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In "Dear Mr. President...Reagan/Gorbachev and the Correspondences that Ended the Cold War", historian Jason Saltoun-Ebin sheds new light on the end of the Cold War by presenting, in many cases for the first time, the top-secret correspondence between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Saltoun-Ebin shows, through this private correspondence, that the most important reason for the end of the Cold War was simply the trust that Reagan and Gorbachev built through their letters. Although Reagan and Gorbachev at first found little to agree upon, they started the path towards the end of the Cold War by agreeing that despite their differences, they would continue to correspond. From when Gorbachev took office on March 11, 1985 till Reagan left the presidency in January 1989, the two most powerful leaders in the world exchanged over forty letters. It was this dialogue -- this decision that they could individually make a difference -- more than anything that led to the cooling of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union and then the end of the Cold War. Trusting did not come easy for either of them. The letters presented in "Dear Mr. President..." show, once again, that the pen is mightier than the sword.



THE DOCUMENTS

The Euro-Missiles Crisis 

to 

the INF Treaty 

(Created October 17, 2011)

President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty in December 1987. The documents in this collection trace the history of the process leading to the signing of the historic INF Treaty.

The Falklands Crisis 

(Created August 2011)

In the first half of 1982 Great Britain and Argentina clashed over control of the Falkland Islands. This document collection, benefiting from documents declassified as recently as 2010, traces the origins of the conflict, Secretary of State Haig's to mediate, and then the conflict itself.

(Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

The Strategic Defense Initiative 

(Created March 2011)

President Reagan announced his intention to develop the Strategic Defense Initiate (SDI) on March 23, 1983. This document collection traces the origins of SDI through the end of the Reagan administration. The collection benefits from documents released at the Reagan Library pursuant to FOIA requests released in 2010. 

Letters Between President Reagan and General Secretaries Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko and Gorbachev 

President Reagan sent or received over 100 letters to or from the General Secretary's of the Soviet Union. The Ronald Reagan Library started releasing many of these letters in 2005. This documentary collection provides links to the actual letters sent back and forth between President Reagan and the General Secretary's of the Sovie Union. 

National Security Council 

Meeting Minutes 

and

National Security Planning Group Meeting Minutes 

President Reagan chaired almost 350 meetings of the Naitonal Security Counil or National Security Planning Group. The Reagan Library started releasing the official meeting minutes from these meetings in 2005. This collection provide links to the official meeting minutes of the NSC and NSPG.

National Security Decision Directives of the Reagan Administration

Iran-Contra Files

This document set includes recentely released documents related to the Iran-Contra scandal.

The Lebanon Files

This document set relates to President Reagan's decision to send American Marines to Beirut in 1982 as part of a Multi-National Peacekeeping Force.  

The Libyan Files

Official White House records documenting President Reagan's approach to containing Qadhafi, as well as documents relating to Qadhafi's support of international terrorism.

Speeches and Speech Drafts


Head of State Files

Official memorandums of conversation between President Reagan and other foreign leaders.

The Reagan-Gorbachev Summits

The White House official memorandums of conversation between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev at the Summits in Geneva, Reykjavik, Washington, Moscow and their farewell meeting at Governors Island.

© Jason Saltoun-Ebin 2012