SCREEN ACTORS GUILD

OLD FRIENDS: Reagan, in 1949, when he was president of SAG, with Beilenson, near right, then the lawyer for the union

His Real Thoughts About Star Wars
	Some of Reagan's most confiding letters were to an old friend in Los Angeles, Laurence Beilenson, a former attorney for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). In a letter in August 1986, Reagan rebuts press reports that his Strategic Defense Initiative is merely a bargaining chip for weapons reduction, and he privately anticipates the scrapping of the Antiballistic Missile Treaty.

Dear Larry:

It was good to hear from you and as always you are right on target. This place—this Capitol, leaks like a sieve. I don't know which is worse—the leak of a truth or the leak like the one you forwarded that is not based on fact. We will not allow sdi to become a bargaining chip. My own view is that we may be able to develop a defensive shield so effective that we can use it to rid the world once and for all of nuclear missiles. Then—since we all know how to make them we preserve sdi as we did our gas masks in the event a madman comes along some day and secretly puts some together.

Larry we haven't agreed to any artificial time restraints. We have a good idea of about how long research will take and are basing our proposals on that since research is within the restraints of the abm treaty. We'll make no unrealistic longtime agreements reaffirming or pledging to observe the treaty.

You know, those people who thought being an actor was no proper training for this job were way off base. Everyday I find myself thankful for those long days at the negotiating table with Harry Cohen, Freeman, the brothers Warner et al.

Well thanks again. Nancy sends her love and so do I.

      Sincerely,
      Ron

Two and a half months later, Reagan affirms that Star Wars was his own idea and describes how he sprang it on the Joint Chiefs. He also recounts his attempt to convince Mikhail Gorbachev at their recent Reykjavik summit that he was sincere about his proposal for joint development.

Dear Larry:

. . . When I finally decided to move on what has become SDI I called a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I said that until nuclear weapons there had never been an offensive weapon that hadn't inspired a defense all the way back to the spear and the shield. Then I asked them if in their thinking it was possible to devise a weapon that could destroy missiles as they came out of their silos. They were unanimous in their belief that such a defensive system could be developed. I gave the go-ahead that very day. The scientists working on this have achieved several breakthroughs and are quite optimistic . . . I have never entertained a thought that SDI could be a bargaining chip. I did tell Gorbachev that if and when we had such a system they would join us in eliminating nuclear missiles; we'd share such a defense with them. I don't think he believes me . . .

      Sincerely,
      Ron

NEXT LETTER: On Honesty

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