Interview with Gerard Smith, 1986
Item Information
- Title:
- Interview with Gerard Smith, 1986
- Description:
-
Gerard Smith was the lead SALT negotiator from 1969-1972. In the interview, he begins with his experiences prior to SALT, then the state of affairs in 1969 as the negotiations got underway. He then turns to issues of verifiability, linkage and leverage, among others that surfaced during the process. He discusses U.S. objectives for SALT and some of his own views on related topics, for example his support for banning ABM systems. A number of questions deal with the negotiations themselves: what it was like to face the Soviets, how the sessions unfolded, what Soviet concerns were, and how the two delegations behaved toward each other, including their awareness of likely Soviet bugging attempts. Also covered are the internal dynamics within the Nixon administration, including the relative unimportance of NSC meetings, where he says decisions generally were not made on arms control. He recounts a memorable session with the president that demonstrated the tensions that sometimes built up. The celebrated "back channel" orchestrated by Henry Kissinger created significant problems, in his view. So did the intervention of Sen. Henry Jackson after the SALT I treaty was signed. He also addresses a range of issues such as the phenomenon of arms control agreements tending to lead to pressure to acquire more arms, how to promote nonproliferation, and how his views on arms control have changed over time.
- Interviewee:
- Smith, Gerard C.
- Date:
-
December 2, 1986
- Format:
-
Film/Video
- Location:
- WGBH
- Collection (local):
-
WGBH Open Vault
- Series:
- War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Subjects:
-
Nuclear arms control
Soviet Union
Nitze, Paul H.
Deterrence (Strategy)
Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles
Kremlin (Moscow, Russia)
Allison, Royal Bertram
Antimissile missiles
Photographic reconnaissance systems
Laird, Melvin R.
United States. Dept. of Defense
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II
Nuclear weapons--Testing
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Trident (Weapons systems)
United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff
Cruise missiles
Intercontinental ballistic missiles
Semyonov, Vladimir Semyonovich
Nuclear survivability
Nuclear weapons
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Jackson, Henry M. (Henry Martin), 1912-1983
Dobrynin, Anatoly, 1919-2010
Kissinger, Henry, 1923-
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
Haig, Alexander Meigs, 1924-2010
Thompson, Llewellyn, 1904-1972
Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
Soviet Union. Treaties, etc. United States, 1972 May 26 (ABM), 1972 May 26 (ABM)
Rogers, William P. (William Pierce), 1913-2001
United States. Congress
- Places:
-
United States
- Extent:
- 01:55:30:10
- Link to Item:
- http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_79BBEC3B4FA14F58A73E963091EDBF22
- Terms of Use:
-
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
- Publisher:
-
WGBH Educational Foundation
- Identifier:
-
V_79BBEC3B4FA14F58A73E963091EDBF22