Office of the Historian

19. Notes of a Meeting1

Washington, February 24, 1987, 1:15 p.m.

FCC Meeting Notes

PARTICIPANTS

  • The President, Jeane Kirkpatrick, The Vice President, Secretary Shultz, Secretary Weinberger and Don Regan

G. First question is P. too weak for us to deal with.

Vance: Certainly not. Congress would support any agreements or departures R.R. would support. Others said Iran-Contra is a domestic affair.

G. How long would it take R.R. to negotiate agreement. When does politics take over.

Americans: Must be completed by September 1987. J.K. disagreed. We have more time.

G. R. not a fiasco. Reproached H.K. for criticizing R. H.K. said R. not well prepared. G. said in R. there possibility for continuing dialogue.

G. Talked about U.S.-Soviet Relations for 1½ hours. Attacked Vance and Brown for destroying U.S.-Soviet Relations. I thank you Brown, for bitter lessons of embargo.2 Can no longer see U.S. as viable economic partner. Had to develop own grain industry, computer industry, S&T. U.S. not reliable partner. We look for new forms of cooperation.

G. Rejected desire for investment. Not interested in economic relations.

Jones: Tried advise on prohibited-permitted. G. changed subject.

G. U.S. dominated by military-industrial complex, but you not hopeless.

G. U.S. wants military superiority.

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G. I heard three things: a) Nuclear war is catastrophe; b) Soviet security not incompatible with security of all other countries; and c) Soviets won’t be all powerful. Nobody can impose will on world.

  1. Source: Reagan Library, Carlucci Files, The President (02/12/87–04/28/1987). No classification marking. Presumably drafted by Carlucci. The meeting took place in the Oval Office at the White House from 1:15 to 2:02 p.m. (Reagan Library, President’s Daily Diary) Kirkpatrick reported on her recent trip to Moscow as part of a Council on Foreign Relations delegation that included herself, former Secretaries of State Kissinger and Vance, former Secretary of Defense Harold Brown, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General David Jones, and former Senator Charles Mathias Jr. “G” refers to Gorbachev; “P” refers to Reagan; “H.K.” refers to Kissinger; “R” refers to the 1986 Reykjavik Summit; and “J.K.” refers to Kirkpatrick.↩
  2. Reference is to the grain embargo the Carter administration imposed on the Soviet Union after the December 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, which Reagan lifted in April 1981.↩