Essay About Ronald Wilson Reagan And Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev

Inf Treaty
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INF Treaty
In the recent history of the United States of America, nuclear weapons
have been a hot topic. There have been many attempts to stop the production and use of
nuclear weapons not just by the government, but by the different organizations around
the globe. One attempt by the American government to stop this was the treaty between
the United States and the Soviet Union on the elimination of their intermediate range and
short range missiles from 1982 to 1987. This treaty required the destruction of these
missiles. In order to accomplish the removal of all nuclear weapons, steps were taken to
ensure this treaty. These steps mandated that the treaty would provide for equality both in
limit and rights between the United Sates and the Soviet Union, not adversely affect
NATOs conventional capabilities, and also be effectively verifiable (Bureau of Arms
Control 2). Some questions that arose from the Treaty were: the two countries
and leaders involved in the treaty? What exactly did the treaty cover? Finally why was
the treaty proposed in the first place.
Who was involved in the INF Treaty?
Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois.
During high school and throughout college, Ronald Reagan was a popular student who
played on the football team and acted in school plays. Finally in 1937, Ronald Reagan
started to work in Hollywood. During the next 20 years, Reagan appeared in over fifty
films. He later went on to marry twice, having two children with his first wife, and
having two children with his second wife, Nancy Davis, who was also an actress. Soon
to be President Reagan became a conservative during the time he was the president of the
Screen Actors Guild. In 1966, Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California and
later was re elected in 1970. Ten years later, Ronald Reagan decided to run for president,
representing the Republican Party. He chose former Texas Congressman to run with him
as his Vice President and United States Nations Ambassador George Bush. Reagan won
by an overwhelming majority of votes. Only sixty-nine days after President Reagan took
office, he was shot but quickly recovered. Many tasks that Reagan accomplished
during his terms in office, included stimulating economic growth, curbing inflation,
increasing employment, and strengthening national defense (“Bio” 1). In 1984, Reagan
and Bush were re-elected as President and Vice President of the United States. During
Reagans second term in office, he sought to achieve “peace through strength” (“Bio” 1).
During Reagans two terms, he increased defense spending by thirty-five percent but
sought to improve relations with the Soviet Union (“Bio” 1). During the “peace through
strength” period, Reagan met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and together they
negotiated a treaty that would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in Privalye Russia.
The son of peasants, Gorbachev learned the values of working hard to reach certain goals.
In 1952, Gorbachev entered the law school of Moscow State University. Then in 1970 he
became first secretary of the regional party committee (“Gorbachev” 1). During the next
fourteen years, Gorbachev slowly worked his way up the chain of command until
eventually in 1985, after former Secretary Konstatine Cherenko died; Gorbachev was
elected the new General Secretary. During Gorbachevs stay in office, he called for rapid
technological modernization and increased worker productivity and her tried to make the
cumbersome Soviet Bureaucracy more efficient and responsive (“Gorbachev” 1). Also,
during this time, Gorbachev came up with a new idea of “openness” where freedoms
were “significantly expanded; the press and broadcasting were allowed unprecedented
candor in their reportage and criticism; and the countrys legacy of Stalinist totalitarism
rule was eventually completely repudiated by the government” (“Gorbachev” 1). When it
came to foreign affairs, Gorbachev signed an agreement with President Ronald Reagan in
1987 that stated that the two countries destroy all existing stocks of intermediate range
nuclear tipped missiles.
What is the INF Treaty?
“The INF Treaty is a document that requires the destruction of the Parties ground
launched