American Experience (1988–…): Season 10, Episode 12 - Reagan: Part II - full transcript

GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME
TO THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.

I'M DAVID McCULLOUGH.

WE CONTINUE WITH THE SECOND
AND CONCLUDING PART

OF OUR BIOGRAPHY
OF PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN.

AS WE SAW IN PART ONE,
MOVIE STAR RONALD REAGAN

NEARLY ALWAYS PLAYED THE HERO,
A GOOD-LOOKING, LIKABLE FELLOW

WHO STOOD FOR
THE OLD AMERICAN VIRTUES

OF HONESTY, COURAGE
AND BIG-HEARTED OPTIMISM.

THEN, AS GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA

AND AS PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES

RONALD REAGAN SHOWED THAT IN
THE REAL-LIFE DRAMA OF POLITICS



HE WAS NO CELLULOID CONTRIVANCE.

THAT HE RESPONDED AS HE DID
AFTER THE ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE

PROBABLY DID MORE
THAN ANYTHING COULD HAVE

TO VERIFY THE APPEALING
HUMAN SUBSTANCE OF THE MAN.

BUT THERE WAS ALSO
HIS LIMITED ATTENTION SPAN

AND THE JELLYBEANS,
EASY SUBJECTS FOR RIDICULE.

HIS ECONOMIC THEORIES
STRUCK MANY AS ZANY.

TO MILLIONS OF AMERICANS

THE GREAT WORRY WAS RONALD
REAGAN'S HEADLONG ANTICOMMUNISM.

OF HIS VIRTUES, IT COULD BE SAID

THAT HE NEVER BRAGGED
ABOUT HIMSELF, HE NEVER WHINED

AND HE NEVER LOST FAITH

IN AMERICAN STRENGTH
AND CREATIVITY.

AS NO PRESIDENT SINCE F.D.R.



HE DEMONSTRATED THE POWER
OF FIXED OBJECTIVES

IN COMBINATION
WITH REMARKABLE CHARM.

AND HE WAS PERCEIVED AS LUCKY,
NO SMALL ATTRIBUTE IN A LEADER.

WHETHER IT WAS
THE DECISIONS HE MADE

THAT BROUGHT ON THE END
OF THE COLD WAR

OR WHETHER IT WAS HIS LUCK

TO HAVE BEEN IN OFFICE
AS HISTORY PLAYED ITSELF OUT

ARE QUESTIONS THAT WILL
BE DEBATED FOR YEARS

BUT THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT
HE WANTED TO END THE COLD WAR.

HE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF
OPPORTUNITIES WHEN THEY CAME.

HE SPENT A STAGGERING SUM,
AND THE COLD WAR DID END.

"REAGAN," PART TWO.

Announcer:
MEINE DAMEN UND HERREN

MR. RONALD REAGAN
UND MRS. NANCY REAGAN.

Narrator:
AS A BOY, RONALD REAGAN
INHERITED THE VALUES

OF THE AMERICAN HEARTLAND
AT THE TIME OF CALVIN COOLIDGE

A CLEAR SENSE OF RIGHT AND
WRONG... AND SELF-RELIANCE.

HIS EXPERIENCE
AS A LIFEGUARD LEFT HIM

WITH A SENSE HE COULD
RESCUE THOSE IN NEED.

IN THE MOVIES, HE PLAYED
THE HERO WHO CAME TO THE RESCUE;

HE FELT HE WAS PLAYING HIMSELF.

AS PRESIDENT,
THE WORLD WAS HIS STAGE.

THE SCRIPT WAS HIS OWN.

THE POSSIBILITIES
OF RESCUE WERE ENORMOUS.

GENERAL SECRETARY GORBACHEV,
IF YOU SEEK PEACE

IF YOU SEEK PROSPERITY FOR THE
SOVIET UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE

IF YOU SEEK LIBERALIZATION,
COME HERE TO THIS GATE.

MR. GORBACHEV, OPEN THIS GATE.

Narrator:
RONALD REAGAN HAD ALMOST NO
EXPERIENCE IN FOREIGN POLICY

LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY,
AND A CAPACITY TO BE DISENGAGED

THAT GREW WORSE
AS HE GREW OLDER...

BUT HE NEVER LOST HIS SENSE
OF AMERICA'S MISSION.

MR. GORBACHEV...

MR. GORBACHEV,
TEAR DOWN THIS WALL.

Smith:
REAGAN HAD A VERY
OLD-FASHIONED PATRIOTISM

WHICH ACCEPTED UNQUESTIONINGLY
AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

AND AMERICA'S ROLE AS A MORAL
AS WELL AS A GEOGRAPHICAL BEACON

FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD.

REAGAN BELIEVED
THE EVIL EMPIRE WAS EVIL

AND REAGAN BELIEVED THAT
THE UNITED STATES WAS PUT HERE

BY GOD, TO COMBAT THE EVIL
EMPIRE, AND... AND TO PREVAIL.

Crowd:
REAGAN! REAGAN!

REAGAN! REAGAN!
REAGAN! REAGAN!

REAGAN! REAGAN! REAGAN! REAGAN!

REAGAN! REAGAN!
REAGAN! REAGAN!

Narrator:
RONALD REAGAN HAD BEEN
OPTIMISTIC IN 1980

THAT HE COULD REVITALIZE
THE ECONOMY

AND RESTORE NATIONAL CONFIDENCE.

Crowd:
REAGAN! REAGAN! REAGAN!
REAGAN! REAGAN!

I AM NOT FRIGHTENED
BY WHAT LIES AHEAD

AND I DON'T BELIEVE THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE ARE FRIGHTENED

BY WHAT LIES AHEAD.

Narrator:
TWO YEARS LATER, REAGAN REALIZED
MANY AMERICANS WERE FRIGHTENED.

THEY HAD LIVED THROUGH A
RECESSION FOR MORE THAN A YEAR.

Man:
2,800 JOBS WERE OFFERED
BY THE CITY

AND YOU GOT 20,000 PEOPLE
OUT THERE...

Man 2:
WE GOT HUNDREDS OF LAYOFFS, AND
WE'RE NOT TAKING APPLICATIONS...

Man 3:
PEOPLE THAT VOTED FOR HIM THINK
IT'S THEIR BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER.

Man 4:
THIS IS WHAT REAGANOMICS
HAS BROUGHT ON.

I USED TO WORK FOR THESE PEOPLE.

NOW I GOT TO STAND IN LINE
TO GET A BOX OF CHEESE.

Narrator:
HIS BLUE-COLLAR SUPPORTERS
WERE DEFECTING.

THERE MIGHT NOT BE
A SECOND TERM.

REAGAN'S DEFENSE BUILDUP HAD
TRIGGERED PROTESTS AT HOME

BY THOSE WHO FEARED HIS FINGER
ON THE NUCLEAR TRIGGER...

AND DEMONSTRATIONS IN EUROPE

THAT THREATENED
THE NATO ALLIANCE.

IF REAGAN'S PRESIDENCY FAILED

HIS PERSONAL CRUSADE
AGAINST COMMUNISM

AND THE SOVIET UNION
WOULD FAIL WITH IT.

THE PASSIONS THAT HAD
CONSUMED HIM SINCE 1946

WHEN HE BATTLED COMMUNISTS
IN HOLLYWOOD

AND AN ANONYMOUS
CALLER THREATENED

TO DISFIGURE HIS FACE;

THE PASSIONS THAT
ANIMATED HIS PRESIDENCY

FROM THE VERY START,
35 YEARS LATER.

Reagan:
I KNOW OF NO LEADER

OF THE SOVIET UNION,
SINCE THE REVOLUTION

AND INCLUDING
THE PRESENT LEADERSHIP

THAT HAS NOT MORE
THAN ONCE REPEATED

IN THE VARIOUS COMMUNIST
CONGRESSES THEY HOLD

THEIR DETERMINATION
THAT THEIR GOAL MUST BE

THE PROMOTION
OF WORLD REVOLUTION

AND A ONE-WORLD SOCIALIST
OR COMMUNIST STATE.

NOW, AS LONG AS THEY RESERVE
UNTO THEMSELVES THE RIGHT

TO COMMIT ANY CRIME, TO LIE, TO
CHEAT, IN ORDER TO ATTAIN THAT

I THINK WHEN YOU DO BUSINESS
WITH THEM, EVEN AT A DETENTE

YOU KEEP THAT IN MIND.

Narrator:
REAGAN REJECTED DETENTE

THE EFFORTS OF THREE PRESIDENTS
IN THE 1970s

TO LESSEN THE TENSIONS OF
THE NUCLEAR AGE THROUGH TREATIES

TREATIES THAT ALLOWED EACH SIDE

TO BUILD THOUSANDS MORE
STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WARHEADS.

HE SAW THE SOVIETS PROJECTING
THEIR POWER IN AFGHANISTAN

AFRICA AND CENTRAL AMERICA,
FILLING THE VOID

WHEN AMERICA'S RESOLVE WEAKENED
AFTER THE FAILURE IN VIETNAM.

HE DECIDED TO CONFRONT THEM.

Morris:
HE WAS NOT AFRAID
OF THIS MONOLITH.

I THINK HE FELT
THAT JIMMY CARTER WAS AFRAID

AND THAT GERALD FORD WAS,
AND WHO KNOWS ELSE.

REAGAN WAS NEVER AFRAID
OF THE SOVIET UNION

AND HE HATED IT VERY MUCH.

IT'S ABOUT THE ONLY POWERFUL
NEGATIVE EMOTION

HE'S HAD IN HIS LIFE
WAS THAT ANIMUS

AGAINST THIS
TOTALITARIAN SYSTEM.

Narrator:
WITHIN DAYS OF SAYING
THE SOVIETS LIED AND CHEATED

REAGAN GREETED THEIR AMBASSADOR,
ANATOLI DOBRYNIN.

THE "TRUTH IS, HE AND HIS WIFE
ARE MOST LIKABLE," REAGAN WROTE

"AND VERY MUCH IN LOVE...
AFTER 40 YEARS OF MARRIAGE.

YOU WONDER HOW THEY CAN STICK
WITH THE SOVIET SYSTEM."

REAGAN APPROVED AN ACROSS-
THE-BOARD MILITARY BUILDUP

THE MOST MASSIVE
IN PEACETIME HISTORY.

HE TOLD HIS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
TO ORDER WHAT WAS NEEDED

AND NOT TO WORRY
ABOUT THE BUDGET.

PENTAGON SPENDING WOULD REACH
$34 MILLION PER HOUR.

FROM A POSITION OF STRENGTH

REAGAN SAID HE WOULD
NEGOTIATE ARMS REDUCTIONS.

HE WOULD BUILD UP TO BUILD DOWN.

THAT WAS THE STATED GOAL.

THE UNSTATED GOAL
WAS MORE AMBITIOUS.

Man:
HE DID NOT WANT AN ARMS RACE

BUT IF THERE WAS
TO BE AN ARMS RACE

WE WERE NOT GOING TO LOSE IT

AND THAT WAS THE MESSAGE HE
WANTED TO CONVEY TO THE SOVIETS:

NAMELY, THAT WE WOULD BE WILLING
TO SPEND THEM INTO OBLIVION

AND IT WOULD BE DONE PEACEFULLY,
ALTHOUGH THE MAJOR EXPRESSION

OF THIS SPENDING RACE,
SO TO SPEAK, WOULD BE MILITARY.

HE HAD THIS
OVERRIDING CONVICTION

THAT A STRONG MILITARY FACE
PRESENTED BY THE UNITED STATES

FOR A YEAR OR TWO

WOULD BRING THIS HOSTILE SYSTEM
TO ITS KNEES.

Narrator:
IN HIS CAMPAIGN,
REAGAN HAD TOLD REPORTERS

THE SOVIET ECONOMY COULD NOT
SUSTAIN AN ARMS RACE.

WILLIAM CASEY, HIS NEW C.I.A.
DIRECTOR, CONFIRMED THIS.

WHAT WE REALIZED

IS THAT THE C.I.A. WAS
MONITORING SOVIET STRENGTHS.

IT WAS NOT LOOKING
AT SOVIET WEAKNESSES

AND WE FELT THAT
THERE WERE WEAKNESSES.

YOU KNOW, YOU CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY
BE STRENGTHENING YOUR ARMOR

AND ALSO DYING OF CANCER,
AND WE STARTED TO LOOK AT THAT.

AND THE RESULT IS WE CAME UP
WITH A VERY DIFFERENT PERCEPTION

OF THE SOVIET UNION

THAN THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
SUBSCRIBED TO.

Narrator:
REAGAN AND CASEY DECIDED
TO PUSH THE SOVIET UNION

TO THE POINT OF COLLAPSE.

Meyer:
IT'S VERY DANGEROUS.

AND THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE

WHO SAID, "OH, DEAR, YOU'RE
RIGHT, THE BEAR IS WOUNDED.

DON'T POKE STICKS
AT A WOUNDED BEAR."

THE CASEY-AND-REAGAN
APPROACH WAS

"HEY, MY ENEMY IS ON HIS KNEES.

IT'S A GOOD TIME
TO BREAK HIS HEAD."

IT'S A VERY GUTSY DECISION.

THEY DECIDED... NOT JUST
THOSE TWO, BUT AMONG OTHERS...

THAT THEY WANTED
TO WIN THE COLD WAR

AND THEIR DEFINITION
OF WINNING THE COLD WAR WAS

THAT THE SOVIET STATE
WOULD CEASE TO EXIST.

Demonstrators: DEMOKRACJA!

DEMOKRACJA! DEMOKRACJA!

Narrator:
IN 1981, REAGAN SAW
A CHANCE TO STRIKE

AT THE HEART
OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE.

Demonstrators:
DEMOKRACJA!

Narrator:
THE POLISH WORKERS'
MOVEMENT "SOLIDARITY"

MARCHED FOR DEMOCRATIC FREEDOMS.

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT
DECLARED MARTIAL LAW

REAGAN WAS DETERMINED
TO KEEP SOLIDARITY ALIVE.

Demonstrators:
SOLIDARNOSC!

Narrator:
HE MET POPE JOHN PAUL II
A FEW MONTHS LATER IN JUNE 1982.

LIKE REAGAN, THE POLISH POPE
HAD ALSO SURVIVED

AN ASSASSIN'S BULLETS IN 1981.

HE, TOO, BELIEVED GOD HAD SPARED
HIM FOR A SPECIAL MISSION.

THE POPE WOULD TURN
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN POLAND

INTO AN UNDERGROUND
SOLIDARITY NETWORK.

REAGAN IMPOSED
ECONOMIC SANCTIONS

AND COMMITTED THE C.I.A.
TO UNDERMINE THE GOVERNMENT

AND KEEP SOLIDARITY ALIVE.

IF POLAND WERE FREED, THEY FELT
ALL EASTERN EUROPE WOULD FOLLOW.

OTHER COVERT ACTIONS
WERE LESS PEACEFUL.

IN AFGHANISTAN, REAGAN CONTINUED
PRESIDENT CARTER'S POLICY

OF BACKING THE FACTIONS
FIGHTING A SOVIET INVASION.

IN CENTRAL AMERICA

THE C.I.A. BEGAN TO TRAIN FORCES
TO HARASS THE SANDINISTAS

THE SOVIET-BACKED GOVERNMENT
IN NICARAGUA.

THE "CONTRAS" BECAME ONE
OF REAGAN'S FAVORITE CAUSES.

Reagan:
THEY ARE THE MORAL EQUAL

OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS

AND THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE FRENCH RESISTANCE.

WE CANNOT TURN AWAY FROM THEM.

ALL THEY NEED IS PROOF
THAT WE CARE AS MUCH

ABOUT THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
700 MILES FROM OUR SHORES

AS THE SOVIETS CARE

ABOUT THE FIGHT AGAINST FREEDOM
5,000 MILES FROM THEIRS.

Narrator:
REAGAN SPOKE TO THE HOPES
OF PEOPLE THE WORLD OVER

WHO FEARED COMMUNISM.

THE "GREAT COMMUNICATOR"
HAD THE ACTOR'S GIFT

OF CONNECTING WITH HIS AUDIENCE
IN A DEEPLY PERSONAL WAY.

BUT IN PRIVATE
HE HELD HIMSELF APART.

Nofziger:
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY
ABSOLUTELY KNOWS RONALD REAGAN.

THERE ALWAYS SEEMED
TO BE A KIND OF A VEIL

BETWEEN REAGAN
AND THE REST OF THE WORLD.

AND YOU KNOW,
NOT OBVIOUS OR ANYTHING

BUT YOU KIND OF DIDN'T GET
THAT LAST QUARTER OF AN INCH

THROUGH THERE.

MY FATHER'S
VERY SHY EMOTIONALLY.

SO I WOULD SAY HE IS
PROBABLY NOT AS DEMONSTRATIVE

AS OTHER PEOPLE.

I DON'T THINK IN MY LIFE

THAT I'VE EVER HAD A REAL
CONVERSATION WITH HIM.

Narrator:
RON REAGAN DROPPED OUT
OF YALE IN 1976

AND AFTER FOUR YEARS
OF RIGOROUS TRAINING

BECAME A PROFESSIONAL
BALLET DANCER.

Ron Reagan:
I REMEMBER ONCE
THEY HAD COME TO SEE ME DANCE

AND A LITTLE WHILE LATER MIKE
DEAVER CAME UP TO ME AND SAID

"YOU KNOW, I WAS TALKING
TO YOUR DAD THE OTHER DAY

"AND HE SAID TO ME,
'I WONDER IF...

I WONDER IF RON KNOWS
HOW PROUD OF HIM I AM.'"

AND I SAID, "WELL, HE...

DID HE DELEGATE YOU
TO COME AND TELL ME?"

YOU KNOW?

I SAID... I... YOU KNOW,
"I DON'T KNOW.

HE'S NEVER TOLD ME."

AND I THINK, IN EFFECT

IT WAS MIKE DEAVER SORT OF BEING
ASSIGNED THE TASK OF, YOU KNOW

I DON'T THINK HE PUT IT
IN SO MANY WORDS

BUT, YOU KNOW, "GO TELL
MY SON I'M PROUD OF HIM."

BUT I THINK HE WOULD HAVE
FOUND IT VERY DIFFICULT

TO SAY THAT HIMSELF.

THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE WORLD!

Narrator:
BY 1982, MANY AMERICANS THOUGHT

REAGAN'S WEAPONS BUILDUP
WAS MADNESS.

IT ENERGIZED A MOVEMENT

TO FREEZE PRODUCTION
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

REAGAN'S CRUSADE WAS
AGAINST COMMUNISM;

THE FREEZE MOVEMENT'S
WAS AGAINST THE BOMB.

USE OF THE BOMB,
SCIENTIST CARL SAGAN WARNED

WOULD DOOM THE EARTH
TO A "NUCLEAR WINTER"...

A FATE MORE LIKELY,
REAGAN'S OPPONENTS FELT

WITH YET MORE BOMBS
IN THE HANDS OF THE MAN

WHO PACIFIED BERKELEY
WITH BAYONETS.

Dallek:
WELL, THEY SAW HIM
AS SOMETHING OF A COWBOY.

THEY IDENTIFIED HIM
WITH BARRY GOLDWATER

WHO IN THE 1964 CAMPAIGN SAYS

WE SHOULD THINK
ABOUT LOBBING ONE

INTO THE MEN'S ROOM
OF THE KREMLIN, YOU SEE.

PEOPLE WOULD... HAD
BUMPER STICKERS IN 1964.

THE GOLDWATER BUMPER STICKER WAS

"IN YOUR HEART
YOU KNOW HE'S RIGHT"

AND THE OPPONENT'S SAID, "IN
YOUR HEART YOU KNOW HE'S NUTS"

SEEING HIM
AS A DANGEROUS CHARACTER

WHO MIGHT PROVOKE A NUCLEAR WAR.

AND REAGAN WAS SEEN
BY MANY PEOPLE

AS THE HEIR OF THAT RHETORIC,
AND HE FRIGHTENS PEOPLE.

Man:
BUT THE STOCKS
OF BOTH WARSAW PACT AND NATO

HAVE BEEN INCREASING
DRAMATICALLY.

THE DEPLOYMENTS
HAVE BEEN INCREASING.

MORE AND MORE

ONE HEARS OF THE NECESSITY
OF DEVELOPING PLANS

FOR FIGHTING
AND WINNING NUCLEAR WARS...

INCONCEIVABLE TO ME, MADNESS.

IT IS PRECISELY A FREEZE
WHICH WOULD STOP

THE FURTHER BUILDUP
OF WEAPONS AIMED AT OUR COUNTRY.

I THINK THE FREEZE IS

BOTH IN THE MUTUAL INTEREST
OF OUR TWO COUNTRIES

AND IS CERTAINLY VERIFIABLE.

I REJECT THE ABSURD THEORY

THAT WE CAN HAVE FEWER
NUCLEAR BOMBS TOMORROW

ONLY IF WE BUILD
MORE NUCLEAR BOMBS TODAY.

Man:
WE ARE THE PEOPLE.

WE WANT NO MORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

Narrator:
BY THE SPRING,
THE FREEZE HAD GROWN

INTO AN ENORMOUS
GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT.

A FREEZE RESOLUTION WAS
INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS.

ON JUNE 12

NEARLY ONE MILLION AMERICANS
RALLIED IN CENTRAL PARK

TO SEND A MESSAGE
TO RONALD REAGAN.

Woman:
HIS MOTTO IS "ARM TO DISARM."

THOSE BOMBS WILL PRODUCE

A NUCLEAR WAR CALLED
"ON THE BEACH"

WHERE EVERY PERSON ON THE EARTH
DIES OF RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT

WITHIN A FEW WEEKS.

THAT'S WHAT THESE NEW BOMBS MEAN

AND THAT'S
WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS DOING.

I THOUGHT HE COULD POSSIBLY
PRESS THE BUTTON, YEAH.

I WAS TERRIFIED,
AND I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND

WHY PEOPLE HAD
THIS ADULATION FOR HIM.

Man:
SAY A WARM HELLO

TO PATTI DAVIS.

Narrator:
REAGAN'S DAUGHTER PATTI DAVIS
MADE HER MOVEMENT DEBUT

IN THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL,
SURVIVAL SUNDAY, 1981.

WE HAVE A CHOICE.

MY MOTIVES WERE
THE SAME AS EVERYBODY ELSE'S

BUT I WASN'T LIKE
EVERYBODY ELSE;

MY FATHER WAS SITTING
IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

SO, YOU KNOW, I WAS OUT THERE
WITH THE INTENTION

OF SPEAKING, IN A SENSE,
FOR WORLD PEACE

BUT THE BEST THING I COULD HAVE
DONE FOR WORLD PEACE THAT DAY

I THINK, WAS TO STAY HOME

BECAUSE REALLY ALL
I WAS COMMUNICATING WAS

THAT I WAS AT WAR
WITH MY FATHER.

Woman:
HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO
INFLUENCE YOUR FATHER

ON THIS ISSUE, OR
WOULD YOU EVER TRY?

WE DISCUSS IT, WE DISCUSS IT.

Narrator:
PATTI DAVIS MET DR. CALDICOTT

AT A STAR-STUDDED FUND-RAISER
FOR THE FREEZE MOVEMENT

AT HUGH HEFNER'S
PLAYBOY MANSION IN HOLLYWOOD.

SHE INVITED DR. CALDICOTT
TO THE WHITE HOUSE

TO TRY TO CONVERT HER FATHER.

Caldicott:
TO BREAK THE ICE, I SAID TO HIM

"YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW
WHO I AM, DO YOU?"

AND HE SAID, "YES, I DO.

"YOU'RE AN AUSTRALIAN.

"YOU READ ON THE BEACH
WHEN YOU WERE A YOUNG GIRL

AND YOU'RE SCARED
OF NUCLEAR WAR."

AND I SAID, "YES, THAT'S RIGHT."

HE SAID, "WELL, I, TOO,
AM SCARED OF NUCLEAR WAR

"BUT OUR WAYS
TO PREVENT IT DIFFER.

I BELIEVE IN BUILDING
MORE BOMBS."

AFTER WE'D BEEN TALKING
FOR ABOUT AN HOUR

HE REACHED
INTO HIS INSIDE POCKET

AND PULLED A PIECE OF PAPER OUT

AND HE'D WRITTEN IN THIS
BACKHAND WRITING OF HIS

"PEOPLE WHO WORK
FOR THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREEZE

ARE EITHER K.G.B. DUPES
OR SOVIET AGENTS."

AND I SAID, "BUT THAT'S FROM
LAST MONTH'S READER'S DIGEST."

AND HE SAID, "NO."

HE SAID, "IT'S FROM
MY INTELLIGENCE FILES."

THERE WAS SO MUCH AROUND...
AROUND THAT VISIT

AND IN THE BACKGROUND
OF THAT VISIT

THAT MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE
FOR IT TO BE AN OPEN DIALOGUE.

PATTI REALLY DIDN'T PARTICIPATE.

SHE WAS DEEPLY INVOLVED
WATCHING, EXCEPT AT ONE POINT

WHERE I HAD A DOCUMENT
I WANTED TO SHOW HIM

AND I WAS BENDING DOWN
TO MY BRIEFCASE TO PICK IT UP

AND SHE SAID, I HEARD HER SAY

"DADDY, I KNOW THAT WHAT
THE DOCTOR IS SAYING IS CORRECT

BECAUSE I'VE GOT A 1982
PENTAGON DOCUMENT TO PROVE IT."

AND HE LOOKED AT HER AND
HE SAID, "THAT'S A FORGERY."

I MEAN, HE DIDN'T EVEN
ASK HER WHERE IT IS

YOU KNOW, WHAT DOCUMENT
IT WAS, ANYTHING.

HE JUST SAID,
"THAT'S A FORGERY."

I WAS STUNNED.

Narrator:
DR. CALDICOTT RECALLED
THE MEETING

AS THE MOST DISCONCERTING
OF HER LIFE:

"I LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE
HARDLY ABLE TO WALK FROM SHOCK

AND STAGGERED
BACK TO MY HOTEL."

"I SHARED HER FEAR ABOUT
WHAT THE REMAINING YEARS

OF MY FATHER'S ADMINISTRATION
WOULD BRING," PATTI WROTE.

"I SAT AT THE DINNER TABLE THAT
NIGHT DRINKING TOO MUCH WINE.

I FELT LIKE I'D LET DOWN
AN ENTIRE MOVEMENT."

DR. CALDICOTT IS
"A NICE, CARING PERSON"

REAGAN WROTE IN HIS DIARY,
"BUT SHE IS ALL STEAMED UP.

"I COULDN'T GET
THROUGH HER FIXATION.

"FOR THAT MATTER, I COULDN'T
GET THROUGH TO PATTI.

"I'M AFRAID OUR DAUGHTER
HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER

BY THAT WHOLE GANG."

Man:
GOOD-BYE, NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

FOREVER GOOD-BYE.

Narrator:
FOR ALL THEIR DISAGREEMENTS

REAGAN SHARED
WITH THE ANTINUCLEAR ACTIVISTS

AN ABHORRENCE
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

IF THE BOMB MADE HELEN CALDICOTT
WORRY ABOUT "ON THE BEACH"

OR CARL SAGAN
ABOUT "NUCLEAR WINTER"

IT MADE RONALD REAGAN WORRY
ABOUT ARMAGEDDON

THE BIBLICAL PROPHECY
OF THE END OF THE WORLD.

Deaver:
I HEARD HIM ON MORE THAN ONE
OCCASION TALK ABOUT ARMAGEDDON

AND I THINK HE BELIEVED

IN ALL OF THE PROPHECIES
IN REVELATIONS.

WHEN THEY TALKED ABOUT THE METAL
HORSES OR THE IRON HORSES

AND SO FORTH, HE WOULD REFER
TO THOSE AS THE TANKS.

THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE,
IN OTHER WORDS.

HE SAID YOU COULD TAKE
THOSE DESCRIPTIONS

OF WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN
AND SHOW THAT THAT WAS EXACTLY

WHAT WE WERE MOVING TOWARDS
TODAY OURSELVES

UNLESS WE DID
SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

HE WAS A PASSIONATE
ANTINUCLEAR IDEALIST, REAGAN.

I DON'T KNOW

IF THIS IS UNDERSTOOD
AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD BE

BUT THE VERY NOTION OF MASS
DESTRUCTION BY NUCLEAR WEAPONS

WAS DEEPLY ABHORRENT TO HIM.

IN JULY 1979, REAGAN HAD VISITED
THE AIR DEFENSE COMMAND

DEEP UNDER CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN
IN COLORADO.

THE TRIP REINFORCED HIS AVERSION

TO THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
OF THE NUCLEAR AGE...

THAT THERE IS NO DEFENSE
AGAINST A MISSILE ATTACK...

ONLY THE THREAT OF RETALIATION.

Anderson:
ON THE PLANE COMING HOME, I WAS
DISCUSSING THIS WITH REAGAN.

HE SAID, LOOK, THE PRESIDENT
HAS TWO BAD CHOICES.

IF A NUCLEAR MISSILE IS FIRED
AT THE UNITED STATES

YOU CAN EITHER DO NOTHING...

LET THE MISSILE LAND AND EXPLODE
AND KILL A LOT OF PEOPLE...

OR YOU CAN RETALIATE.

WHEN YOU'RE TOLD
THE MISSILE IS COMING IN

YOU'VE GOT TEN, 15 MINUTES
BEFORE IT HITS.

SO YOU'D PUSH YOUR OWN BUTTON
AND PUNISH THE AGGRESSOR...

YOU KNOW WHERE
THE MISSILE'S COMING FROM...

AND MAYBE SET OFF A NUCLEAR WAR

BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES
AND SOVIET UNION

AND HAVE AN ARMAGEDDON

TO DESTROY MOST
OF OUR CIVILIZATION.

HE SAID BOTH CHOICES
ARE BAD CHOICES.

THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY,
AND WE NEED TO REALLY EXPLORE

THE WHOLE QUESTION
OF MISSILE DEFENSE.

Narrator:
THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL
INITIATIVE OF HIS PRESIDENCY

REFLECTED THE RONALD REAGAN
WHO HAD FAITH IN AMERICA

AND IN HIS OWN ABILITY
TO RESCUE AND TO PREVAIL.

I CALL UPON THE SCIENTIFIC
COMMUNITY IN OUR COUNTRY

THOSE WHO GAVE US
NUCLEAR WEAPONS

TO TURN THEIR GREAT TALENTS NOW

TO THE CAUSE OF MANKIND
AND WORLD PEACE

TO GIVE US THE MEANS

OF RENDERING THESE NUCLEAR
WEAPONS IMPOTENT AND OBSOLETE.

LET ME SHARE WITH YOU 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.

Narrator:
TO REAGAN, DEFENSE WAS
A MORAL IMPERATIVE...

BUT A DAUNTING TASK TO THOSE
WHO HAD TO WORK OUT THE DETAILS.

PERHAPS THERE WOULD BE
SATELLITES IN SPACE

WITH COMPUTER-GUIDED LASERS
THAT WOULD ZAP ENEMY MISSILES.

MOST SCIENTISTS DISMISSED

REAGAN'S STRATEGIC DEFENSE
INITIATIVE, OR S.D.I.

AS UNWORKABLE.

HE WAS KNOWN TO HAVE
A RICH IMAGINATION.

I THINK RONALD REAGAN
REALLY BELIEVED IN S.D.I.

I THINK HE HAD
THIS VIEW THAT, I MEAN

IT WAS LIKE THE WAY
HE USED TO TALK

ABOUT EVENTS THAT HAD ACTUALLY
HAPPENED IN THE MOVIES

AS IF THEY REALLY HAD HAPPENED.

I THINK HE WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW,
STAR WARS... THE MOVIE.

ALL RIGHT, HAYDON, FOCUS
THAT INERTIA PROJECTOR ON THEM

AND LET THEM HAVE IT!

Narrator:
THE "STAR WARS"
IN WHICH REAGAN STARRED

WAS FILMED IN 1939.

WHAT IS IT?

THE INERTIA
PROJECTOR.

IT'S A DEVICE FOR THROWING
ELECTRICAL WAVES

CAPABLE OF PARALYZING
ALTERNATE AND DIRECT CURRENTS

AT THEIR SOURCE.

Man:
THE INERTIA PROJECTOR.

IT NOT ONLY MAKES THE UNITED
STATES INVINCIBLE IN WAR

BUT IN SO DOING
PROMISES TO BECOME

THE GREATEST FORCE FOR
WORLD PEACE EVER DISCOVERED.

Narrator:
IT WAS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT

FOR RONALD REAGAN TO DISTINGUISH
FANTASY FROM REALITY.

Cannon:
HE BELIEVED IN THIS SO STRONGLY

THAT HE BEGAN TO THINK
THAT S.D.I. WAS IN EXISTENCE

WHEN IT WASN'T EVEN
ON THE DRAWING BOARD.

THAT'S... HE SO PASSIONATELY,
PASSIONATELY WANTED...

WANTED THERE TO BE
A NUCLEAR DEFENSE.

IN A LOOSE WAY,
IT WAS A RELIGIOUS NOTION

OF THE CITY OF GOD SURROUNDED
BY AN INVIOLABLE BARRIER.

THE WEAPONS OF THE HEATHEN
WILL BOUNCE OFF OUR SHIELD

AND SHATTER INTO FRAGMENTS.

WE WILL BE INVIOLABLE
HERE BENEATH THIS SHIELD.

"SHIELD," "SHIELD"...
HE USED THE WORD "SHIELD" A LOT.

Narrator:
REAGAN PRESENTED S.D.I.
AS A BENIGN SHIELD.

THE SOOTHING RHETORIC MAY
HAVE DISGUISED ANOTHER MOTIVE.

I THINK PRESIDENT REAGAN
SAW S.D.I.

AS BEING YET ANOTHER PRESSURE
ON THE SOVIETS...

SOMETHING THAT THEY
COULD NOT WITHSTAND...

AND I THINK HE WAS RIGHT.

WHETHER IT WOULD WORK OR NOT

IT WAS A HECK OF A CHALLENGE
TO THE SOVIET EMPIRE

WHICH WAS HAVING A VERY
DIFFICULT TIME COMPETING

ECONOMICALLY AND OTHERWISE.

THE FIRST REACTION
WAS REALLY FRIGHTENING.

I MEAN, PEOPLE WERE JUST
ENORMOUSLY FRIGHTENED

BY, UH... BY THAT PROGRAM.

IN PART, I THINK

BECAUSE IT PROBABLY
REVEALED, IN THEIR MINDS

THE IMPOSSIBILITY

FOR THE SOVIET UNION
TO REALLY COMPETE IN THAT AREA

BECAUSE OF OUR TECHNOLOGICAL
INFERIORITY AT THAT TIME.

Narrator:
S.D.I. BECAME AN EXPENSIVE
RESEARCH PROJECT.

REAGAN'S DREAM
OF MAKING MISSILES OBSOLETE

WAS FOR THE FUTURE.

HE STILL HAD TO COPE
WITH THEIR THREAT.

BEFORE HE TOOK OFFICE

THE SOVIET UNION HAD DEPLOYED
HIGHLY MOBILE MISSILES

THAT COULD WIPE OUT
WESTERN EUROPE IN MINUTES.

NATO HAD DECIDED TO COUNTER THEM

WITH A NEW GENERATION
OF U.S. MISSILES

BUT ALSO TO NEGOTIATE LIMITS
ON ALL THE MISSILES.

DEFENSE SECRETARY
CASPAR WEINBERGER

WHO HAD LITTLE INTEREST
IN NEGOTIATING

SUGGESTED
A NEGOTIATING POSITION:

IF THE SOVIETS PULLED OUT
ALL THEIR MISSILES

NATO WOULD NOT DEPLOY
ANY NEW ONES.

THIS SO-CALLED "ZERO OPTION"
WAS A VERY HARD LINE.

REAGAN BOUGHT IT.

Weinberger:
THE PRESIDENT SAID

THAT THAT WOULD BE VERY GOOD
IF WE COULD GET THAT

AND I SAID, "YES.

"ONE OF THE ARGUMENTS YOU'RE
GOING TO HEAR, MR. PRESIDENT

"IS THAT THE SOVIETS
WILL NEVER AGREE TO THIS

AND THEREFORE
WE SHOULDN'T EVEN PROPOSE IT."

WHY SHOULD THE SOVIETS
HAVE ANY INCENTIVE

TO REMOVE WHAT THEY
ALREADY HAD IN PLACE?

AND THE WHOLE
ARMS CONTROL COMMUNITY...

THE PROFESSIONAL
ARMS CONTROLLERS...

BELIEVED STRONGLY
THAT THIS WAS UNFAIR.

IT WOULD BE UNFAIR, UNJUST
TO ASK THE SOVIETS TO DO THIS.

BESIDES, EVERYONE KNEW
THAT THE SOVIETS HAD

THIS FUNDAMENTAL SENSE
OF INSECURITY

SO WE SHOULDN'T EXACERBATE
THAT SENSE OF INSECURITY.

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT
REAGAN WANTED TO DO...

WAS TO EXACERBATE
THE FEELING OF INSECURITY.

IT WAS VERY SIMPLE.

Narrator:
THE FACE THAT REAGAN SHOWED
THE WORLD EARLY IN HIS TERM

WAS THAT
OF HIS HAWKISH ADVISERS...

PROVOCATIVE AND UNCOMPROMISING.

Reagan:
THE UNITED STATES

IS PREPARED TO CANCEL

ITS DEPLOYMENT OF PERSHING 2
AND GROUND-LAUNCHED MISSILES

IF THE SOVIETS WILL DISMANTLE

THEIR SS-20, SS-4
AND SS-5 MISSILES.

THIS WOULD BE AN HISTORIC STEP.

WITH SOVIET AGREEMENT, WE COULD
TOGETHER SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE

THE DREAD THREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR

WHICH HANGS OVER
THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE.

Reporter:
MR. PRESIDENT,
WHAT ARE THE CHANCES

THE SOVIETS WILL
ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSALS?

IT WAS TOOK AS A JOKE.

NOBODY IN HIS RIGHT MIND

THOUGHT OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF ZERO OPTION.

NO.

WE... AT THAT TIME

WE THOUGHT THAT WE WOULD
BE ABLE TO MAKE A DEAL.

WE'LL KEEP PART OF
THE... OUR MISSILES.

WE'LL SOMEHOW SPLIT EUROPE
AND THE UNITED STATES.

IT WAS ALWAYS IN THE CARDS,
THIS BIG GAME...

SAY, UM... TO MAKE SOME DIVISION

BETWEEN EUROPEAN...
MAJOR EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

AND THE UNITED STATES

PLAYING ON THEIR FEARS
OF NUCLEAR WAR, YOU KNOW

THIS WINTER, NUCLEAR WINTER
OR SOME AWFUL SCENARIOS.

Narrator:
THE SOVIETS SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT
LEGITIMATE EUROPEAN ANXIETIES

OF A NUCLEAR WAR FOUGHT
ON THE SOIL OF EUROPE

ALREADY BRISTLING WITH
NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON BOTH SIDES.

DEMONSTRATORS MARCHED
FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE EUROPE.

IF THEY SUCCEEDED,
THE NATO ALLIANCE

WHICH HAD HELD TOGETHER FOR 32
YEARS TO THWART SOVIET ADVANCES

WOULD BE IN SHAMBLES.

Man:
THIS MAY BE...

THIS MAY BE THE GREATEST
POLITICAL MEETING

EVER HELD IN THIS COUNTRY.

Narrator:
REAGAN ARRIVED IN GREAT BRITAIN
AS NATO'S CRISIS ESCALATED.

Man:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
MR. PRESIDENT REAGAN.

Narrator:
IN HIS SPEECH TO PARLIAMENT, HE
WENT BEYOND THE MISSILE DEBATE

TO HIGHLIGHT HIS BROADER GOALS,
THE CRUSADE OF HIS LIFETIME.

WHAT I'M DESCRIBING NOW

IS A PLAN AND A HOPE
FOR THE LONG TERM...

THE MARCH OF FREEDOM
AND DEMOCRACY

WHICH WILL LEAVE
MARXISM-LENINISM

ON THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY,
AS IT HAS LEFT OTHER TYRANNIES

WHICH STIFLE THE FREEDOM
AND MUZZLE THE SELF-EXPRESSION

OF THE PEOPLE.

Woman:
THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY.

HITLER HAD BEEN DISPATCHED
TO THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY.

AND IF YOU LOOK
AT THAT WHOLE SENTENCE

HE WAS SAYING
THAT OUR PURPOSE IS

THAT THESE TYRANNIES,
AS PAST TYRANNIES

SHOULD BE CONSIGNED TO
THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY.

HE WAS RIGHT.

LET US NOW BEGIN A MAJOR EFFORT
TO SECURE THE BEST...

A CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM THAT WILL
ENGAGE THE FAITH AND FORTITUDE

OF THE NEXT GENERATION.

FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE
AND JUSTICE, LET US MOVE

TOWARD A WORLD IN WHICH
ALL PEOPLE ARE AT LAST FREE

TO DETERMINE THEIR OWN DESTINY.

THANK YOU.

Narrator:
AS HE PREACHED
HIS MESSAGE OF FREEDOM

AND BUILT UP AMERICA'S DEFENSES

REAGAN AVOIDED TALKING
TO THE RUSSIANS.

BUT HE KNEW THAT WOULD CHANGE.

Man:
HE WANTED TO ENGAGE
WITH THE SOVIETS.

YOU KIND OF GOT THE IMPRESSION
FROM A DISTANCE THAT HE DIDN'T...

THAT HE JUST WANTED

TO BE MILITARILY STRONG
AND THAT WAS IT.

BUT THAT WASN'T IT AT ALL.

HE COULD SEE
AS A GOOD NEGOTIATOR

THAT YOU NEGOTIATE EFFECTIVELY
WHEN YOU'RE STRONG

BUT ALSO THAT YOUR STRENGTH
ERODES UNLESS YOU USE IT.

AS A NEGOTIATOR, HE DIDN'T WANT
TO JUST STAND ON STRENGTH.

Narrator:
BUT REAGAN SELDOM
TOOK THE INITIATIVE.

HE HAS BEEN COMPARED
TO A TURKISH PASHA

AWAITING OVERTURES
FROM HIS ADVISERS.

IN FEBRUARY 1983

SECRETARY SHULTZ ASKED
IF HE WANTED TO TALK

TO AMBASSADOR DOBRYNIN.

AND HE SAID, "WONDERFUL."

AND THAT SET OFF A BIG FIGHT
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE

BECAUSE HIS STAFF
DIDN'T WANT HIM TO DO THAT.

I THINK THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT
TO HAVE THESE DISCUSSIONS

AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE AS MUCH
CONFIDENCE IN HIM AS I DID.

BUT HE JUST SMILED
AND BRUSHED THEM OFF

AND SAID, "BRING HIM OVER,"
AND I DID.

Narrator:
REAGAN PUSHED HUMAN RIGHTS WITH
DOBRYNIN, URGING HIM TO HELP

WITH THE EMIGRATION
OF RUSSIAN PENTECOSTALS

CHRISTIAN DISSIDENTS WHO HAD
BEEN LIVING IN THE BASEMENT

OF THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN
MOSCOW FOR ALMOST FIVE YEARS.

A FEW MONTHS LATER, THEY WERE
ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY.

Shultz:
AND THE DEAL WAS, "WE'LL LET
THEM OUT IF YOU DON'T CROW"

AND RONALD REAGAN
NEVER SAID A WORD.

IT WAS THE FIRST DEAL HE MADE

BUT IT WAS UNKNOWN

AND I THINK IT WAS
IMPRESSIVE TO THE SOVIETS

BECAUSE IT SHOWED THEM,
NUMBER ONE, HE KEPT HIS WORD

EVEN THOUGH IT WAS
VERY TEMPTING POLITICALLY

TO TRUMPET WHAT HE HAD DONE;
AND NUMBER TWO, IT SHOWED THEM

THAT HE REALLY CARED
ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS.

Narrator:
IT WAS NOT REAGAN THE NEGOTIATOR

BUT REAGAN
THE CRUSADING IDEOLOGUE

WHO ADDRESSED EVANGELICAL
SUPPORTERS A FEW WEEKS LATER.

CONGRESS WAS ABOUT TO VOTE
ON THE FREEZE RESOLUTION

WHICH COULD JEOPARDIZE

HIS DEPLOYMENT
OF MISSILES IN EUROPE

AND REAGAN WAS ABOUT TO GIVE
HIS MOST CONTROVERSIAL SPEECH.

Reagan:
SO IN YOUR DISCUSSIONS

OF THE NUCLEAR FREEZE
PROPOSALS, I URGE YOU

TO BEWARE THE TEMPTATION
OF PRIDE, THE TEMPTATION

OF BLITHELY DECLARING
YOURSELVES ABOVE IT ALL

AND LABEL BOTH SIDES
EQUALLY AT FAULT

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 RIGHT
AND WRONG AND GOOD AND EVIL.

LET US BE AWARE

THAT WHILE THEY PREACH
THE SUPREMACY OF THE STATE

DECLARE ITS OMNIPOTENCE
OVER INDIVIDUAL MAN

AND PREDICT
ITS EVENTUAL DOMINATION

OF ALL PEOPLES ON THE EARTH

THEY ARE THE FOCUS OF EVIL
IN THE MODERN WORLD.

Will:
PEOPLE RECOILED IN HORROR.

THEY SAID,
"CAN'T TALK THIS WAY."

REAGAN SAID,
"I'M DOING IT ON PURPOSE"

BECAUSE THE WHOLE THRUST
OF DETENTE

HAD BEEN TO DEMORALIZE...
DE-MORALIZE...

OUR FOREIGN POLICY.

RONALD REAGAN WANTED
TO REMORALIZE IT.

Will:
LET'S TELL THEM THAT
WE THINK THEY ARE THUGS

AND THAT THEY ARE A FOCUS
OF EVIL IN THE MODERN WORLD

AND LET'S GET THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE BACK INTO THE COLD WAR

AS A MORAL... I'LL SAY CRUSADE.

HE SAW A LACK OF FREEDOM.

HE SAW SOCIAL DEGRADATION.

HE HATED WHAT HE SAW.

HE AT LEAST UNDERSTOOD
AND WAS COURAGEOUS ENOUGH

TO ARTICULATE
TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

THAT WHAT THERE IS
OVER THERE IS DESPICABLE.

IT'S EVIL.

ONE OF THE OLDEST WORDS
IN ANY LANGUAGE... EVIL.

THIS WAS THE RHETORIC
OF THE 1950s

THAT YOU CANNOT HAVE
COMPROMISE WITH EVIL.

YOU CANNOT HAVE COMPROMISE

WITH A SOVIET SYSTEM THAT IS
INTENT UPON OUR DESTRUCTION.

AND REAGAN IS HARKING BACK

TO THIS EARLY COLD WAR RHETORIC
AND THINKING, YOU SEE

AND PEOPLE FIND IT FRIGHTENING,
THEY FIND IT CHILLING.

Man:
THE DANGER WE FACE TODAY

WARRANTS LAYING ASIDE
ALL OTHER MATTERS

EVEN STAYING IN SESSION DAY
AND NIGHT IF THAT'S REQUIRED.

THE DANGERS ARE GREAT.

AND THEREFORE, ANY NEGOTIATIONS
THAT COULD BE STARTED, I'M FOR.

Man:
YOU'RE GOING TO BE
THE ONLY ADMINISTRATION

GOING BACK TO THE '50s

THAT EITHER
DID NOT NEGOTIATE

A TREATY
WITH THE SOVIETS

OR MET WITH THEM.

SO BE IT.

I DON'T THINK WE WANT TO GET
OURSELVES IN THE POSITION

WHERE WE DON'T WANT TO BE
THE ONLY ADMINISTRATION

THAT DIDN'T MAKE
AN ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENT

AND THEREFORE LET'S GO MAKE ONE.

THAT'S NO WAY TO APPROACH IT.

Narrator:
EARLY IN THE MORNING
OF SEPTEMBER 1, 1983

A KOREAN AIRLINER STRAYED
INTO SOVIET AIRSPACE.

IT WAS SHOT DOWN,
WITH THE LOSS OF 269 LIVES.

NEWSWEEK WROTE, "THE WORLD
WITNESSED THE SOVIET UNION

THAT RONALD REAGAN HAD
ALWAYS WARNED AGAINST."

Reagan:
THIS WAS THE SOVIET UNION
AGAINST THE WORLD

AND THE MORAL PRECEPTS
WHICH GUIDE HUMAN RELATIONS

AMONG PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.

IT WAS AN ACT OF BARBARISM

BORN OF A SOCIETY WHICH WANTONLY
DISREGARDS INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

AND THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE

AND SEEKS CONSTANTLY TO EXPAND
AND DOMINATE OTHER NATIONS.

Narrator:
REAGAN'S RHETORIC WAS TOUGH,
BUT WHEN WEINBERGER URGED HIM

TO BREAK OFF ARMS TALKS
WITH THE SOVIETS, HE RESISTED.

HE SIDED WITH SHULTZ, WHO
URGED HIM TO REMAIN ENGAGED.

IN THE KREMLIN,
THE RHETORIC WAS ALSO HARSH.

THE SOVIETS COMPARED REAGAN
TO HITLER, CALLED HIM MAD.

THE QUESTION FOR SOVIET
LEADER YURI ANDROPOV

WAS HOW TO ENGAGE RONALD REAGAN.

Morris:
THE LATTER MONTHS OF 1983, WHEN
ANDROPOV HAD TO COME TO TERMS

WITH THE KNOWLEDGE
THAT HE WAS A DYING MAN

PLUS THE KNOWLEDGE

THAT RONALD REAGAN WAS A MUCH
MORE FORMIDABLE ADVERSARY

THAN HAD ORIGINALLY
BEEN ASSUMED...

THAT HE WAS NOT
AN OLD, STUPID IDEOLOGUE

THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY A VERY
CANNY AND DETERMINED WARRIOR...

THE COMBINATION
OF THESE TWO REALIZATIONS

THESE TWO PERCEPTIONS
ON ANDROPOV'S PART

BROUGHT ABOUT, I BELIEVE, THE
SELECTION OF MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

TO BE HIS SUCCESSOR.

ANDROPOV STARTED
GROOMING GORBACHEV IN 1983

AS THE ONLY LIKELY SOVIET LEADER
WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE

THIS FORMIDABLE,
ADAMANTINE ANTICOMMUNIST

ON THE OTHER SIDE
OF THE ATLANTIC.

Narrator:
ON NOVEMBER 20, 1983

100 MILLION AMERICANS
WATCHED THE DAY AFTER

A TELEVISION MOVIE
WHICH PORTRAYED

THE EFFECTS OF A NUCLEAR WAR
ON LAWRENCE, KANSAS.

REAGAN SAW A PREVIEW.

"IT WAS A SCENARIO," HE WROTE

"THAT COULD LEAD TO THE END
OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNEW IT."

THE FILM AIRED

ON THE EVE OF THE DEPLOYMENT
OF AMERICAN MISSILES IN GERMANY.

THE INVETERATE
OPTIMIST CONFIDED:

"IT LEFT ME GREATLY DEPRESSED."

BUT UNDETERRED...

REAGAN DISPATCHED THE MISSILES
TO EUROPE ON SCHEDULE.

REAGAN'S GOAL WAS
TO NEGOTIATE FROM STRENGTH.

THE DEPLOYMENT
OF I.N.F. MISSILES

IN GERMANY, PARTICULARLY,
BUT BRITAIN AND ITALY, TOO

SHOWING THE STRENGTH AND
COHESION OF THE NATO ALLIANCE

WAS A COLD WAR TURNING POINT.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE...
SHOW THE STRENGTH

BEFORE YOU CAN HAVE
EFFECTIVE DIPLOMACY.

Will:
THERE'S A WHOLE GENERATION OF
PEOPLE WHO WERE ALWAYS HAUNTED

BY THE PROSPECT THAT OUR
AMIABLE, UNDISCIPLINED DEMOCRACY

WOULDN'T HAVE THE STAYING POWER.

IT WOULD JUST GET OUTLASTED.

WE SAID, "WELL, MAYBE THEY'RE
JUST TOUGHER THAN WE ARE

AND STUPIDITY ARMED WITH
DISCIPLINE WILL WIN AFTER ALL"

UH, AND THAT WAS WHAT WAS
AT ISSUE IN THE EARLY 1980s.

IT WAS WHETHER OR NOT
DEMOCRACIES WOULD CRACK.

IF NATO HAD DECIDED
UPON A DEPLOYMENT

AND THEN BEEN UNABLE
TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON IT

THE SOVIET UNION COULD HAVE HAD
A NEW BURST OF CONFIDENCE

THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE
WOULD HAVE BEEN CRACKED

AND WHO KNOWS
WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED?

IT DIDN'T TURN OUT TO BE
THE CASE IN LARGE MEASURE AGAIN

BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT
WAS STAYING THE COURSE

INTERNATIONALLY
AS WELL AS DOMESTICALLY.

THE PRESENT ROUND OF THE
NEGOTIATIONS IS DISCONTINUED...

BEZ USTAVLENNYI KAKOVO
SROKI VOZOBNOVLENIYA.

WITHOUT ANY DATE SET
FOR THEIR RESUMPTION.

Narrator:
SOVIET DELEGATES WALKED OUT OF
THE ARMS CONTROL NEGOTIATIONS.

FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN MORE THAN 20 YEARS

THERE WERE NO SUPERPOWER TALKS.

Woman:
SENATOR BYRD SAYS THAT OUR
RELATION TO THE SOVIET UNION

HAS REACHED THE LOWEST POINT
IN 20 YEARS.

AND SIX EMINENT
WORLD LEADERS TODAY

SAID THAT WE ARE HEADED
FOR GLOBAL SUICIDE.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO
ABOUT IT WITH THIS ARMS RACE?

I DON'T THINK WE ARE, AND I
DON'T THINK WE'RE ANY CLOSER

OR AS CLOSE AS
WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST

TO A POSSIBLE CONFLICT
OR CONFRONTATION

THAT COULD LEAD
TO A NUCLEAR CONFLAGRATION.

Narrator:
SOME IN THE KREMLIN ALSO WORRIED
ABOUT REAGAN'S INTENTIONS.

Tarasenko:
FIRST DEPUTY FOREIGN
MINISTER KORNIENKO

ASKED ME TO COME TO HIS OFFICE.

HE SHOWED ME A POLITBURO PAPER

INFORMING US
THAT THE UNITED STATES

HAVE PLANS ALL PREPARED
AND IN PLACE

FOR FIRST STRIKE
AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION

WITH, UH... FIRST PRIORITY

TO DESTROYING ALL COMMAND CENTER
AND STRUCTURES OF THE COUNTRY.

AND KORNIENKO ASKED ME
TO... TO PREPARE SOME PAPER

WHICH WOULD SEND A SIGNAL

THAT, UH... WE KNOW
ABOUT THESE PLANS

AND WE WILL NOT BE CAUGHT
UNPREPARED.

Narrator:
WHEN REAGAN READ
INTELLIGENCE REPORTS

INDICATING THE SOVIETS
HAD FEARED A FIRST STRIKE

HE TURNED TO HIS NATIONAL
SECURITY ADVISER, BUD McFARLANE

AND SAID, "DO YOU SUPPOSE
THEY REALLY BELIEVE THAT?

"I DON'T SEE HOW
THEY WOULD BELIEVE THAT.

BUT IT'S SOMETHING
TO THINK ABOUT."

LATER THAT DAY
HE WORRIED ABOUT ARMAGEDDON.

Man:
WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT IT

HE WOULD BE GENUINELY ANGUISHED

AND WOULD PHYSICALLY WITHDRAW
AND LEAN FORWARD

AND, UH... WITH QUIET PASSION...

OH... EXPLAIN HIS FEAR
THAT ARMAGEDDON WAS AT HAND

AND THAT UNLESS HE TRIED
TO MOVE US AWAY

FROM THIS INCREDIBLE
NUCLEAR THREAT OF EACH OTHER

THAT IT COULD HAPPEN
IN HIS LIFETIME

AND HE WAS DETERMINED
TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Narrator:
BUT REAGAN HAD SOMETHING
TO CHEER ABOUT.

IN 1983, AFTER 16 MONTHS
OF RECESSION

AMERICANS SLOWLY
WENT BACK TO WORK.

SPURRED BY TAX CUTS,
LOWER INFLATION

AND GOVERNMENT SPENDING,
THE ECONOMY BEGAN TO IMPROVE.

THE RECOVERY WOULD TURN
INTO AN UNPRECEDENTED BOOM

THAT LASTED FOR EIGHT YEARS.

IN 1984, THE PRESIDENT
COULD CAMPAIGN

ON AMERICA'S RENEWED CONFIDENCE.

Announcer:
IT'S MORNING AGAIN IN AMERICA.

TODAY, MORE MEN AND WOMEN
WILL GO TO WORK

THAN EVER BEFORE
IN OUR COUNTRY'S HISTORY.

WITH INTEREST RATES
AND INFLATION DOWN

MORE PEOPLE ARE BUYING
NEW HOMES.

AND OUR NEW FAMILIES CAN HAVE
CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE.

AMERICA TODAY IS PROUDER
AND STRONGER AND BETTER.

WHY WOULD WE WANT TO RETURN

TO WHERE WE WERE
LESS THAN FOUR SHORT YEARS AGO?

Man:
WE'D COME THROUGH THE...
THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT.

WE'D COME THROUGH THE ECONOMIC
CRISES AND THE RECESSION OF '82.

WE'RE NOW TO A POINT

WHERE WE'D REBUILT THE DEFENSES
OF THE COUNTRY.

UH... THE MILITARY BASICALLY
FELT GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES AGAIN

WHICH THEY CLEARLY
DIDN'T IN 1980.

THE AMERICAN COUNTRY FELT GOOD
ABOUT ITSELF AGAIN

WHICH IT CLEARLY DIDN'T IN 1980.

OF COURSE IT WAS
"MORNING IN AMERICA"...

THEY WERE RUNNING
THE BIGGEST DEFICITS IN HISTORY

AND POURING STIMULUS
INTO THE ECONOMY

AND EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY
AND NOBODY WAS AFRAID.

THE MINUTE THE MIDDLE CLASS
IN THIS COUNTRY

NO LONGER FEARS UNEMPLOYMENT,
IT GETS VERY, VERY CONSERVATIVE.

WHEN IT FEARS UNEMPLOYMENT,
IT IDENTIFIES WITH POOR PEOPLE

BECAUSE IT SAYS, "WE'RE NEXT."

BUT AS LONG AS THEY FIGURE

"WE'RE NEXT TO GET RICH"
IN THE TIME OF A BOOM

THEY'RE VERY CONSERVATIVE.

Narrator:
AS HE HAD IN 1980

REAGAN WOULD REACH OUT
TO BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS.

HIS APPEAL AMAZED HIS OPPONENTS.

Matthews:
HE DIDN'T KNOW ANYBODY BY NAME.

HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HIS OWN
HUD SECRETARY, SAM PIERCE.

HE CALLED HIM MR. MAYOR
WHEN HE MET HIM ONE TIME.

I MEAN, A MAN LIKE THAT

WHO IS SO UNFAMILIAR WITH THE
INDIVIDUALS HE HAS TO DEAL WITH

YOU WOULD THINK WAS AN IDIOT.

BUT HE WASN'T, BECAUSE
RONALD REAGAN KNEW ONE PERSON

AND I DON'T KNOW
WHO THIS PERSON IS...

MAYBE I'VE NEVER MET HIM...

BUT THIS PERSON IS
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

Crowd:
U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

Matthews:
EVEN THOUGH RONALD REAGAN
LIVES IN BEL AIR

AND HE HANGS AROUND
WITH THE BLOOMINGDALES

SOMEHOW HE STILL EVOKES

THE GUY THAT GOES
TO THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

AND PLAYS CARDS ON FRIDAY NIGHT.

THAT GUY WHO STRUGGLES EVERY DAY

JUST TO MAKE IT
THROUGH THE WEEK

WHO WORRIES ABOUT
NEVER HAVING A VACATION

WHO'S AFRAID HE MIGHT GET SICK
AND LOSE HIS HEALTH INSURANCE...

THAT GUY THOUGHT
RONALD REAGAN WAS HIS GUY;

THOUGHT RONALD REAGAN
WAS LOOKING OUT FOR HIM.

THAT'S AN AMAZING POWER.

BUT HE KNEW WHO HE WAS TALKING
TO, AND HE TALKED TO THEM.

Crowd:
FOUR MORE YEARS!

ALL RIGHT...
I'M WILLING IF YOU ARE.

Narrator:
THINGS WERE GOING WELL UNTIL
ONE AUGUST DAY AT HIS RANCH.

Reagan:
ALL RIGHT, MY FELLOW AMERICANS

I'M PLEASED TO TELL YOU TODAY

THAT I'VE SIGNED LEGISLATION
THAT WILL OUTLAW RUSSIA FOREVER.

WE BEGIN BOMBING
IN FIVE MINUTES.

Narrator:
THAT GAFFE BEFORE AN OPEN MIKE
HELPED REAGAN'S OPPONENT.

WHAT A DAY!

NICE TO MEET YOU.

GOOD, THANK YOU.

Narrator:
FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT
WALTER MONDALE

APPEALED TO VOTERS WORRIED

ABOUT REAGAN'S HARD LINE
TOWARD THE SOVIETS.

HE OPPOSED EVERY AGREEMENT

BY KENNEDY, JOHNSON,
NIXON, FORD AND CARTER...

EVERY ONE OF THEM...
TO CONTROL NUCLEAR ARMAMENTS.

HE HAS CONDUCTED
AN ARMS RACE ON EARTH

AND NOW HE WANTS TO EXTEND IT
TO THE HEAVENS.

Wirthlin:
THE PUBLIC GENERALLY FELT
A LITTLE MORE COMFORTABLE

WITH THE WAY
WALTER MONDALE DESCRIBED

HOW HE WOULD NEGOTIATE

THAN THEY DID WITH REAGAN'S
PEACE-THROUGH-STRENGTH PLATFORM

BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT REALLY
SEE AT THAT JUNCTURE

HOW PEACE COULD BE REALIZED
THROUGH STRENGTH.

Narrator:
A CAMPAIGN AD TRIED TO EXPLAIN.

Announcer:
THERE IS A BEAR IN THE WOODS.

FOR SOME PEOPLE,
THE BEAR IS EASY TO SEE.

OTHERS DON'T SEE IT AT ALL.

SOME PEOPLE SAY
THE BEAR IS TAME.

OTHERS SAY IT'S VICIOUS
AND DANGEROUS.

SINCE NO ONE CAN REALLY BE SURE
WHO IS RIGHT

ISN'T IT SMART TO BE
AS STRONG AS THE BEAR...

IF THERE IS A BEAR?

Narrator:
HOW CLOSE TO GET TO THE BEAR

HAD BEEN AN ISSUE
FOR ALMOST FOUR YEARS.

REAGAN'S KEY
WHITE HOUSE ADVISERS

WHO HAD OPPOSED DEALING
WITH THE SOVIETS

HAD EITHER LEFT OR
BEEN EASED OUT BY NANCY REAGAN

AS SHE MANEUVERED
BEHIND THE SCENE.

WHEN REAGAN INVITED SOVIET
FOREIGN MINISTER ANDREI GROMYKO

TO PAY A VISIT BEFORE THE
ELECTION, NANCY WAS DELIGHTED.

"FOR YEARS," SHE WROTE,
"IT HAD TROUBLED ME

THAT MY HUSBAND WAS ALWAYS
PORTRAYED AS A WARMONGER."

Nancy Reagan:
ANDREI GROMYKO CAME UP TO ME

AND SAID, "DOES YOUR HUSBAND
BELIEVE IN PEACE?"

AND I SAID, "WELL, OF COURSE."

AND HE SAID, "WELL, THEN, UH...

WILL YOU WHISPER THAT
IN HIS EAR EVERY NIGHT?"

AND I SAID, "YES, I WILL

AND I'LL WHISPER IT
IN YOUR EAR, TOO."

Narrator:
THE MEETING HELPED DEFUSE ONE
OF MONDALE'S CAMPAIGN ISSUES.

BUT A FEW DAYS LATER REAGAN'S
AGE, 73, BECAME AN ISSUE.

IN HIS FIRST TELEVISION DEBATE,
HE SEEMED CONFUSED.

WE HAVE... OUR MILITARY...
THE MORALE IS HIGH.

THE... I THINK THE PEOPLE
SHOULD UNDERSTAND

THAT TWO-THIRDS
OF THE DEFENSE BUDGET

PAYS FOR PAY... AND... SALARY...

OR PAY AND PENSION.

Narrator:
NANCY BLAMED REAGAN'S STAFF AND
WANTED TO FIRE RICHARD DARMAN

WHO SHE FELT HAD SWAMPED REAGAN
WITH TOO MANY FACTS.

Man:
YOU ALREADY ARE THE
OLDEST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY.

AND SOME OF YOUR STAFF SAY
YOU WERE TIRED

AFTER YOUR MOST RECENT ENCOUNTER
WITH MR. MONDALE.

I RECALL YET THAT
PRESIDENT KENNEDY HAD TO GO

FOR DAYS ON END
WITH VERY LITTLE SLEEP

DURING THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS.

IS THERE ANY DOUBT IN YOUR MIND

THAT YOU WOULD BE ABLE
TO FUNCTION

IN SUCH
CIRCUMSTANCES?

NOT AT ALL, MR. TREWHITT,
AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW

THAT ALSO I WILL NOT MAKE AGE
AN ISSUE OF THIS CAMPAIGN.

I AM NOT GOING TO EXPLOIT
FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES

MY OPPONENT'S YOUTH
AND INEXPERIENCE.

Narrator:
THE AGE ISSUE
WOULD NOT GO AWAY...

BUT REAGAN ROUTED WALTER MONDALE
WITH 59% OF THE VOTE.

"WE CAN READ," TIP O'NEILL
WOULD LATER TELL HIM.

"IN MY 50 YEARS IN PUBLIC LIFE,
I'VE NEVER SEEN A MAN

MORE POPULAR THAN YOU
WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE."

Cannon:
IF THERE'S ONE CONSTANT IN
AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

IT'S THAT LANDSLIDES
ARE POISON TO THE WINNER.

I MEAN, ROOSEVELT'S LANDSLIDE,
HE PACKS THE SUPREME COURT.

JOHNSON'S LANDSLIDE, WE GO
TO WAR IN VIETNAM, YOU KNOW.

NIXON'S LANDSLIDE, WE HAVE
THE WATERGATE COVER-UP.

LANDSLIDES ARE JUST MURDEROUS
FOR THE WINNER.

I MEAN, BECAUSE THERE'S
SO MUCH POWER IN THAT PLACE

IF YOU GIVE A GUY AND YOU SAY
HE'S WON EVERYTHING

AND "I'VE CARRIED EVERY STATE
EXCEPT MINNESOTA"

THEN YOU'VE GOT TO LOOK OUT.

Crowd: FOUR MORE YEARS!
FOUR MORE YEARS!

I THINK THAT'S
JUST BEEN ARRANGED.

Narrator:
IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS

REAGAN WOULD SEE HIS BEST DAYS
AS PRESIDENT, AND HIS WORST

WITHOUT THE HELP
OF HIS OLDEST ADVISERS.

HIS TROIKA WAS BURNED OUT.

MICHAEL DEAVER

WHO HAD BEEN WITH REAGAN
SINCE HE BECAME GOVERNOR

WOULD SOON LEAVE GOVERNMENT.

EDWIN MEESE, WHO HAD BEEN
WITH HIM JUST AS LONG

LEFT TO BECOME ATTORNEY GENERAL.

CHIEF OF STAFF JAMES BAKER
BECAME TREASURY SECRETARY

SWITCHING JOBS WITH DON REGAN

WHO BECAME
THE NEW CHIEF OF STAFF.

Rollins:
EVERYBODY ELSE WHO WAS LEFT
IN THE WHITE HOUSE

HAD NO HISTORY WITH REAGAN.

THEY HADN'T BEEN
IN HIS CAMPAIGN

THEY HADN'T BEEN FROM CALIFORNIA

THEY HADN'T BEEN... MOST OF THEM
HADN'T BEEN ON THE FIRST TERM

AND DON REGAN HAD HIS STAFF
FROM TREASURY

SO IT WAS SORT OF LIKE
I WAS ALWAYS CONVINCED

THE PRESIDENT
WOULD WAKE UP SOMEDAY

AND SAY, "WHERE HAVE
ALL MY FRIENDS GONE?"

HIS FRIENDS WERE STILL
AROUND GOVERNMENT

BUT THEY WEREN'T IN
THE WHITE HOUSE DAY IN, DAY OUT

CONTROLLING WHAT HE SAW OR THE
INFORMATION FLOW THAT HE HAD.

Narrator:
THE LITTLE BOY
WHO COULD NOT FORM ATTACHMENTS

SIMPLY LET HIS OLD FRIENDS GO.

HE DID NOT SEEM TO REALIZE HOW
WELL THEY'D TAKEN CARE OF HIM.

Nofziger:
WHEN DON REGAN BECAME
CHIEF OF STAFF

ONE OF THE PIECES OF ADVICE
I GAVE HIM WAS

"DON, GO OUT AND GET
YOUR OWN MIKE DEAVER...

"SOMEBODY WHO WILL LISTEN
TO NANCY

"AND TAKE CARE OF HER NEEDS
AND SO FORTH

"BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T, THEN
SHE WILL CALL YOU ALL THE TIME

"AND IT'S HARD
TO GET YOUR WORK DONE

WHEN YOU'RE TALKING
TO NANCY ALL THE TIME."

AND, UH... SO HE SAID, "FINE,"
BUT HE DIDN'T DO IT.

HE THOUGHT HE COULD SEPARATE THE
TWO OF THEM, AND HE COULDN'T.

Narrator:
THE "MOMMY WATCH"
WOULD FALL TO DON REGAN.

REGAN WOULD TRY TO DO ALONE

WHAT A STAFF OF THREE
HAD DONE IN THE FIRST TERM

AND DO IT IN A STYLE MANY
THOUGHT WAS TOO IMPERIOUS.

Rollins:
I MEAN, DON REGAN WAS A TYRANT

AND HE WAS MISCAST
AS THE CHIEF OF STAFF.

HE NEVER THOUGHT
OF HIMSELF AS STAFF;

HE THOUGHT OF HIMSELF
AS DEPUTY PRESIDENT.

SAID TO ME ONE DAY

"I CAN MAKE 85% OF THE
PRESIDENT'S DECISIONS"

AND I SAID, "DON, I JUST RAN
A CAMPAIGN IN 50 STATES.

I DIDN'T SEE YOUR NAME
ON ANY BALLOT."

OH, COME ON,
THAT IS ABSOLUTE BALDERDASH.

I COULD THINK OF A COUPLE
OF OTHER WORDS TO USE

BUT, UH, SINCE THIS MIGHT BE
A FAMILY PROGRAM

I WON'T USE THEM.

THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES IS

THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

AND AS CHIEF OF STAFF

YOU CARRY OUT WHATEVER IT IS
THAT THE MAN WANTS TO DO.

NOW, SURE,
I HAD BEEN A C.E.O. MYSELF

OF A COMPANY
WITH 25,000 OR MORE PEOPLE.

I HAD BEEN SECRETARY
OF THE TREASURY

WHICH HAD HUNDREDS
OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE.

I KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT
ADMINISTRATION, HOW TO COMMAND

BUT I ALSO KNEW
THAT I WAS CHIEF OF STAFF.

Narrator:
THE PRESIDENT EMBRACED
HIS NEW CHIEF OF STAFF

AND NEVER CHALLENGED
HIS TAKE-CHARGE STYLE.

THE PROBLEMS WOULD COME LATER.

BUT THE OPPORTUNITIES
OF THE SECOND TERM

WERE APPARENT WITHIN WEEKS.

REAGAN HAD WRITTEN
TO LEONID BREZHNEV IN 1981

SUGGESTING THEY MEET
WHEN THE CLIMATE WAS BETTER.

BREZHNEV DIED THE NEXT YEAR.

IN 1983,
HE HAD WRITTEN YURI ANDROPOV

OF HIS INTEREST IN ELIMINATING
THE NUCLEAR THREAT.

THAT YEAR ENDED
WITH A HEIGHTENED THREAT.

THEN ANDROPOV DIED.

AT 4:00 A.M. ON MARCH 11, 1985,
REAGAN WAS AWAKENED

TO BE TOLD THAT KONSTANTIN
CHERNENKO HAD DIED.

"'HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET
ANYPLACE WITH THE RUSSIANS'

I ASKED NANCY,
'IF THEY KEEP DYING ON ME?'"

THE NEW MAN IN THE KREMLIN,
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

WAS NOT ABOUT TO DIE ON ANYONE.

HE WAS 54 YEARS OLD,
VITAL, ALERT, INTELLIGENT...

AND A REFORMER.

HE WOULD TRY

TO MAKE THE COMMUNIST ECONOMY
MORE PRODUCTIVE

AND THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
MORE OPEN.

MARGARET THATCHER HAD MET
GORBACHEV AND BEEN IMPRESSED.

Thatcher:
I LIKE MR. GORBACHEV.

WE CAN DO BUSINESS TOGETHER.

WE BOTH BELIEVE
IN OUR OWN POLITICAL SYSTEMS;

HE FIRMLY BELIEVES IN HIS,
I FIRMLY BELIEVE IN MINE.

WE'RE NEVER GOING
TO CHANGE ONE ANOTHER.

BUT WE TALKED
AND WE DISCUSSED FREELY.

NOW, THAT WAS WHAT WE WANTED.

THIS WAS WHAT PRESIDENT REAGAN
HAD BEEN WANTING

IN THE BATTLE OF IDEAS.

SO I SAID,
"LOOK, THIS MAN IS PREPARED

"TO MEET ARGUMENT WITH ARGUMENT.

"THAT'S A TOTALLY
NEW PHENOMENON.

SO WE REALLY CAN DO BUSINESS
AND PERHAPS GET SOMEWHERE."

Narrator:
AS SOON AS GORBACHEV
CAME TO POWER IN MARCH

REAGAN PROPOSED A MEETING.

IT WOULD LEAD
TO HIS GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS.

IN JUNE,
HE CONFRONTED TERRORISM.

HIS RESPONSE WOULD THREATEN
HIS PRESIDENCY.

Man:
They are beating the passengers,
they are beating the passengers.

They are threatening
to kill them now.

Narrator:
TERRORISTS HIJACKED A PLANE AND
MURDERED AN AMERICAN PASSENGER.

THIS CRISIS WAS RESOLVED, BUT
IT HEIGHTENED REAGAN'S CONCERN

FOR SEVEN OTHER AMERICANS
HELD HOSTAGE IN BEIRUT.

THEY HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED

BY FOLLOWERS
OF IRAN'S AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI

WHO HAD HELD
AMERICAN DIPLOMATS HOSTAGE

AND HELPED UNDERMINE
JIMMY CARTER'S PRESIDENCY.

REAGAN TOOK A FIRM STAND
ON NOT DEALING WITH TERRORISTS.

LET ME MAKE IT PLAIN
TO THE ASSASSINS IN BEIRUT

AND THEIR ACCOMPLICES,
WHEREVER THEY MAY BE

THAT AMERICA WILL NEVER MAKE
CONCESSIONS TO TERRORISTS.

TO DO SO WOULD ONLY INVITE
MORE TERRORISM.

Narrator:
BUT REAGAN HEARD

HOW WILLIAM BUCKLEY, HIS
C.I.A. STATION CHIEF IN BEIRUT

HAD BEEN BEATEN BY HIS CAPTORS.

AS HE PERSONALIZED
THE PLIGHT OF THE HOSTAGES

THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS POLICY
TENDED TO FADE.

Reporter:
TERRIBLE MISTAKE

TO LINK THE SEVEN
HOSTAGES WITH THE 39?

I DON'T THINK
ANYTHING THAT ATTEMPTS

TO GET PEOPLE BACK
WHO HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED

BY THUGS AND MURDERERS
AND BARBARIANS IS WRONG TO DO.

AND WE'RE GOING
TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN

TO GET ALL OF THEM BACK
THAT ARE HELD IN THAT WAY.

Will:
THIS IS THE SOFT SIDE
OF RONALD REAGAN.

HE WAS REALLY BOTHERED
BY THE HOSTAGES.

IT WOULD TAKE A HARDER MAN
THAN RONALD REAGAN

TO SAY WHAT A PRESIDENT
OUGHT TO SAY

WHICH IS, "I'M SORRY,
THIS IS A BIG COUNTRY

"AND BIG COUNTRIES HAVE
CASUALTIES, IF YOU WILL

"AND WE JUST HAVE
TO REGARD THOSE PEOPLE

"AS, FOR THE MOMENT, CASUALTIES.

PUT THEM OUT OF YOUR MIND."

RONALD REAGAN HAD
A HARD TIME BEING HARD.

Narrator:
IN JULY 1985

FIVE DAYS AFTER AN OPERATION
FOR COLON CANCER

REAGAN WAS ASKED BY HIS NATIONAL
SECURITY ADVISER, BUD McFARLANE

TO APPROVE A SECRET PLAN.

IT WAS TIME
TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH IRAN

BY COURTING MODERATES

WHO MIGHT SUCCEED
THE AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI

AND WHO MIGHT INFLUENCE
THEIR FOLLOWERS IN BEIRUT

TO RELEASE
THE SEVEN CAPTIVE AMERICANS.

McFarlane:
HIS REACTION WAS

THAT, YES, IF WE
COULD OPEN A DIALOGUE

WITH PEOPLE WHO MIGHT SUCCEED
KHOMEINI, THAT WOULD BE GOOD.

WHEN THE POSSIBILITY
OF THE RELEASE OF THE HOSTAGES

WAS ADDED, HE WAS
EVEN MORE ENTHUSIASTIC.

Narrator:
REAGAN SOON APPROVED
A SHIPMENT OF ARMS TO IRAN

WHICH HE WOULD LATER DENY
WAS A TRADE FOR HOSTAGES.

THAT WASN'T ALL HE WOULD DENY.

"I DIDN'T HAVE CANCER,"
HE LATER TOLD REPORTERS.

"SOMETHING INSIDE OF ME HAD
CANCER, AND IT WAS REMOVED."

THE NEXT MONTH, HE WAS AT
THE RANCH, READY TO SADDLE UP.

IT WAS A CONSTANT ARGUMENT
TO TRY TO CONVINCE HIM

NO, HE COULD NOT RIDE
AS HE WANTED TO RIDE.

Man:
FINALLY THE ELAPSED TIME
IS OVER

AND THE FIRST LADY
PROTECTIVELY SAYS

"WELL, LET'S START OFF GENTLY

AND WE'LL JUST WALK OUR HORSES
AROUND THE RANCH."

THE NEXT DAY,
HE WENT OUT TO RIDE

AND THERE'S A STRETCH WHERE
YOU HAVE A NICE STRAIGHTAWAY.

THE DOCTOR WOULD DRIVE
BEHIND US

AND OFTEN,
THE VEHICLE WASN'T IN EYESIGHT

SO HE'D KIND OF, "IF HE'S
NOT LOOKING, WE CAN DO IT.

I WON'T TELL, WILL YOU?"

AND I HEARD THIS YELL
UP IN FRONT FROM SEVERAL PEOPLE

AND I... SO WE PUT IT INTO GEAR
AND RODE UP CLOSER

AND ALL WE COULD SEE
WAS THE DUST

FROM THE HOOF BEATS
IN THE DISTANCE

AS THE PRESIDENT GALLOPED
AWAY FROM THE CROWD.

BUT HE WAS SOMETHING.

NO WAY IN HELL WERE YOU GOING
TO STOP THAT MAN FROM RIDING.

AND IT WAS FINE.

Hutton:
ONE OF THE AGENTS
NEXT TO ME SAYS

"DOC, THE FIRST LADY WANTS YOU
DOWN IN THE BARN."

AND AS I WALKED DOWN THERE,
EVERYBODY ELSE IS WALKING AWAY

WHICH WASN'T CUSTOMARY

AND I SAID, "GEE, WHAT'S...
WHAT'S... WHAT'S IN STORE?"

SHE SAYS, "NOW, JOHN,"
SHE SAYS, "YOU STAND HERE.

"WE'RE GOING TO HAVE
A LITTLE MEETING

BUT WE'RE NOT ALL HERE YET."

YEP, EVER THE PROTECTOR.

Narrator:
THREE MONTHS LATER

RONALD REAGAN WOULD HAVE
ANOTHER SUMMIT...

IN GENEVA.

RONALD REAGAN HAD WARNED
THAT THE SOVIETS CHEAT AND LIE.

HE HAD OPPOSED EVERY ARMS DEAL
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS HAD MADE

WITH THE SOVIETS IN THE 1970s

BUT HE ARRIVED IN GENEVA
IN NOVEMBER 1985

CONFIDENT THAT HE COULD HANDLE
THE NEW LEADER

OF THE EVIL EMPIRE.

Smith:
CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS
FOR 50 YEARS

HAD TENDED TO DENIGRATE

THE IMPORTANCE
OF PERSONAL DIPLOMACY.

IT'S THE LEGACY
OF THE YALTA CONFERENCE

AND THEY THOUGHT
F.D.R. HAD SOLD US OUT

AND THEN WE SOLD OUT CHINA...

WE WERE ALWAYS
SELLING OUT SOMEONE

AND THE SALE WAS USUALLY
BY A PRESIDENT

WHO THOUGHT THAT
IF ONLY HE COULD GET IN A ROOM

WITH HIS SOVIET COUNTERPART

THAT HIS CHARM
AND HIS ARGUMENTS WOULD PREVAIL.

THAT'S THE
CONSERVATIVE TRADITION

AND YET REAGAN CLEARLY BELIEVED
THAT HE COULD DO THAT

THAT THE FORCE OF HIS
PERSONALITY AND OF HIS ARGUMENTS

AND ABOVE ALL, OF HIS SINCERITY

WOULD IMPRESS THEMSELVES
UPON THE SOVIETS.

Narrator:
SECRETARY WEINBERGER
WAS LESS SURE.

HIS LETTER URGING REAGAN
NOT TO HAMSTRING S.D.I.

WAS LEAKED TO THE PRESS

AND SEEN AS AN EFFORT
TO SABOTAGE THE SUMMIT.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

GENERAL SECRETARY
OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY

CAME TO GENEVA TO NEGOTIATE

WITH THE MAN YURI ANDROPOV
HAD CONSIDERED IMPOSSIBLE

CALLED MAD COMPARED TO HITLER.

THE VIGOROUS 54-YEAR-OLD

WHOSE CHARMING SMILE WAS SAID
TO HIDE TEETH OF IRON

HAD COME TO MEET
THE 74-YEAR-OLD PRESIDENT

WHO HAD RAILED AGAINST COMMUNISM
FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS.

I FELT A STRONG FEAR,
A PALPABLE SENSE OF FEAR

THROUGHOUT THE DELEGATION

THAT THIS YOUNG,
FORMIDABLY INTELLIGENT

AGGRESSIVE SOVIET LEADER
WAS GOING TO RUN RINGS

AROUND OUR GENTLE, SLOW

SLIGHTLY DODDERY,
AGING PRESIDENT.

THE AMERICAN DELEGATION
WAS AFRAID

THAT HE WAS GOING TO BE
OUTSMARTED, OUTMANEUVERED

AND DIPLOMATICALLY
PERHAPS DESTROYED.

Reporter:
WHAT'S THE...
WHAT'S THE FIRST PRIORITY?

PEACE.

Narrator:
REAGAN HAD LOTS TO WORRY ABOUT

INCLUDING A CHORE AT THE AGA
KHAN'S VILLA, WHERE HE STAYED.

Nancy Reagan:
MY FRIEND SALLY SAID TO ME

"NOW, THERE'S JUST ONE THING.

"MY SON HAS SOME GOLDFISH
THAT HE ADORES

AND WOULD YOU MIND FEEDING
THE GOLDFISH IN THE MORNING?"

AND RONNIE, OF COURSE,
RIGHT AWAY...

"WELL, OF COURSE, ABSOLUTELY."

AND ONE MORNING HE WENT
INTO THE LITTLE BOY'S ROOM...

AND ONE GOLDFISH WAS DEAD.

WELL, I THOUGHT
RONNIE WAS GOING TO DIE.

HE... HE CALLED EVERYBODY
IN THERE AND SAID

"YOU'VE GOT TO GET A GOLD...

"TAKE THIS GOLDFISH OUT AND FIND
ONE THAT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE IT

SO THAT WE CAN REPLACE THIS."

Narrator:
THE GOLDFISH REPLACED, IT WAS
TIME TO MEET MIKHAIL GORBACHEV.

AND I SEE IT NOW IN MEMORY
IN SLOW MOTION.

IT WAS SUPREMELY DRAMATIC.

THIS GREAT, GLEAMING BLACK ZIL

COMES WHISPERING AROUND
THE CORNER, ON THE GRAVEL

CRUNCHES TO A HALT.

DOWN THE STAIRS COMES
THIS GREAT, GLIDING, BLUE-SUITED

UNBELIEVABLY SELF-CONFIDENT
AND CALM PRESIDENT

WITHOUT A COAT ON,
IN THE FREEZING AIR.

AND OUT OF THE BIG,
BLACK RUSSIAN LIMOUSINE

COMES THIS AWKWARD,
SHORT, RATHER DUMPY

HEAVILY OVERCOATED, HEAVILY
SCARFED, HATTED COMMUNIST LEADER

WHO FUMBLED WITH HIS SCARF
AND FUMBLED WITH HIS COAT

AS HE APPROACHED
THIS GREAT, BENIGN PRESENCE.

AND THEY MET
AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS.

REAGAN TOWERED OVER GORBACHEV.

GORBACHEV LOOKED UP
INTO REAGAN'S FACE...

LOOKED AT HIM VERY INTENSELY.

REAGAN SMILED DOWN AT HIM

AND THEN GENTLY CHOREOGRAPHED
HIM UP THE STAIRS.

Tarasenko:
GORBACHEV'S
IN STANDARD POLITBURO HAT

STANDARD POLITBURO OVERCOAT.

IT REMINDS ME OF THE K.G.B.
AGENT FROM BAD AMERICAN FILMS.

SO, I SAID TO MYSELF

THAT WE HAVE LOST THE FIRST...
THIS PHOTO OPPORTUNITY.

WE HAVE LOST THIS FIRST ROUND.

Narrator:
"WHEN THE DELEGATIONS MET,"
REAGAN RECALLED

"I TOOK GORBACHEV
THROUGH THE LONG HISTORY

"OF SOVIET AGGRESSION.

"I WANTED TO EXPLAIN WHY
THE FREE WORLD HAD GOOD REASON

TO PUT UP ITS GUARD
AGAINST THE SOVIET BLOC."

Morris:
HIS LANGUAGE WAS BRUTAL.

HE WOULD SAY THINGS

LIKE "LET ME TELL YOU,
MR. GENERAL SECRETARY

WHY WE FEAR YOU
AND WHY WE DESPISE YOUR SYSTEM."

NOW, THAT,
IN A DIPLOMATIC MEETING

IS EXTREMELY
CONFRONTATIONAL LANGUAGE.

PREZIDENT... S PERVOY MINUTY...

Translator:
THE PRESIDENT
FROM THE VERY START

STARTED TO SPEAK
IN A KIND OF LECTURING TONE

AS THOUGH I WAS A SUSPECT
OR MAYBE A STUDENT.

AND I CUT HIM SHORT.

I SAID, "MR. PRESIDENT

"YOU ARE NOT A PROSECUTOR;
I'M NOT THE ACCUSED.

YOU ARE NOT A TEACHER;
I AM NOT A STUDENT."

Morris:
BUT REAGAN SOMEHOW WAS ABLE
TO SAY THINGS LIKE THAT

BUT AT THE SAME TIME

HE SEEMED TO HAVE A SWEETNESS
AND A BENIGN QUALITY ABOUT HIM

THAT NEUTRALIZED
OR AT LEAST TOOK THE EDGE OFF

WHAT FROM RICHARD NIXON WOULD
SEEM LIKE A DECLARATION OF WAR.

Narrator:
TO EASE THE TENSION, REAGAN
SUGGESTED THEY TALK IN PRIVATE.

AS THEY WALKED TO
A LESS FORMAL HOUSE BY THE LAKE

THEY CHATTED
ABOUT REAGAN'S MOVIE CAREER...

THE FIRST TIME
THEY HAD TALKED AS HUMAN BEINGS.

Bessmertnykh:
GORBACHEV IMMEDIATELY
STARTED TO LIKE REAGAN.

THAT WAS
A VERY SURPRISING THING.

I THINK REAGAN HAD SOMETHING
WHICH WAS SO DEAR TO GORBACHEV

AND THAT IS SINCERITY.

THIS HUMAN VISION
AND HUMAN TOUCH...

AND WHEN HE TALKED
WITH OUR LEADERS

HE TALKED VERY EMOTIONAL.

AND HE CAME ACROSS...
THIS IS A HUMAN BEING.

HE IS TRYING
TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF TO YOU.

SO, MAYBE FOR THE FIRST TIME
OUR LEADERS STARTED TO THINK

THAT ON THE OTHER SIDE IT'S NOT
A MACHINE, IT'S NOT SOME ROBOT.

Ron Reagan:
I THINK THAT PEOPLE

DON'T RECKON
WITH THE POWER OF CHARM

AND JUST PERSONAL
PERSUASIVENESS.

AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN MY FATHER
KIND OF TURNS THE HIGH BEAMS ON

UH, EVEN, EVEN SOMEBODY
LIKE GORBACHEV TENDS TO MELT.

Narrator:
AS THEY WALKED BACK
TO REJOIN THEIR DELEGATIONS

REAGAN INVITED GORBACHEV
TO WASHINGTON.

GORBACHEV RECIPROCATED
WITH AN INVITATION TO MOSCOW.

ON THE SECOND DAY,
REAGAN FOUND GORBACHEV READY

TO TALK ABOUT
"BUILDING DOWN" THEIR ARSENALS

BUT DETERMINED TO KILL S.D.I.

REAGAN RESISTED.

GORBACHEV WAS VISIBLY IRRITATED.

HE SAID, "WHY YOU ARE REPEATING

"THE SAME AND
THE SAME THING TO ME?

"I'VE HEARD THAT MANY TIMES.

"STOP THIS RUBBISH.

TELL ME SOMETHING MORE."

IT WAS LITERALLY SO.

IT WAS A HARSH DISCUSSION.

Narrator:
BUT AT THE END,
THE MOOD WAS WARM.

REAGAN LEFT GENEVA WITH S.D.I.
INTACT AND AN AGREEMENT:

A NUCLEAR WAR CANNOT BE WON
AND MUST NEVER BE FOUGHT.

THE WORLD BREATHED
A SIGH OF RELIEF.

THERE WAS ANOTHER COMMUNIQUE...

TO HUSSEIN AGA KHAN
AND HIS PARENTS.

"DEAR FRIENDS, ON TUESDAY
I FOUND ONE OF YOUR FISH DEAD

"IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK.

"I DON'T KNOW
WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED

"BUT I ADDED
TWO NEW ONES.

"I HOPE THIS WAS ALL RIGHT.

"THANKS FOR LETTING US
LIVE IN YOUR LOVELY HOME.

RONALD REAGAN."

Sergeant at Arms:
MR. SPEAKER, THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

Speaker of the House:
THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES.

Narrator:
"I HAVEN'T GOTTEN SUCH
A RECEPTION SINCE I WAS SHOT"

REAGAN WOULD QUIP.

THE IMAGE OF RONALD REAGAN
AS A TRIGGER-HAPPY COWBOY

HAD BEGUN TO FADE.

Narrator:
REAGAN'S PRESTIGE HIT ITS HIGH
ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1986

AS HE STOOD ON THE DECKS
OF THE JOHN F. KENNEDY

AND PUSHED A BUTTON

WHICH SENT A LASER A MILE
ACROSS NEW YORK HARBOR

TO LIGHT THE REFURBISHED SYMBOL
OF THE AMERICAN PROMISE.

LIBERTY WEEKEND
WAS THE CENTENNIAL

OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY,
AND REAGAN SHOWED

WHAT TIME MAGAZINE CALLED "HIS
GENIUS FOR AMERICAN OCCASIONS"

WITH THE BIGGEST FIREWORKS
DISPLAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

Chorus:
♪ FOR AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN... ♪

Reagan:
THE THINGS THAT UNITE US...

AMERICA'S PAST,
OF WHICH WE'RE SO PROUD

OUR HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS
FOR THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD

AND THIS MUCH-LOVED COUNTRY...

THESE THINGS FAR OUTWEIGH
WHAT LITTLE DIVIDES US.

TONIGHT WE PLEDGE OURSELVES
TO EACH OTHER

AND TO THE CAUSE
OF HUMAN FREEDOM...

THE CAUSE THAT HAS GIVEN
LIGHT TO THIS LAND

AND HOPE TO THE WORLD.

Chorus:
♪ FROM SEA TO... ♪

Narrator:
"RONALD REAGAN HAS FOUND
THE AMERICAN SWEET SPOT"

TIME WROTE WITH WONDER.

"REAGAN IS A SORT OF MASTERPIECE
OF AMERICAN MAGIC...

"APPARENTLY ONE OF
THE SIMPLEST CREATURES ALIVE

"YET A CHARACTER OF COMPLEXITIES

"THAT CONNECT HIM WITH THE MYTHS
AND POWERS OF HIS COUNTRY

IN AN UNPRECEDENTED WAY."

Narrator:
REAGAN'S SUCCESSES WERE
MORE THAN SYMBOLIC.

THAT MONTH IN POLAND

THE GOVERNMENT GAVE IN
TO ONE OF HIS CONDITIONS

FOR ENDING SANCTIONS
AND FREED POLITICAL PRISONERS.

SOLIDARITY WAS ALIVE.

REAGAN UPPED THE ANTE
IN AFGHANISTAN

FROM HARASSING THE SOVIETS
TO FORCING THEM OUT.

THE REBELS WERE ABOUT TO REALIZE

THE BENEFITS
OF THE STINGER MISSILE.

IN NICARAGUA,
THINGS WERE DIFFERENT.

IN 1984, CONGRESS CUT OFF
FUNDING FOR THE CONTRAS

AND MADE C.I.A. SUPPORT ILLEGAL.

REAGAN TOLD HIS NATIONAL
SECURITY ADVISER, BUD McFARLANE

"WE'VE GOT TO FIND A WAY
TO KEEP DOING THIS, BUD.

"I WANT YOU TO DO
WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO

"TO HELP THESE PEOPLE KEEP
BODY AND SOUL TOGETHER.

DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN."

ON LIBERTY WEEKEND, A YEAR
AND A HALF INTO HIS SECOND TERM

REAGAN WAS THE MASTER

OF THE CEREMONIAL SIDE
OF THE PRESIDENCY.

BUT HE WAS LESS AND LESS
ENGAGED WITH HIS JOB.

Rollins:
IN THE FIRST TERM

WE HAD BAKER AND DEAVER
AND MEESE AND CLARK.

THEY WOULD BRING THINGS
TO THE PRESIDENT

AND THEY WOULD FULLY ENGAGE

IN THE DISCUSSION
AND THE DIALOGUE WITH HIM.

DON REGAN HAD A TENDENCY TO KEEP
STAFF AWAY FROM THE PRESIDENT

AND BASICALLY HAVE
STAFF BRIEF HIM

AND HE WOULD GO IN
TO THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF.

Maureen Reagan:
AS TIME WENT ON, I SENSED
A DISCOMFORT IN HIM.

I KNEW THAT HE WAS COMING
UPSTAIRS QUIETER AT NIGHT

WHERE HE USED TO COME UP
WITH GREAT STORIES

ABOUT SOME DECISION
THAT HAD BEEN MADE

AND WHO WAS ARGUING WHAT.

NOW, IT WAS JUST...
IT WAS ALL JUST KIND OF QUIET.

AND WE'D HAVE
TO DRAW OUT OF HIM, YOU KNOW

KIND OF WHAT HAPPENED
DURING THE DAY

AND THERE WAS A... THERE WAS
JUST A KIND OF SADNESS ABOUT IT.

I MEAN, RONALD REAGAN
DID NOT UNDERSTAND

THAT HIS CHIEF OF STAFF THOUGHT
HE WAS PRIME MINISTER...

HE JUST DIDN'T GET IT.

A GOOD WAY OF TRACKING
HOW MUCH A PRESIDENT IS DOING

IS LOOKING AT THE PAPERS
THAT COME THROUGH HIS HANDS

AND SEEING HOW MUCH
THEY ENGAGE HIS ATTENTION.

AND IN THE FIRST YEARS
OF REAGAN'S PRESIDENCY

HE IS CONSTANTLY CHECKING
THESE POINTS OFF

WRITING COMMENTS,
THINKING ABOUT THEM.

BUT AS THE YEARS PROCEED

YOU CAN SEE HE IS
LESS AND LESS INTERESTED.

THEY JUST BECOME CHECK MARKS,
CHECK MARKS, CHECK MARKS.

HE WAS SAVING HIS FACULTIES,
AS OLD MEN DO

FOR THE REALLY IMPORTANT,
VITAL EVENTS.

Narrator:
IN OCTOBER 1986, REAGAN MET
GORBACHEV FOR THE SECOND TIME

IN A HASTILY CALLED SUMMIT
AT REYKJAVIK, ICELAND.

ONCE AGAIN,
HIS CONSERVATIVE BACKERS...

NOW LARGELY OUT OF GOVERNMENT...

WERE WORRIED HE WOULD SEEK
AN ARMS AGREEMENT

JUST FOR THE SAKE
OF AN AGREEMENT.

Nofziger:
I SAID, "MR. PRESIDENT

"I'M HERE BECAUSE THERE'S
A LOT OF PEOPLE WORRIED

"THAT YOU'RE GOING
TO GO TO REYKJAVIK

AND GIVE AWAY THE STORE."

HE SAID, "LIN... LINWOOD"...

BECAUSE HE ALWAYS
CALLED ME LINWOOD

WHICH IS NOT MY NAME...

"LINWOOD, I DON'T WANT YOU
EVER TO WORRY ABOUT THAT."

HE SAID, "I STILL HAVE
THE SCARS ON MY BACK

FROM WHEN I FOUGHT
THE COMMUNISTS IN HOLLYWOOD."

HE SAID, "DON'T EVER
WORRY ABOUT IT."

PROTERPITYE!

Narrator:
GORBACHEV HAD HIS OWN PROBLEMS.

HE NEEDED AN ARMS AGREEMENT.

HE COULD NOT MANAGE

BOTH ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE
ARMS RACE, ESPECIALLY S.D.I.

HE WOULD TRY HIS BEST TO MAKE
REAGAN GIVE AWAY THE STORE.

I DIDN'T KNOW
YOU WERE HERE.

Tarasenko:
PROPOSE TO HIM A PACKAGE

BEYOND ALL THE EXPECTATION.

TO TALK REAL BIG, SEE,
THAT WAS HIS IDEA.

"WHY... WE SHALL DISCUSS
ALL THESE SMALL THINGS?

LET'S COME UP WITH
A BIG IDEA... AND SELL IT."

Narrator:
GORBACHEV OFFERED REAGAN
EVERYTHING HE HAD WANTED:

THEY WOULD BOTH DESTROY

HALF THEIR LONG-RANGE BOMBERS
AND MISSILES

ELIMINATE ALL THE MISSILES
THREATENING EUROPE

AND HE MADE A MAJOR CONCESSION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS.

Shultz:
THEY AGREED FOR THE FIRST TIME
THAT HUMAN RIGHTS

WOULD BE A LEGITIMATE,
RECOGNIZED, REGULAR ITEM

ON OUR AGENDA.

THEY AGREED TO THAT.

THAT WAS A BREAKTHROUGH

AND WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO
THE ARMS CONTROL BREAKTHROUGHS

WHEN YOU ARE BREAKING THROUGH
ON THE NATURE OF THE RELATION

BETWEEN A GOVERNMENT
AND ITS PEOPLE

YOU'RE REALLY GETTING A LOT
DEEPER THAN PERHAPS YOU THINK.

Narrator:
"GORBACHEV,"
SECRETARY SHULTZ WROTE

"LAID GIFTS AT OUR FEET."

THE DELEGATIONS WORKED ALL NIGHT

TO IRON OUT THE DETAILS
OF HIS PROPOSAL.

Reporter:
ARE YOU MAKING
HEADWAY AT LEAST?

Narrator:
THE NEXT MORNING,
GORBACHEV INSISTED

THAT ALL THE MISSILE REDUCTIONS
HE PROPOSED WERE CONTINGENT

ON RESTRICTING S.D.I. RESEARCH
TO THE LABORATORY.

REAGAN REFUSED.

THE MEETING APPEARED TO BE OVER.

HE WANTED TO GET OUT OF THERE
AND BE HOME.

HE WANTED TO BE HOME FOR DINNER
THAT NIGHT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE

AND WITH THE CHANGE IN HOURS, IF
HE LEFT IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON

HE COULD BE HOME IN WASHINGTON
FOR DINNER.

AND... MATTER OF FACT

I REMEMBER HIS TALKING
TO ME ABOUT THAT

SAYING, "DON, THESE THINGS
ARE REALLY DRAGGING ON."

AND I HAD TO SAY TO HIM

"HANG IN THERE, MR. PRESIDENT,
I THINK WE'RE WINNING."

Reporter:
MR. PRESIDENT

HAVE YOU MADE
ANY REAL PROGRESS, SIR?

WE'RE NOT THROUGH.

ARE YOU GOING
TO MEET AGAIN, SIR?

YES.

Narrator:
AT THIS POINT, THE SOVIETS
CHALLENGED THE AMERICANS

TO MAKE A CONCESSION.

THE U.S. DELEGATION DID.

IT AGREED TO ABIDE BY THE TREATY
BANNING SPACE DEFENSES

FOR TEN YEARS, AND PROPOSED
THAT DURING THAT TIME

BOTH SIDES SCRAP ALL, NOT JUST
HALF, THEIR LONG-RANGE MISSILES.

REAGAN LIKED THE BOLDNESS
OF THE PROPOSAL.

REAGAN RESPONDED WITH THE IDEA

OF HAVING
THE COMPLETE ELIMINATION

OF STRATEGIC BALLISTIC MISSILES.

AND GORBACHEV SAID

"HOW ABOUT ELIMINATING
ALL THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS

INSTEAD OF JUST GOING
PART BY PART?"

THEY ACTUALLY MOVED EACH OTHER

TO THE DIRECTION
OF THE DISCUSSION

OF THE COMPLETE ELIMINATION
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

THEY WERE CARRIED AWAY.

THE TWO GENTLEMEN
WERE CARRIED AWAY

WITH THE HISTORIC IDEAS THEY HAD
PRESENTED TO EACH OTHER.

Tarasenko:
IT'S EASY TO SAY

THAT PRESIDENT REAGAN WAS
ANTICOMMUNIST OR ANTI-SOMETHING.

NO, HE WAS A ROMANTIC.

AS I LATER ON JUDGED

HE REALLY WAS MAYBE THE LAST
ROMANTIC OF THIS GENERATION.

GORBACHEV ALSO HAD

A ROMANTIC ABOLITIONIST VISION
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

YOU'VE GOT THE TWO LEADERS
OF THESE TWO POWERFUL COUNTRIES

RUNNING WAY BEYOND
THEIR ARMS CONTROLLERS

AND THEIR DEFENSE MINISTRIES
AND THEIR STATE DEPARTMENTS

AND SAYING, "LET'S GET RID
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS."

THERE WAS A TIME-OUT
ASKED BY THE AMERICAN SIDE

AND GORBACHEV WALKED OUT, AND
WE WERE SITTING IN A SMALL ROOM

AND HE SAID, "IF REAGAN ACCEPTS,
THE WORLD... WILL BE A NEW ONE.

THINGS WILL CHANGE
HISTORICALLY."

Narrator:
REAGAN COULD REALIZE HIS DREAM
OF REDUCING THE NUCLEAR THREAT

PERHAPS ONLY BY RISKING
HIS DREAM OF A SPACE DEFENSE.

GORBACHEV STILL INSISTED
ON RESTRICTING S.D.I. RESEARCH

TO THE LABORATORY.

Man:
THE PRESIDENT NEEDED
TO UNDERSTAND.

HE NEEDED INFORMATION
IN A VERY TENSE SITUATION.

WHEN ASKED, I EXPRESSED
THE CATEGORICAL VIEW

THAT THERE WAS NO WAY YOU COULD
SEE THE PROGRAM THROUGH

TO A SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION

IF WE ACCEPTED THE CONSTRAINTS
THAT GORBACHEV HAD IN MIND.

UPON HEARING THAT, HE TURNED
TO DON REGAN AND SAID

"IF WE AGREE TO THIS,
WON'T WE BE DOING THAT

SIMPLY SO WE CAN LEAVE HERE
WITH AN AGREEMENT?"

AND IT WAS A RHETORICAL
QUESTION, OF COURSE

AND YOU KNEW THE MOMENT HE PUT
IT THAT HE'D MADE HIS DECISION.

AND WITHIN SECONDS,
IT WAS OVER.

PRESIDENTS GRASP AT TREATIES
BECAUSE THEY CONVEY

AN IMAGE OF PRESIDENTS
AS STATESMEN AND PEACEMAKERS

AND THEY'RE SOMETIMES NOT
BOTHERED ABOUT THE DETAILS.

IT TOOK TREMENDOUS DISCIPLINE
FOR RONALD REAGAN

TO LEAVE THAT LITTLE ROOM
WITHOUT AN AGREEMENT.

Narrator:
"I STILL THINK WE CAN FIND
A DEAL," REAGAN SAID.

GORBACHEV REPLIED, "I DON'T KNOW
WHAT ELSE I COULD HAVE DONE."

Regan:
HE GOT INTO THE CAR
AND HIS SHOULDERS SLUMPED.

HE WAS IN THE BACK SEAT.

YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT
THAT HE'D JUST LOST

A COMBINATION OF THE ROSE BOWL
AND THE STANLEY CUP

AND, UH... THE OLYMPICS.

HE WAS SO... DOWN.

I'VE NEVER SEEN A GUY
SO BEAT IN ALL MY LIFE.

HE SAID...

"DON, WE WERE THAT CLOSE,"
AND HE HELD UP HIS LEFT HAND...

JUST FINGER AND THUMB,
THAT MUCH.

HE SAID, "WE WERE THAT CLOSE
TO GETTING RID OF ALL MISSILES

"AND HE SAID
HE WOULDN'T GIVE IN.

"HE KEPT INSISTING THAT
WE HAD TO DO AWAY WITH S.D.I.

AND I COULDN'T DO THAT."

HE SAID, "I PROMISED
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

I WOULD NOT GIVE IN ON THAT,
AND I CANNOT DO IT."

Narrator:
AT THE TIME, REYKJAVIK
WAS CONSIDERED A FAILURE.

CONSERVATIVES CRITICIZED REAGAN

FOR THE DEEP CUTS HE WAS WILLING
TO MAKE IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS...

FOR ALMOST
GIVING AWAY THE STORE.

MARGARET THATCHER WORRIED

HE WAS BARGAINING AWAY
EUROPE'S SECURITY.

THE MAINSTREAM PRESS
FAULTED HIM FOR WALKING AWAY

FROM THE MOST SWEEPING OFFER
OF ARMS REDUCTIONS IN HISTORY...

FOR SINKING A SUMMIT BY BEING
SO STUBBORN ON STAR WARS.

GORBACHEV STRESSED THE POSITIVE.

Gorbachev:
YA PRISHEL I
NA ZHURNALISTAM SKAZAL...

Translator:
I SAID TO THE REPORTERS

THAT, INDEED, REYKJAVIK
WAS A BREAKTHROUGH

AND I SAID, "REYKJAVIK WILL
EVENTUALLY PRODUCE RESULTS."

AND THAT IS EXACTLY
WHAT HAPPENED.

WITHOUT REYKJAVIK, THE PROCESS
THAT EVENTUALLY STARTED

AND THAT BROUGHT ABOUT THE ONE
TREATY AND FURTHER TREATIES...

THAT WOULD NOT
HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE.

REYKJAVIK IS REALLY
A TOP OF THE HILL.

AND FROM THAT TOP,
WE SAW A GREAT DEAL.

WHEN GORBACHEV VISITED ME
AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY

AFTER WE WERE BOTH
OUT OF OFFICE, I SAID TO HIM

"WHEN YOU ENTERED OFFICE
AND WHEN I ENTERED OFFICE

"THE COLD WAR COULD NOT
HAVE BEEN COLDER

"AND WHEN WE LEFT,
IT WAS BASICALLY OVER.

WHAT DO YOU THINK
WAS THE TURNING POINT?"

AND HE SAID,
WITHOUT ANY HESITATION

JUST LIKE THAT,
HE SAID, "REYKJAVIK."

AND I SAID, "WHY?"...

EXPECTING HIM TO TALK ABOUT
MISSILES AND STUFF LIKE THAT.

HE SAID, "BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST
TIME, THE TWO LEADERS REALLY HAD

"A DEEP CONVERSATION
ABOUT EVERYTHING.

"WE REALLY EXCHANGED VIEWS

"AND NOT JUST ABOUT
PERIPHERAL THINGS;

"ABOUT THE CENTRAL THINGS.

AND THAT WAS WHAT WAS
IMPORTANT ABOUT REYKJAVIK."

Narrator:
THREE WEEKS AFTER REYKJAVIK,
REPORTS FROM BEIRUT CLAIMED

THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION
HAD APPROACHED IRAN

WITH AN ARMS-FOR-HOSTAGE DEAL.

REAGAN DENIED IT.

COULD I SUGGEST AN APPEAL TO
ALL OF YOU WITH REGARD TO THIS...

THE SPECULATION,
THE COMMENTING AND ALL

ON A STORY THAT CAME OUT
OF THE MIDDLE EAST

AND THAT... AT ONCE
HAS NO FOUNDATION...

THAT ALL OF THAT IS MAKING IT
MORE DIFFICULT FOR US

IN OUR EFFORT TO GET
THE OTHER HOSTAGES FREE.

Narrator:
DAYS LATER, REAGAN ADMITTED
ARMS HAD BEEN SHIPPED TO IRAN

TO FORGE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP

BUT DENIED THEY WERE
ARMS FOR HOSTAGES.

IN SPITE OF THE WILDLY
SPECULATIVE AND FALSE STORIES

ABOUT ARMS FOR HOSTAGES
AND ALLEGED RANSOM PAYMENTS

WE DID NOT... REPEAT, DID NOT...

TRADE WEAPONS OR ANYTHING ELSE
FOR HOSTAGES.

NOR WILL WE.

REAGAN HAD ABSOLUTELY
CONVINCED HIMSELF...

AS MUCH AS HE HAD
CONVINCED HIMSELF THAT S.D.I.

ONCE HE BELIEVED IN IT

THAT WE HAD THIS
WONDERFUL SYSTEM IN PLACE...

HE HAD CONVINCED HIMSELF

THAT HE WAS NOT DEALING
WITH THE KIDNAPPERS.

HE HAD PROMISED THAT
HE WOULD NEVER DEAL

WITH THE PEOPLE WHO HAD TAKEN
THE AMERICANS HOSTAGE.

HE'D CONVINCED HIMSELF
THAT HE WAS DEALING

WITH THESE IRANIAN MODERATES

AND THAT HE WAS DEALING
WITH THE MIDDLEMEN;

WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WERE
DEALING WITH THE KIDNAPPERS.

THE AMERICAN MIDDLE
HAD BEEN CONFOUNDED

BY THIS PATRIOTIC PRESIDENT
WHO HAD WON ON STANDING TALL

WHO WAS FOUND TO BE PAYING
TRIBUTE TO THE ENEMY

IN A KIND
OF A PUSILLANIMOUS WAY.

Narrator:
REAGAN HAD QUESTIONS TO ANSWER.

GOOD EVENING.

Reporter:
MR. PRESIDENT,
HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS

THE CREDIBILITY
OF YOUR OWN ADMINISTRATION

IN THE LIGHT OF THE
PROLONGED DECEPTION

OF CONGRESS
AND THE PUBLIC

IN TERMS OF YOUR
SECRET DEALINGS
WITH IRAN

THE DISINFORMATION?

THE RECORD SHOWS

THAT EVERY TIME AN
AMERICAN HOSTAGE
WAS RELEASED

THERE HAD BEEN A MAJOR
ARMS SHIPMENT JUST PRIOR.

ARE WE ALL TO BELIEVE

THAT WAS JUST
A COINCIDENCE?

WHAT WOULD BE
WRONG WITH SAYING

THAT A MISTAKE WAS MADE
ON A VERY HIGH RISK GAMBLE

SO THAT YOU CAN
GET ON WITH THE
NEXT TWO YEARS?

BECAUSE I DON'T THINK
A MISTAKE WAS MADE.

Man:
RONALD REAGAN DOESN'T SEE
THE WORLD THAT YOU AND I SEE.

HE SEES A WORLD
THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES...

IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD

BUT IT'S NOT THE REAL WORLD
THAT EXISTS OUT THERE.

AND SO HE DIDN'T WANT
TO SEE A WORLD

IN WHICH HE HAD TRADED
ARMS FOR HOSTAGES.

THAT RAN AGAINST HIS GRAIN,
THAT'S NOT HIS WORLD

YET HE DID IT.

Cannon:
REAGAN IS A CLASSIC MODEL

OF THE SUCCESSFUL CHILD
OF AN ALCOHOLIC.

HE DOESN'T HEAR THINGS
AND DOESN'T SEE THINGS

THAT HE DOESN'T WANT
TO HEAR AND SEE.

AND THAT'S THE THING YOU LEARN.

YOU LEARN THAT AS A CHILD,
AND REAGAN LEARNED IT.

Narrator:
QUESTIONS CONTINUED
TO NAG REAGAN

AND THERE WAS
CONFLICTING TESTIMONY BY OTHERS.

ATTORNEY GENERAL ED MEESE

OFFERED TO INVESTIGATE
THE MATTER OVER THE WEEKEND.

MEESE INSISTED
ON SEEING REAGAN ON MONDAY.

"OH, ABOUT FIVE MINUTES.

"HE'S GOT THE AFGHANISTAN
FREEDOM FIGHTERS COMING IN

BUT WE'LL GIVE YOU
FIVE MINUTES."

HE SAID, "OKAY, FIVE MINUTES,
THAT'S ALL I NEED."

SO HE CAME IN, HE SAID

"MR. PRESIDENT, I GOT
SOME BAD NEWS FOR YOU."

"WHAT'S THAT?"

HE SAID, "THERE'S BEEN
A PROBABLE DIVERSION OF FUNDS

"FROM THE ARMS SALES TO IRAN

BEEN DIVERTED TO
THE CONTRAS IN NICARAGUA."

THE PRESIDENT SAID, "I'LL HAVE
TO CLEAN THIS UP A LITTLE BIT.

AW, SHOOT!"
OR WORDS TO THAT EFFECT.

THE PRESIDENT
ACTUALLY TURNED WHITE.

HE BLANCHED AND HE SAID

"WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN GOING
THROUGH THEIR MINDS?

WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS?"

Narrator:
REAGAN HAD ASKED

THAT THE CONTRAS BE HELD
TOGETHER BODY AND SOUL.

THEY WERE... IN A MANNER

WHICH STRETCHED,
IF NOT VIOLATED, THE LAW.

HE SAID, "WE'VE GOT TO GET TO
THE BOTTOM OF THIS IMMEDIATELY

AND LET THE PUBLIC KNOW."

HE WAS VERY DEFINITE THERE
SHOULD BE EVERY PRECAUTION TAKEN

THAT NO ONE WOULD THINK
THAT THERE WAS ANY ATTEMPT

TO CONCEAL WHATEVER WRONGDOING
WE MIGHT FIND.

AS I'VE STATED PREVIOUSLY

I BELIEVE OUR POLICY GOALS
TOWARD IRAN WERE WELL FOUNDED.

HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION BROUGHT
TO MY ATTENTION YESTERDAY

CONVINCED ME THAT IN ONE ASPECT

IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT POLICY
WAS SERIOUSLY FLAWED.

AND NOW I'M GOING TO ASK

ATTORNEY GENERAL MEESE
TO BRIEF YOU.

REGARDS THE FLAW,
WHAT WAS THE FLAW?

DID YOU MAKE
A MISTAKE

IN SENDING ARMS
TO TEHRAN, SIR?

NO, AND I'M NOT TAKING
ANY MORE QUESTIONS.

IN JUST A SECOND, I'M GOING
TO ASK ATTORNEY GENERAL MEESE

TO BRIEF YOU
ON WHAT WE PRESENTLY KNOW

OF WHAT HE HAS FOUND OUT.

WILL ANYONE ELSE
BE LET GO, SIR?

NO ONE WAS LET GO;
THEY CHOSE TO GO.

CAN I GIVE YOU ATT...
ATTORNEY GENERAL MEESE?

WHY DON'T YOU SAY
WHAT THE FLAW IS?

Meese:
THAT'S WHAT I'M
GOING TO SAY...

WHAT IT'S
ALL ABOUT.

HOW CAN SO MUCH
OF THIS GO ON

AND THE PRESIDENT
NOT KNOW IT?

HE IS THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

WHY DOESN'T
HE KNOW?

BECAUSE SOMEBODY
DIDN'T TELL HIM, THAT'S WHY.

AND TO WISH EVERYBODY ELSE
A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY.

Reporter:
MR. PRESIDENT

WHO'S GOING TO HEAD
THAT COMMISSION

INVESTIGATING
WHAT HAPPENED?

DID YOU ASK A QUESTION?

Reporter:
MR. PRESIDENT,
WHAT DID YOU KNOW

ABOUT MONEY GOING
TO THE CONTRAS?

ALL I KNOW IS, THIS IS
JUST GOING TO TASTE WONDERFUL

AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD
TO TOMORROW.

MISTER...

HE'S NOT LOOKING FORWARD.

Narrator:
"I FELT I WAS THE ONE
BEING ROASTED"

REAGAN WOULD LATER QUIP.

Reporter 1:
MR. PRESIDENT, HOW MUCH
TROUBLE ARE YOU IN

BECAUSE OF THIS
CONTRA REVELATION?

Reporter 2:
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT
THE CONTRAS, SIR?

WHEN WILL YOU BE
ABLE TO SPEAK OUT

ON THIS
CONTRA BUSINESS?

Reporter 3:
IS JOHN TOWER
GOING TO BE

THE HEAD OF
YOUR COMMISSION?

Reporter 2:
MR. PRESIDENT

YOU'VE NEVER DUCKED
TOUGH QUESTIONS BEFORE.

Reporter 4:
MR. PRESIDENT, HASN'T THIS
DAMAGED YOUR PRESIDENCY?

Narrator:
IF HE KNEW OF THE DIVERSION
OF FUNDS TO THE CONTRAS

HE WOULD BE IN TROUBLE.

IF HE DID NOT

HE WAS NOT IN CONTROL
OF HIS WHITE HOUSE STAFF.

REAGAN ACCEPTED THE RESIGNATION

OF HIS NATIONAL SECURITY
ADVISER, JOHN POINDEXTER

WHO PRESIDED OVER THE OPERATION

AND FIRED OLIVER NORTH,
WHO RAN IT.

HE RESISTED NANCY,
WHO WANTED TO FIRE GEORGE SHULTZ

FOR NOT SUPPORTING HIM
IN PUBLIC.

BUT HIS OLDEST ADVISERS
PRESSURED HIM TO FIRE DON REGAN.

Spencer:
YEAH, DEAVER AND I TOLD HIM
TO GET HIM OUT OF THERE.

HIS DAYS WERE NUMBERED.

YOU KNOW, HE BASICALLY SAID THAT
HE WASN'T GOING TO SACRIFICE

ANYBODY FOR, UH...
FOR ANY OF HIS PROBLEMS.

I FINALLY SAID, "YOU KNOW,
I THINK THIS HAS COME

"TO THE POINT WHERE YOU'VE GOT
TO GET RID OF SOMEBODY

"BECAUSE YOU'VE
GOT TO DO SOMETHING

"THAT SAYS, 'THIS IS
AN ACTION I'M TAKING

"'AND I'M GETTING IT BEHIND ME

"AND I'M GOING TO GO ON
AND DO OTHER THINGS.'

"AND UNLESS YOU MAKE
A BOLD MOVE LIKE THAT

"THE MEDIA IS NOT
GOING TO LET YOU GO ON

SO I THINK YOU'VE GOT TO
GET RID OF SOMEBODY."

AND HE GOT VERY ANGRY
AND SAID THAT, YOU KNOW

"I'LL BE DAMNED IF I'M GOING TO
THROW SOMEBODY'S ASS OVERBOARD

TO SAVE MY OWN."

AND FOR THE LIFE OF ME,
I DON'T KNOW WHY I SAID...

BUT I SAID, "RON, IT'S NOT
YOUR ASS I'M TALKING ABOUT

IT'S THE COUNTRY'S ASS."

AND, UH... HE LOOKED AT ME
VERY QUIETLY, AND HE SAID

"YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK
ABOUT THIS COUNTRY."

AND THAT WAS THE END
OF THE CONVERSATION.

Narrator:
NANCY LED THE BATTLE
TO GET RID OF DON REGAN.

REAGAN COULD NOT ESCAPE
THE ISSUE AT HOME

OR IN THE OVAL OFFICE.

AS A CHILD, REAGAN HAD LEARNED
TO AVOID PAIN BY WITHDRAWING.

NOW THERE WAS NOWHERE TO GO.

NANCY AND BYRON

LET'S SEE
IF WE CAN'T TURN

THIS COLD,
DARK EVENING

INTO ONE OF
LIGHT AND WARMTH.

Man:
I OBVIOUSLY
WILL NEED INFORMATION

AND COOPERATION AND HELP
FROM THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH...

Man:
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT
THE MAKING AVAILABLE

TO THE NICARAGUAN RESISTANCE OF
PROCEEDS FROM THE ARMS SALES...

Man:
ON THE ADVICE OF MY ATTORNEYS

I MUST DECLINE TO ANSWER
THAT QUESTION AT THIS TIME.

Oliver North:
MR. HAMILTON,
ON THE ADVICE OF COUNSEL

I RESPECTFULLY DECLINE
TO ANSWER THE QUESTION

BASED ON MY
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

Man:
IS THERE INFORMATION

IN THE POSSESSION
OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

THAT SUGGESTS THIS THING
STARTED EARLIER?

Man:
THERE WAS NO SMOKING GUN HERE.

Man:
THAT'S WHAT EVERYBODY
IS CONCERNED ABOUT HERE...

WHO KNEW WHAT AND WHEN.

YOU TAKE ONE SIDE
AND I'LL TAKE THE OTHER...

Narrator:
THE SHADOW OF WATERGATE
DESCENDED OVER THE WHITE HOUSE.

"THIS PRESIDENCY IS OVER"

COLUMNIST
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER WROTE.

"1987 WILL BE A WATERGATE YEAR

AND THE FOLLOWING,
AN ELECTION YEAR."

Ron Reagan:
WELL, I WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE,
BECAUSE IT WAS CLEAR

THAT HE WAS GOING
THROUGH SOME SORT OF CRISIS

AND I JUST FELT THAT, YOU KNOW,
AS HIS SON, AS A FAMILY MEMBER

THAT I OUGHT TO BE THERE,
SOMEBODY OUGHT TO BE THERE

THAT, YOU KNOW,
SOMEBODY OUGHT TO BUCK HIM UP

AND HELP HIM GET THROUGH THIS.

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME
I'D REALLY SEEN HIM

WITH THE WIND
COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS SAILS.

ONE OF HIS GREATEST ASSETS
WAS THE TRUST OF THE PUBLIC.

AND WHEN IT TURNED OUT

THAT IN FACT THERE HAD BEEN
AN ARMS-FOR-HOSTAGE DEAL

THE PUBLIC STOPPED BELIEVING
HIM, AT LEAST FOR A WHILE.

AND THE POLLS ALL SHOWED THAT

AND, YOU KNOW, HE GOT
THE POLLING DATA EVERY DAY.

AND IT BECAME VERY TROUBLING
FOR HIM TO REALIZE

THAT HE WAS LOSING
THE AUDIENCE IN A SENSE.

THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME
I GOT THE FEELING

THAT HE WAS NOT ABLE TO HANDLE
ANYTHING THAT CAME AT HIM AGAIN.

HE WASN'T QUITE UP TO HANDLING
A CRISIS OF THAT DIMENSION.

Narrator:
IN EARLY 1987

THE WHITE HOUSE GRAPPLED
WITH HOW TO EXTRICATE REAGAN

FROM THE WORST CRISIS
OF HIS PRESIDENCY.

DON REGAN WANTED TO GET
THE PRESIDENT ON THE ROAD

TO WORK HIS CHARM ON THE PUBLIC.

BUT REAGAN WAS RECOVERING
FROM ANOTHER SERIOUS OPERATION...

THIS TIME ON HIS PROSTATE.

NANCY WANTED HIM TO STAY PUT.

AND THAT WASN'T ALL.

NANCY'S ASTROLOGER FEARED

"THE MALEVOLENT MOVEMENTS
OF URANUS AND SATURN."

THE ALIGNMENT OF THE PLANETS,
IT SEEMED

RAISED THE DANGER OF
IMPEACHMENT AND ASSASSINATION.

Regan:
AND IN THE MIDDLE
OF ALL OF THIS TURMOIL

SHE WAS INCESSANTLY CALLING ME.

ONE DAY I GOT HOME LATE
FROM THE OFFICE.

NO DINNER... IT WAS AFTER 9:00.

I WAS JUST STARTING TO EAT
WHEN SHE CALLED

AND WAS ON THE PHONE
15 OR 20 MINUTES

AND WE WERE GETTING NOWHERE

ABOUT SHE TELLING ME
THAT I HAD TO DO SOMETHING

AND I SAYING, "NANCY,
I GOT TO GET THE PRESIDENT OUT"

OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE.

"HE'S GOING TO HAVE
TO BE THE KEY HERE.

NONE OF US CAN
SOLVE THIS FOR HIM."

WE WENT BACK AND FORTH
AND BACK AND FORTH

AND FINALLY I WAS JUST
SO DISGUSTED I HUNG UP.

IT GOES WITH THE TURF IF
YOU'RE DEALING WITH THE REAGANS.

I MEAN, I KNEW THAT
BACK IN '65, '66.

AND DON REGAN, FOR SOME REASON,
TOOK THE POINT OF VIEW

THAT NANCY REAGAN
WASN'T IMPORTANT.

THAT WAS WRONG.

AND THEN, I GUESS WHEN
HE HUNG UP ON HER ON THE PHONE

THAT WAS THE END OF IT.

THEN WE ALL HAD TO GO TO WORK.

MY LATE WIFE TOOK THE CALL AND
IT SUPPOSEDLY WENT LIKE THIS:

"JOY, WHERE IS HOWARD?"

ACCORDING TO HER,
SHE SAID TO THE PRESIDENT

"HOWARD IS AT THE ZOO."

AND RONALD REAGAN
WAS HEARD TO SAY

"WAIT TILL HE SEES THE ZOO
I HAVE IN MIND FOR HIM."

Narrator:
DON REGAN HEARD
THAT CNN WAS REPORTING

THE PRESIDENT HAD CHOSEN
FORMER SENATOR HOWARD BAKER

TO REPLACE HIM.

AND I BLEW MY TOP.

I SAID, "THE HELL WITH IT.

"IF THAT'S THE WAY
THEY'RE GOING TO LEAK ABOUT ME

I DON'T WANT
TO STAY AROUND ANYMORE."

I WAS SO WHIZZED OFF
AT THAT POINT

THAT I DASHED OFF A VERY
TERSE LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT:

"I HEREBY RESIGN."

HE CALLED ME.

VERY SOFT TONES;

THAT HE DIDN'T MEAN
FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.

HE WISHED IT HADN'T HAPPENED.

AND I SAID, "IT'S TOO LATE.

I'M OUT OF HERE."

Morris:
THE PRESIDENT
SHOULD HAVE DONE IT.

THE PRESIDENT SHOULD HAVE SPOKEN
TO HIM PERSONALLY AND SAID

"DON, I THINK

THE TIME FOR YOUR LONG-PLANNED
RETIREMENT HAS COME."

BUT REAGAN, WHO WAS NOT GOOD
AT THAT KIND OF HUMAN TOUCH

WHEN A MAN'S CAREER
IS COMING TO AN END

SIMPLY LET THE PHONE
LIE IN ITS CRADLE

AND LET OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES
FORCE DON REGAN OUT...

WAS DERELICT IN HIS DUTY.

Narrator:
DON REGAN HAD DEVOTED SIX YEARS
OF HIS LIFE TO RONALD REAGAN.

HE NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN.

Man:
HERE, OVER HERE!

OVER HERE.

I WILL BE ON THE JOB MONDAY,
FULL TIME

AND IN THE MEANTIME

JIM CANNON AND TOM GRISCOM
WILL BE MY TRANSITION TEAM.

Narrator:
WHAT BAKER'S TRANSITION TEAM
WAS TOLD

BY DON REGAN'S WHITE HOUSE STAFF
THAT WEEKEND SHOCKED THEM.

REAGAN WAS "INATTENTIVE,"
"INEPT" AND "LAZY"

AND BAKER SHOULD BE PREPARED
TO INVOKE THE 25th AMENDMENT

TO RELIEVE HIM OF HIS DUTIES.

Morris:
THE INCOMING BAKER PEOPLE
ALL DECIDED

TO HAVE A MEETING WITH HIM
ON THE MONDAY MORNING...

THEIR FIRST OFFICIAL MEETING
WITH THE PRESIDENT...

AND TO CLUSTER AROUND THE TABLE
IN THE CABINET ROOM

AND WATCH HIM VERY, VERY CLOSELY
TO SEE HOW HE BEHAVED

TO SEE IF HE WAS INDEED
LOSING HIS MENTAL GRIP.

THEY POSITIONED THEMSELVES VERY
STRATEGICALLY AROUND THE TABLE

SO THEY COULD WATCH HIM
FROM VARIOUS ANGLES

LISTEN TO HIM
AND CHECK HIS MOVEMENTS

AND LISTEN TO HIS WORDS
AND LOOK INTO HIS EYES.

Reagan:
NO QUESTIONS.

WE'VE GOT TO GET ON
WITH A CABINET MEETING HERE.

Helen Thomas:
WHEN ARE YOU GIVING
YOUR SPEECH?

Reagan:
WHAT?

Thomas:
DO YOU KNOW WHEN
YOU'LL GIVE YOUR SPEECH?

Reagan:
UH... THERE'S
A TENTATIVE DATE HERE.

IT HAS TO BE FIRST RECOGNIZED
THAT WE CAN GET THE TIME

BUT, UH, IT WILL BE THIS WEEK.

Morris:
AND I WAS THERE WHEN
THIS MEETING TOOK PLACE.

AND REAGAN WHO WAS,
OF COURSE, COMPLETELY UNAWARE

THAT THEY WERE MOUNTING
A DEATH WATCH ON HIM

CAME IN...

STIMULATED BY THE PRESS
OF ALL THESE NEW PEOPLE

AND PERFORMED SPLENDIDLY.

AT THE END OF THE MEETING

THEY FIGURATIVELY
THREW UP THEIR HANDS

REALIZING HE WAS
IN PERFECT COMMAND OF HIMSELF.

Howard Baker:
IS THIS PRESIDENT
FULLY IN CONTROL

OF HIS PRESIDENCY?

IS HE ALERT?

IS HE FULLY ENGAGED?

IS HE IN CONTACT
WITH THE PROBLEMS?

AND I'M TELLING YOU...
IT'S JUST ONE DAY'S EXPERIENCE

AND MAYBE THAT'S NOT ENOUGH...
BUT TODAY HE WAS SUPERB.

Reporter:
AND MRS. REAGAN?

THE ISSUE OF
MRS. REAGAN'S INVOLVEMENT

IN WEST WING DECISIONS?

I HAVEN'T TALKED
TO MRS. REAGAN TODAY.

I INTEND TO DO THAT LATER TODAY.

I...

I... I INTEND TO DO THAT
LATER TODAY

BUT LET ME SAY, I'VE KNOWN
NANCY REAGAN A LONG TIME, TOO

AND I DID SPEAK
TO HER ON FRIDAY...

AND I EXPECT THAT...
THERE'S THE PHONE NOW, SO...

Howard Baker:
FROM MOMENT ONE AT THE WHITE
HOUSE WITH RONALD REAGAN

I CAME AWAY CONVINCED

NOT ONLY WAS HE FULLY
IN COM... FULLY COMPETENT

BUT THAT HE WAS NOT
BEING WELL SERVED

BY THE ARRANGEMENTS
AT THE WHITE HOUSE

BUT THAT HE WAS FULLY CAPABLE
OF DISCHARGING THAT JOB

IN A VERY, VERY EFFECTIVE WAY.

AND I STILL THINK THAT.

Morris:
HE WAS AN OLD, TIRED MAN.

HE'D BEEN GUILTY OF NEGLECT

OF PROPER SUPERVISION OF
THE PEOPLE WHO WORKED FOR HIM

BUT WHEN HE WAS SHOCKED
INTO RE-AWARENESS

OF HIS JOB AND HIS DUTIES,
HE PERFORMED AS WELL AS EVER.

Narrator:
REAGAN WAS SHOCKED

BY THE FINDINGS OF A COMMISSION
HE HAD APPOINTED.

IT HELD HIM RESPONSIBLE
FOR A LAX MANAGEMENT STYLE

AND FOR TRADING ARMS
FOR HOSTAGES...

SOMETHING HE STILL
REFUSED TO ADMIT.

ONE OF HOWARD BAKER'S FIRST
TASKS IN RESCUING THE PRESIDENCY

WAS TO GET REAGAN
TO ADMIT HIS MISTAKE.

HE FOUND AN ALLY
IN NANCY REAGAN.

Cannon:
THAT'S WHERE NANCY REAGAN
REALLY SHINES.

SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT HE NEEDED
THIS PUBLIC CREDIBILITY.

THAT'S HER GREAT ROLE,
NOT GETTING RID OF REGAN.

SHE WENT BEYOND PROTECTING HIM

TO... TO REALLY LEADING HIM
TO THIS BITTER CUP OF APOLOGY

THAT HE HAD TO DRINK FROM.

A FEW MONTHS AGO

I TOLD THE AMERICAN PEOPLE I
DID NOT TRADE ARMS FOR HOSTAGES.

MY HEART AND MY BEST INTENTIONS
STILL TELL ME THAT'S TRUE

BUT THE FACTS AND THE EVIDENCE
TELL ME IT IS NOT.

AS THE TOWER BOARD REPORTED

WHAT BEGAN AS
A STRATEGIC OPENING TO IRAN

DETERIORATED
IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION

INTO TRADING ARMS FOR HOSTAGES.

THIS RUNS COUNTER
TO MY OWN BELIEFS

TO ADMINISTRATION POLICY

AND TO THE ORIGINAL STRATEGY
WE HAD IN MIND.

THERE ARE REASONS WHY IT
HAPPENED, BUT NO EXCUSES.

IT WAS A MISTAKE.

BUT ONCE HE'D APOLOGIZED
TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MORE
OR LESS FORGAVE HIM, YOU KNOW...

I MEAN NOT TOTALLY, YOU KNOW;
HE WAS NEVER...

HE NEVER GOT BACK
QUITE THE LUSTER, BUT HE...

BUT HE GOT ENOUGH OF IT BACK
THAT HE WAS ABLE TO...

THAT HE WAS ABLE TO GOVERN
AND TO BE AT EASE WITH HIMSELF.

Narrator:
A YEAR LATER,
DON REGAN GOT HIS REVENGE.

HE WROTE A BOOK.

Howard Baker:
I SAID, "MR. PRESIDENT

"WE WILL HAVE
A PRESS FLAP ABOUT THIS

AND I THINK I SHOULD TALK
TO THE FIRST LADY."

HE SAID, "I THINK YOU SHOULD."

I SAID, "WOULD YOU SET IT UP?"

AND HE SAID,
"WHY DON'T YOU SET IT UP?"

AND I DID, I CALLED HER
AND I WENT UPSTAIRS

AND TOOK THE GALLEYS WITH ME,
AND COULDN'T FIGURE OUT

HOW I WAS GOING
TO OPEN THE CONVERSATION

BUT FINALLY I JUST BLURTED OUT,
"NANCY, DON REGAN SAYS HERE

THAT YOU TALKED
TO AN ASTROLOGER."

AND SHE SAID, "WELL, I DID."

NANCY WAS VERY CONCERNED
WITH THE PRESIDENT'S SAFETY

AFTER THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT.

AND I'M A VERY... UH,
MODERN, SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGER.

AND I HAVE AT MY COMMAND

ALL THE TECHNICAL RESOURCES
OF THE SPACE AGE, REALLY

IN COMPUTERS THAT I USE.

AND I DO VERY TECHNICAL WORK.

I NEVER!

500 POINTS DOWN, EMIL.

YOU SAID I DON'T SEE STRAIGHT?

502 POINTS DOWN.

Narrator:
THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED
IN OCTOBER 1987...

ANOTHER SETBACK FOR REAGAN.

WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

Narrator:
BLACK MONDAY RAISED DOUBTS

ABOUT THE SOUNDNESS OF
REAGAN'S ECONOMIC POLICIES.

ON REAGAN'S WATCH,
TAX REVENUES WOULD DOUBLE

BUT THEY NEVER KEPT UP
WITH SPENDING.

THE NATIONAL DEBT
NEARLY TRIPLED.

ALTHOUGH MOST AMERICANS
BENEFITED

THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICHEST
AND POOREST BECAME A CHASM.

DONALD TRUMP AND THE NEW
BILLIONAIRES OF THE 1980s

RECALLED THE EXTRAVAGANCE

OF THE CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY
IN THE 1880s.

THERE WERE LOSERS.

THE HOMELESS POPULATION GREW
TO EXCEED THAT OF ATLANTA.

REAGAN SEEMED INDIFFERENT.

AIDS BECAME AN EPIDEMIC
IN THE 1980s.

NEARLY 50,000 DIED.

REAGAN LARGELY IGNORED IT.

IN THE TRYING MONTHS FOLLOWING
THE IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR

BIOGRAPHER EDMUND MORRIS HAD AN
INSIDER'S LOOK AT THE PRESIDENT.

Morris:
THIS WAS AROUND OCTOBER OF 1987.

HE WRITES IN HIS DIARY...

"DICK AND PATTY CAME
AFTER DINNER

AND THINGS IMMEDIATELY LIVENED
UP AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVED."

THAT'S ON A FRIDAY NIGHT.

THE FOLLOWING DAY
HE WRITES IN HIS DIARY:

"OH, I WAS MISTAKEN.

THEY DIDN'T COME DOWN
UNTIL LUNCHTIME TODAY."

HE'S TALKING ABOUT HIS WIFE'S
BROTHER AND WIFE...

INTIMATES WHO VISITED
THE WHITE HOUSE A LOT.

THEY WERE MEMBERS
OF THE FAMILY CIRCLE.

THE SCHEDULE SAID,
"DR. AND MRS. RICHARD DAVIS

WILL BE JOINING THE FIRST FAMILY
AFTER DINNER TONIGHT."

SO REAGAN WRITES IT DOWN AFTER
DINNER AS THOUGH THEY SHOWED UP.

HE SAYS, "THINGS LIVENED UP
WHEN THEY CAME."

IN OTHER WORDS

HE WAS SO DIVORCED
FROM REALITY AT THAT TIME

THAT HE DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THAT
THESE PEOPLE DID NOT SHOW UP...

WHICH IS FUNNY,
BUT IT'S ALSO SCARY.

Announcer:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Narrator:
GORBACHEV'S VISIT
TWO MONTHS LATER

WAS SEEN DURING
REAGAN'S PRESIDENCY

AS ITS TRIUMPHAL MOMENT.

IN RETROSPECT, IT MAY
HAVE BEEN THE FIRST OF MANY.

GORBACHEV CAME TO SIGN A TREATY

ELIMINATING THE INTERMEDIATE-
RANGE MISSILES IN EUROPE...

TO ACCEPT REAGAN'S ZERO OPTION
SO SCORNED SIX YEARS EARLIER.

AT REYKJAVIK, HE HAD TRIED
TO LINK THESE REDUCTIONS

TO REAGAN'S GIVING UP S.D.I.

NOW, EAGER FOR AN AGREEMENT,
HE ACCEPTED REAGAN'S TERMS.

IT WAS OVER SIX YEARS AGO,
NOVEMBER 18, 1981

THAT I FIRST PROPOSED

WHAT WOULD COME TO BE
CALLED THE ZERO OPTION.

IT WAS A SIMPLE PROPOSAL, ONE
MIGHT SAY DISARMINGLY SIMPLE.

Narrator:
FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN THE NUCLEAR AGE

A TREATY WOULD REDUCE
NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

ANOTHER, CUTTING LONG-RANGE
MISSILE FORCES IN HALF

WOULD BE READY
FOR PRESIDENT BUSH TO SIGN.

BUILDING UP TO BUILD DOWN
PRODUCED RESULTS

THAT MADE THE GOALS OF THE
FREEZE MOVEMENT SEEM MODEST.

BELOW.

OH, YES,
THAT'S IT.

Howard Baker:
IT WAS HISTORIC.

AND I REMEMBER HIM EXPRESSING
HIS PLEASURE THAT IT WAS DONE

AND I REMEMBER HIM
PUSHING ME HARD

FOR HOW THE SENATE
WAS GOING TO TREAT IT.

BUT I DON'T THINK I EVER
HEARD HIM CROW ABOUT THAT.

THINKING BACK ON IT

RONALD REAGAN NEVER CROWED
ABOUT ANYTHING.

I DON'T THINK
I EVER HEARD HIM...

MAKE AN IMMODEST STATEMENT
ABOUT HIS OWN ACHIEVEMENTS.

HE WAS A VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD
AND VERY MODEST MAN.

Audience:
♪ VSE IZ LUNOVO SEREBRO... ♪

Narrator:
THE VOCAL CONSERVATIVES
NOW WROTE OFF RONALD REAGAN.

COLUMNIST GEORGE WILL
ACCUSED HIM

OF ACCELERATING AMERICA'S
"INTELLECTUAL DISARMAMENT"

AND "SUCCUMBING FULLY
TO THE ARMS CONTROL CHIMERA."

OTHERS CALLED HIM A "USEFUL
IDIOT FOR SOVIET PROPAGANDA"

AND AN "APOLOGIST
FOR GORBACHEV."

Audience:
♪ MY NE SLYSHYATSYA ♪

♪ V ETI TIKHIE VECHERA. ♪

Morris:
IT WAS A HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT

AND HE WAS VERY PLEASED
AND HAPPY ABOUT IT.

BUT I THINK HE REGARDED IT
AS AN INTERIM STEP

IN THE PROGRESSION HE WAS
MAKING TOWARD HIS REAL GOAL

WHICH WAS THE ELIMINATION
OF TOTALITARIANISM

FROM THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH.

Announcer:
MEINE DAMEN UND HERREN

MR. RONALD REAGAN
UND MRS. NANCY REAGAN.

Morris:
THE ONE THING THAT REAGAN
WAS MORE PASSIONATE ABOUT

THAN ANYTHING OTHER

WAS THE UNSUPPORTABLE PHENOMENON
OF TOTALITARIAN POWER

ENSLAVING A LARGE PART
OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION.

IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT HE WAS
REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO

WAS THE COLLAPSE
OF SOVIET COMMUNISM.

HE WANTED TO SEE
THE WALL COME DOWN.

MR. GORBACHEV...

TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!

Morris:
HE WANTED TO SEE FREE ELECTIONS
AND FREEDOM, LIBERTY

AND CHRISTIANITY IN RUSSIA.

IT'S AS SIMPLE AS THAT.

Narrator:
REAGAN'S "MISSION TO MOSCOW" IN
MAY 1988 WAS HIS FINAL CRUSADE.

IT BEGAN WITH A THREAT

THAT FORCED THE SOVIETS TO LET
A JEWISH COUPLE EMIGRATE.

Shultz:
HE SAID, "WELL, ON THE WAY
TO THE KREMLIN

"WHAT I'M GOING TO DO
IS GO TO THE APARTMENT

"OF THIS COUPLE THAT
YOU'RE NOT ALLOWING TO EMIGRATE

AND VISIT WITH THEM."

WITH 2,000 PRESS ALONG,
YOU KNOW.

SO HE SAID THAT THAT'S
WHAT HE INTENDED TO DO.

BY THIS TIME, THEY KNEW RONALD
REAGAN WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW

THAT IF HE SAID THAT WAS WHAT HE
WAS GOING TO DO, HE WOULD DO IT.

HE DID NOT, UH...
MAKE IDLE THREATS.

Narrator:
THE NEXT DAY,
HE MORTIFIED THE SOVIETS

BY ENTERTAINING 100 DISSIDENTS
AT THE U.S. EMBASSY.

Reagan:
ON HUMAN RIGHTS

ON THE FUNDAMENTAL DIGNITY
OF THE HUMAN PERSON

THERE CAN BE NO RELENTING.

FOR NOW, WE MUST WORK
FOR MORE, ALWAYS MORE.

Narrator:
AT THE DANILOV MONASTERY

HE PUSHED FOR
MORE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

Reagan:
OUR PEOPLE FEEL IT KEENLY

WHEN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS
DENIED TO ANYONE ANYWHERE

AND HOPE WITH YOU

THAT ALL THE MANY SOVIET
RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

WILL SOON BE ABLE TO PRACTICE
THEIR RELIGION FREELY

AND INSTRUCT THEIR CHILDREN IN
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THEIR FAITH.

Narrator:
AT MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY

REAGAN TRIED TO CONVERT THE NEXT
GENERATION OF SOVIET LEADERS

WITH HIS SIMPLE MESSAGE
OF FREEDOM.

YOUR GENERATION IS LIVING

IN ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING,
HOPEFUL TIMES IN SOVIET HISTORY.

IT IS A TIME WHEN THE FIRST
BREATH OF FREEDOM STIRS THE AIR

AND THE HEART BEATS TO THE
ACCELERATED RHYTHM OF HOPE

WHEN THE ACCUMULATED SPIRITUAL
ENERGIES OF A LONG SILENCE

YEARN TO BREAK FREE.

WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE
CONCLUSION OF THIS WILL BE...

OF THIS JOURNEY.

BUT WE'RE HOPEFUL

THAT THE PROMISE OF REFORM
WILL BE FULFILLED.

IN THIS MOSCOW SPRING,
THIS MAY 1988

WE MAY BE ALLOWED THAT HOPE.

Narrator:
UNTIL THE END, RONALD REAGAN
TRIED TO UNDERMINE

THE FOUNDATIONS
OF COMMUNIST RULE

TO PREACH HIS DREAM OF FREEDOM.

IN HIS CONVICTIONS,
HE NEVER CHANGED.

BUT HIS BEHAVIOR DID CHANGE.

HE FOUND A COMMUNIST
HE COULD TRUST.

BUT BEFORE
THINGS GET

TOO FAR OUT OF HAND...

WE FIND OURSELVES
STANDING LIKE THIS.

KHOROSHO.

Bessmertnykh:
HE WAS A DIFFERENT MAN
BY THE END OF THE '80s

FROM WHAT HE WAS AT
THE BEGINNING OF THE '80s.

AND HE REALIZED THE IMPORTANCE

OF THE IMPROVED RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE SOVIET UNION

AND HE HAS PERSONALLY
CONTRIBUTED TO THAT

VERY, VERY MUCH.

AND THAT HAS CHANGED THE WORLD.

IT PRESENTED THE SCENE FOR THE
END OF THE COLD WAR COMPLETELY

WHICH HAPPENED JUST SEVERAL...
A COUPLE OF YEARS AFTER THAT.

Reporter:
DO YOU
STILL THINK

YOU'RE IN AN
EVIL EMPIRE,
MR. PRESIDENT?

NO.

WHY NOT?

I WAS TALKING
ABOUT ANOTHER TIME
AND ANOTHER ERA.

ZAYAVLIENIE, KAK BYL...

Translator:
THIS STATEMENT, I THINK,
REALLY FOCUSED, CONCENTRATED

ALL THE CHANGES THAT HAPPENED
TO RONALD REAGAN HIMSELF.

IT MEANS THAT EVEN A PERSON
WHO HAD HAD A KIND OF BIAS

AND WHO WAS AT AN AGE
WHEN IT'S NOT EASY TO CHANGE

HE SHOWED THAT
HE WAS ABLE AND READY

TO CHANGE HIS POSITION,
TO CHANGE HIS EVALUATION.

SO HE IS REALLY
A VERY BIG PERSON

A VERY GREAT POLITICAL LEADER

AND, WELL,
THE REST IS UP TO YOU.

Narrator:
WHEN REAGAN WAS
IN MOSCOW IN MAY 1988

THE COLD WAR WAS ENDING.

HE NEVER EXPECTED
THE TIDE WOULD TURN SO QUICKLY.

THAT SAME MONTH

GORBACHEV BEGAN WITHDRAWING
SOVIET FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN.

THE NEXT YEAR, IN JUNE 1989

LECH WALESA WAS ELECTED
PRESIDENT OF POLAND.

GORBACHEV REFUSED TO INTERVENE.

AS REAGAN HAD FORESEEN, THE REST
OF EASTERN EUROPE FOLLOWED.

IN NOVEMBER 1989,
THE BERLIN WALL CAME DOWN.

IN FEBRUARY 1990,
IN FREE ELECTIONS IN NICARAGUA

THE SANDINISTAS
WERE VOTED OUT OF POWER.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV...

THE SOVIET SYSTEM'S
BEST RESPONSE

TO THE CHALLENGE
OF RONALD REAGAN...

COULD NOT CONTROL
THE REFORMS HE HAD BEGUN.

ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1991,
HE DISSOLVED THE SOVIET UNION.

WHAT REAGAN HAD PREDICTED
BEFORE PARLIAMENT CAME TRUE:

THE SOVIET UNION WAS CONSIGNED
TO THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY.

Lewis:
YOU CAN'T DENY CREDIT TO
A PRESIDENT WHO WAS IN POWER

AT A TIME
WHEN THE COLD WAR WAS...

THOUGH WE MAY NOT
HAVE KNOWN IT AT THE TIME...

APPROACHING ITS END;
CAN'T DENY THAT CREDIT.

ON THE OTHER HAND

WE'VE PAID
A TERRIBLE PRICE FOR THAT

AND WE ARE CONTINUING TO PAY IT

AND OUR CHILDREN ARE GOING
TO PAY IT, BECAUSE WE RAN UP

BUDGET DEFICITS CUMULATIVELY
LARGER THAN EVERYTHING

FROM THE BEGINNING OF
THIS COUNTRY TO THAT DATE

WHICH MAKES

THE ABILITY OF THE NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT IN THIS COUNTRY
TO GOVERN

VERY LIMITED.

Narrator:
WHEN HE LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE
IN JANUARY 1989

REAGAN HAD TIME
TO WORK ON HIS RANCH.

THERE WERE STILL GOPHERS
TO PLINK AND BRUSH TO CLEAR

AND VISTAS TO OPEN.

HE WAS ALMOST 78 YEARS OLD.

PROBABLY WHEN HE WAS 80, 81, HE
WAS STILL USING THE CHAIN SAWS

BUT I BELIEVE
HE STARTED CONCENTRATING MORE

ON THE POLE SAW.

YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW
IF AGE ENTERED INTO IT OR NOT

OR HE JUST LIKED REACHING HIGH.

Narrator:
THERE'S A ROCK AT THE RANCH

WHERE REAGAN CARVED
HIS INITIALS AND NANCY'S

AND THOSE OF
HIS MARRIED CHILDREN...

AND PATTI'S NAME.

"WE'VE REACHED OUT TO PATTI

SINCE I LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE,"
HE WROTE, "BUT SO FAR

"SHE'S MADE IT PLAIN TO ME
THAT SHE THINKS I AM WRONG

AND THAT SHE IS AGAINST
EVERYTHING I STAND FOR."

ON FEBRUARY 4, 1994, FIVE YEARS
AFTER HE LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE

PATTI CALLED ON HER FATHER TO
WISH HIM A HAPPY 83rd BIRTHDAY.

I SORT OF GOT

THIS OVERWHELMING FEELING
THAT I SHOULD GO SEE MY FATHER.

UM... I HAD STARTED
TO WRITE ANGELS DON'T DIE

ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS

THAT HE HAD IMPARTED TO ME
THROUGHOUT MY LIFE

AND, UH... SO HE WAS
VERY MUCH ON MY MIND.

AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW
IF MY PARENTS WERE IN TOWN

OR, YOU KNOW, IF THEY WERE
AROUND, OR IF THEY WERE HOME.

AND I CALLED AND,
UH, HE ANSWERED THE PHONE

AND HE WAS THERE ALONE,
AND I WENT UP AND SAW HIM

AND TOLD HIM ABOUT
THE BOOK THAT I WAS WRITING;

TOLD HIM HOW MUCH
HE HAD ENRICHED MY LIFE

WITH HIS SPIRITUALITY AND BY
TEACHING ME, REALLY QUITE SIMPLY

TO TALK TO GOD.

AND HE WAS VERY MOVED
BY MY TELLING HIM THAT

BECAUSE HE HAD ALWAYS WONDERED,
AS HE SAID, WHAT MY FAITH WAS.

Narrator:
PATTI MADE PEACE WITH HER FATHER

THE DAY AFTER
HIS 83rd BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE.

THERE WAS NO TIME TO SPARE.

AT THAT EVENT, OTHERS BEGAN
TO NOTICE HIM FALTER.

Thatcher:
I REMEMBER WE MET BEFOREHAND
TO DO ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHS

WHICH WE USUALLY DO

AND HE WAS VERY QUIET AND
NOT VERY COMMUNICATIVE AT ALL.

AND NANCY HAD TO LEAD HIM
TO THE PLATFORM

HOLDING HIM BY THE HAND.

AND WHEN SHE PUT UP
HER HAND TO WAVE

IMMEDIATELY SHE SAID TO RON,
"WAVE," AND HE DID.

AND I HAD THOUGHT THAT
HE WAS PROBABLY VERY TIRED.

Hutton:
WHEN HIS TIME CAME,
THERE SEEMED TO BE A HESITANCY

AND HIS VOICE WAS NOT ITS
USUAL STRONG, EXACTING VOICE.

FRANKLY, FOR A MINUTE THERE,
I WAS A BIT CONCERNED

THAT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
AWAY FROM WASHINGTON

YOU ALL WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE ME.

AND THEN SUDDENLY IT WAS
AS IF A SWITCH HAD GONE ON

AND HIS OLD ELEGANCE
WAS RIGHT BACK.

I CAN'T TELL YOU
HOW THRILLED NANCY AND I ARE

TO BE HERE WITH YOU TONIGHT
TO CELEBRATE, AS MARGARET SAID

THE 44th ANNIVERSARY
OF MY 39th BIRTHDAY.

Hutton:
AFTER THIS WAS ALL OVER,
WE WENT BACK TO THE HOTEL

AND HE SAID, "I'M GOING TO
HAVE TO HAVE A LITTLE HELP.

"I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED.

I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM."

AND WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT
OF A REMINDER, HE WAS FINE

BUT MRS. REAGAN HAD SAID

"THERE, NOW DO YOU SEE
WHAT I MEAN?" SHE SAID.

AND SHE SAID, "THIS IS
HAPPENING MORE AND MORE OFTEN."

Ron Reagan:
I THINK ALL OF US WENT THROUGH
SOME PERIOD IN OUR LIVES

WHERE WE MISSED HIM
WHILE HE WAS STILL THERE

AND, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BANGED
OUR HEAD AGAINST THAT WALL

YOU KNOW, "WHY CAN'T
WE GET ANY CLOSER?

WHY CAN'T THERE BE
MORE OF A RAPPORT?"

BUT AFTER YOU ACCEPT

THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE
JUST ISN'T GOING TO BE

YOU KNOW, THEN... THEN
YOU MAKE YOUR PEACE WITH THAT

AND, YOU KNOW, NOW, I MEAN, IT'S
AN AWFUL TRAGEDY, OF COURSE.

ALZHEIMER'S IS A...
YOU KNOW, A TERRIBLE THING

AND, YOU KNOW, YOU WOULDN'T
WISH IT ON YOUR WORST ENEMY.

BUT SOME OF THE PAIN
MAYBE IS LESSENED

BY THE FACT THAT THINGS HAVEN'T
CHANGED THAT MUCH, IN A WAY.

YOU KNOW, HE'S NOT...

YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT MISSING

SOMETHING THAT WE HAD
TO BEGIN WITH.

Hutton:
THE PRESIDENT WAS
VERY FRUSTRATED

AND I REMEMBER ONE TIME

WHEN HE WAS TRYING
TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING TO ME

HE SIMPLY COULDN'T GO ON

WITH WHATEVER IT WAS HE WAS
TRYING TO GET ACROSS TO ME

AND SAID, "YOU KNOW, I'M...
JOHN, I'M JUST BEWILDERED."

FINALLY, HE REALIZED

THAT IT WAS BECOMING
EVEN DIFFICULT TO MAKE TAPES

WHICH HE USED TO MAKE
FOR POLITICAL FRIENDS, ETC.

AND WE FINALLY HAD TO ABANDON
DOING... UH, MAKING THOSE

AT WHICH TIME HE SAID

"I'VE GOT TO SOMEHOW
REACH OUT AND TELL PEOPLE

THAT I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE."

Narrator:
THIS TIME THERE WAS NO DENIAL.

"MY FELLOW AMERICANS

"I HAVE RECENTLY BEEN TOLD

"THAT I AM ONE OF
THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS

"WHO WILL BE AFFLICTED
WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.

"UPON HEARING THIS NEWS,
NANCY AND I HAD TO DECIDE

"WHETHER, AS PRIVATE CITIZENS

"WE WOULD KEEP THIS
A PRIVATE MATTER

"OR WHETHER WE WOULD MAKE
THIS NEWS KNOWN IN A PUBLIC WAY.

"WE FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT
TO SHARE IT WITH YOU.

"IN OPENING OUR HEARTS,
WE HOPE THIS MIGHT PROMOTE

A GREATER AWARENESS
OF THIS CONDITION."

I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING
I'VE SEEN THAT WAS SO...

TRANSPARENTLY... HONEST,
COURAGEOUS AND ARTICULATE.

THE WRITING HAD THE ULTIMATE
QUALITY OF GOOD WRITING

WHICH IS UNBLINKING
ACCEPTANCE OF THE TRUTH.

Narrator:
"UNFORTUNATELY, AS
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PROGRESSES

"THE FAMILY OFTEN BEARS
A HEAVY BURDEN.

"I ONLY WISH THERE WAS SOME WAY

"I COULD SPARE NANCY
FROM THIS PAINFUL EXPERIENCE.

"WHEN THE LORD CALLS ME HOME,
WHENEVER THAT MAY BE

"I WILL LEAVE WITH THE GREATEST
LOVE FOR THIS COUNTRY OF OURS

AND ETERNAL OPTIMISM
FOR ITS FUTURE."

Morris:
I FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT

TO THINK EMOTIONALLY
ABOUT RONALD REAGAN

BUT THAT IS ONE THING HE DID
THAT CATCHES ME IN THE HEART

IS THE COURAGE WITH WHICH
HE LEFT HIS CONSCIOUS LIFE...

THE COURAGE WITH...
WITH WHICH HE... HE STOPPED.

HE SIMPLY STOPPED.

Narrator:
"I NOW BEGIN THE JOURNEY
THAT WILL LEAD ME

"INTO THE SUNSET OF MY LIFE.

"I KNOW THAT FOR AMERICA

"THERE WILL ALWAYS BE
A BRIGHT DAWN AHEAD.

"THANK YOU, MY FRIENDS.

"MAY GOD ALWAYS BLESS YOU.