Archive: Reagan for the Defense

• Share

(3 of 11)

Two retired military intelligence officers, Air Force Major General George Keegan and Army Lieut. General Daniel Graham, have been leading advocates of space weaponry. Graham headed a project, called the High Frontier, which was funded by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank. It reported that technology currently exists to orbit more than 400 "killer satellites" that could knock out Soviet missiles. There were other supporters of the idea, most notably Edward Teller, the hawkish physicist known as "the father of the hydrogen bomb."

Reagan first discussed the question of missile-killing technology with his science adviser, Physicist George Keyworth II, in a conversation two years ago. Keyworth, an admirer of Teller's who helped develop an earlier ABM system, appointed a task force that included Teller, Consultant Edward Frieman and former Deputy Secretary of Defense David Packard. Early this year they informed Reagan that the idea seemed technically feasible, and it was brought up at a Feb. 11 White House meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Reagan said nothing for the next three weeks, then popped the idea at a morning briefing. He told National Security Adviser William Clark to have the Pentagon and State Department formally consider the project. The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency was left out of the consultation due to the turmoil there resulting from the still unsettled controversy over the nomination of Kenneth Adelman to head the agency.

Reagan felt the need to include a positive element in his speech last week to show that his Administration had a broader vision than simply confronting security problems with greenbacks. So he decided to announce his space-age plan with some public fanfare, rather than simply order that it be studied quietly.* Clark warned Reagan on the day of the speech that he could expect criticism, even from within his Administration, for precipitately suggesting such a radical change in strategy. "It won't be the first time," the President replied. "It doesn't bother me."