall, receiving over 53% of the popular vote.
In his last day in office in 1989, Reagan issued pardons to Oliver North, John Poindexter, and Bud McFarlane for Iran-Contra.
What did Reagan believe to be Gorbachev’s real purpose at the Reykjavik summit in late 1986?
By 1990, President Bush believed NATO was unimportant and outdated, and that it should be disbanded.
Not true about Reagan’s summit with Gorbachev in Geneva in 1985?
What was the Hamtramck speech?
Reagan and Gorbachev never agreed on an INF treaty or START format.
The Reagan administration never had a clear understanding of just how poor the Soviet economy really was. If it had, Reagan recalled that he would probably have dropped SDI.
What was START?
President Bush felt that he could not compete with Reagan’s legacy as a “great communicator” and thus often shied away from emphasizing his substantive speeches as media events.
Democrats were hopeful that they would win the presidency in 1988. Reagan had been hurt by Iran-Contra, he wouldn’t be on a ticket anyway, and Democrats had taken control of the Senate (and thus Congress) in the 1986 midterms.
Gorbachev argued against SDI because he felt such a system could be used both for defensive and offensive purposes.
Reagan believed any missile defense technology created by the United States should be shared with other nations, including the USSR.
In November 1989, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bush seemed disinterested and out of touch with the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe. Why?
Reagan believed that at Reykjavik the recent disaster at Chernobyl might have been the reason for Gorbachev’s growing interest in abolishing nuclear weapons. He soon learned, though, that Gorbachev was seeking to win points with Reagan to motivate him to kill SDI
The year 1987 was difficult for Reagan: His wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, his mother-in-law died, and he was roundly criticized for Iran-Contra.
Reagan was criticized by some conservatives and hardliners for his negotiations with Gorbachev during his second term. They believed Reagan had become too soft and was “giving away the store.”
President George Bush had a long career as a diplomat and used his experience to successfully forge a peaceful end to the Cold War, unite Germany, and transform Europe.
In October 1987, the Stock Market crashed, but Reagan was more concerned and distracted with what?
What was “beyond containment”?
It was at this “summit” with President Bush in late 1989 that Gorbachev announced that he no longer viewed the United States as an enemy and wanted the U.S. to maintain a presence in Europe.
At the Reykjavik summit in 1986, Gorbachev became angry with Reagan over SDI, and walked out of the meetings.
What did President Bush believe marked the end of the Cold War?
President George Bush (1989-1993) sought to weaken the National Security Council that Reagan had worked so hard to build.
This Democratic contender for President in 1988 was the frontrunner until it was revealed that he had an extramarital affair. By the summer of 1987, pictures of him with his mistress were on the covers of tabloids across the country.
This Governor of Massachusetts was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for President in 1988.
Not one of the important decisions Reagan made in the spring and summer of 1986 that—as he noted in his autobiography—“affected our relations with the Soviets.
What was the “Massachusetts Miracle”?
Briefly discuss the different roles Reagan and Bush played in ending the Cold War.