207. Memorandum From the Special Assistant to the President and White House Chief Speechwriter (Dolan) to the White House Chief of Staff (Baker), the Assistant to the President and Deputy to the White House Chief of Staff (Darman), the White House Deputy Chief of Staff (Deaver), and the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (McFarlane)1
SUBJECT
- Foreign Policy Debate2
Besides disturbing conservatives, the attached story, if it indicates the direction of counsel for the debate, is rife with danger.3 It implies rejection of what all the polls show is one major reason people voted for Ronald Reagan: his hard line. The simple truth of the matter is that Ronald Reagan has said over and over again that the United States stands for the spread of freedom throughout the world. In the Soviet mind, any affirmation of freedom—indeed the mere existence of a free, democratic nation like the U.S.—is itself an act of aggression against the Soviet state, and calls into question the legitimacy of the Soviet regime. (However much the Jack Matlock/detentist school of thought wish it otherwise.)4 If the President is advised to move away from his commitment to freedom—in the face of an aggressive Mondale who will push him on this point—the result will be serious damage.
Mondale is going to become even more aggressive in this debate and will try and rattle the President. The President needs to adopt a [Page 892] strong countervailing theme. Time after time, the President has told the truth about the Soviets. Twenty years from now, historians will look back at this—as they did at Churchill’s warnings about Hitler or about the “Iron Curtain”5—as the most significant foreign policy accomplishment of the Reagan Administration, and perhaps the critical reason for the loss of Soviet energy. Do not advise the President to retreat from this. He should claim credit for it. I would suggest the following response if the “Evil Empire” or “hard-line” question comes up:
“The world is not Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood and my opponent really doesn’t understand that.6 It’s a dangerous place with dangerous adversaries. It’s true I’ve been honest about those dangers and been candid with the American people about our adversaries. But that’s the kind of honesty they expect of their President.
“Furthermore, this candor helps the negotiating process. History shows that when the Soviets know their counterparts have no illusions about them, they settle down to serious negotiating.
“If there are any wrong perceptions of the other side, we want to eliminate those and I’ve tried to do it. But this Administration and this country stands for the spread of freedom. We always will.”
He might also welcome Mr. Mondale’s new toughness on the Soviets, and ask him what protein supplement he’s taking.
- Source: Reagan Library, Robert McFarlane Files, Subject File, Debate Materials October 1984 (5). No classification marking.↩
- The second Presidential debate between Reagan and Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale was scheduled to take place in the Music Hall at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City on October 21. For additional information, see Document 212.↩
- Attached but not printed is an October 16 New York Times article entitled “Hard Line Stops, Reagan Says.” The article referenced the President’s interview with reporters from U.S. News & World Report, which was published on October 15, during which he was asked if he would return to a hard line approach with the Soviet Union if he was reelected: “‘No,’ he said. ‘No. No way, because I happen to believe that if there’s any common sense in the world at all, we not only should reduce nuclear weapons, we should eliminate them.’” The version that appeared in the October 16 issue of the New York Times on page A24 is entitled “Reagan Says No More Hard Line on Russia” and includes the same text as the version that Dolan attached to his memorandum.↩
- In an October 17 handwritten note to McFarlane, Poindexter commented: “Bud, I really object to Dolan’s inflammatory statement about Jack. Dolan doesn’t understand the issues (or the President) and I doubt he ever will. You might want to call Dolan and tell him this kind of sniping and extremism doesn’t help. JP.” (Reagan Library, Robert McFarlane Files, Subject File, Debate Materials October 1984 (5); NLR–362–1–24–9–3)↩
- Reference is to Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, delivered at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946.↩
- Reference is to the educational television program hosted by Fred Rogers, which debuted on the NET network (later PBS) in February 1968.↩