Even before he assumed office as president, Reagan took part in a discussion about what would happen if the Soviet Union struck first. One participant in the meeting argued that, should missiles be fired, that the United States should just launch a response before we were hit. “That would be the wrong thing to do,” Reagan said. His advisers left the meeting “almost certain that he would not retaliate in the event of an attack”.[cdlxxx] Gorbachev did Reagan one better. After he assumed leadership of the USSR, Gorbachev was walked through a simulated nuclear strike so that he would know what to
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I heard this being discussed on a pod cast - it was the reason I bought the book.
