the
Enduring Legacy
Leadership and National Security Affairs during the Ronald Reagan Era
November 3 & 4, 2014
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, Virginia
•
Understanding the
connections between the
Cold War and contemporary
national security affairs
Sponsored by the John A. Adams ’71 Center for
Military History & Strategic Analysis and the
VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics
Institutional Partners
Welcome
The John A. Adams ’71 Center for Military History & Strategic Analysis.
A specialized element of the Virginia Military Institute focused on Cold War
military history and the connections between the Cold War and contemporary
national security affairs. http://www.vmi.edu/adamscenter
Center for Leadership and Ethics. Part of the Virginia Military Institute, the
Center for Leadership and Ethics promotes leadership and character development
through specialized programs. http://www.vmi.edu/Leadership_and_Ethics/
The Wheatley Institution. A division of Brigham Young University devoted to lifting society by preserving and strengthening its core institutions through activities that
lead toward practical and constructive solutions to real societal issues, including sound
principles and policies in international affairs. http://wheatleyinstitution.byu.edu/
George C. Marshall Foundation. An independent, nonprofit organization
that preserves and perpetuates the legacy of General of the Army George C.
Marshall through scholarship, leadership and statesmanship programs. http://www.
marshallfoundation.org/
The John C. Biggs ’30 Cincinnati Chair in Military History. Created by the
E. Paul and Helen Buck Waggoner Foundation in 1985, the Biggs Chair
endowment supports the interdisciplinary study of military history at the Virginia
Military Institute.
Virginia Military Institute
Founded in 1839, VMI commemorates 175 years of commitment to student excellence.
What makes VMI distinctive in the world of higher education is its mission to prepare
educated, honorable, and steadfast leaders in all walks of life. The Center for Leadership
and Ethics provides programs that support VMI’s system of leadership training and
challenge cadets and our society with conferences on topics of national and international
importance including this ‘Enduring Legacy’ conference on the Reagan era. The
Department of History offers a major and minor in history, as well as a minor in
military history. The history curriculum prepares cadets for graduate schools of history
or government, and for occupations including law, business, politics, government
service, and the armed forces.
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1
Conference Biographies
Program
Monday, November 3
Keynote Speaker
Retired US Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, Ph.D.
Admiral James Stavridis is the Dean of the Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He served for four years
as the Supreme Allied Commander, NATO, and Commander,
U.S. European Command, 2009 to 2013. In that position, he
was responsible for 120,000 coalition troops on three continents.
Stavridis is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.,
Literature) and Tufts University (Ph.D., International Relations).
He is the author of five books and over 100 articles.
Dinner Speaker
Retired Ambassador Jack F. Matlock Jr., Ph.D.
A career Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Jack Matlock Jr. is
the former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1987-1991),
Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
(1983-1986), and U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (19811983). He graduated from Duke University (A.B., 1950) and
Columbia University (M.A., Ph.D., 1952, 2013). Ambassador
Matlock’s books include Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War
Ended (Random House, 2004).
0730
Conference Registration
0830
Conference Opening, Welcoming Remarks, VMI Superintendent
General J. H. Binford Peay, III (Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall)
0900-1030 Panel 1: The Leadership of Ronald Reagan
(Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall)
Chair: David R. Gray, Center for Leadership and Ethics
“Freedom Man: The Inspirational Leadership of Ronald Reagan”
–Lou Cannon
“Reagan’s Engagement and the Cold War”
–James Wilson, Department of State
“Reagan’s Strategies and Policies: Of Ideology, Pragmatism, Loyalties, and
Management Style”
–Alan P. Dobson, University of St. Andrews
1100-1215 Keynote Presentation
Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN (ret.) (Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall)
1220-1320 Lunch for conference participants and Institute Honors Program
cadets (Hall of Valor, Marshall Hall)
1330-1500 Panel 2: The Organization and Function of the National
Security Establishment (Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall)
Chair: General Paul Gorman, U.S. Army (ret.)
“From Cap the Knife to Cap the Shovel: Caspar Weinberger and the
Reagan Buildup”
–Ronald Granieri, University of Pennsylvania
“Transformational Leadership in Congress: The Goldwater-Nichols
Defense Reorganization Act”
–James R. Locher III
Commentator: David Yang, U.S. Agency for International
Development
2
3
1500-1530Break
1530-1700 Panel 3: The Soviet Union and the United States
(Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall)
Chair: Ambassador Rozanne Ridgway (ret.)
“Reagan and the Soviet Union: Competing Military Strategies”
–David Glantz, U.S. Army (ret.)
“Bringing Down the Walls: Reagan and Gorbachev at the Cold War’s End”
–Svetlana Savranskaya, George Washington University
“From RYaN to Reykjavík: The Role of Nuclear Weapons and the End of
the Cold War”
–Jacob Kipp, University of Kansas
1900-2100 Reception, Dinner
Dinner speaker, Ambassador Jack Foust Matlock (Conference
participants, invited guests, cadets) (Hall of Valor, Marshall Hall)
2115
Shuttle service for conference participants to Hampton Inn and
Holiday Inn Express
Tuesday, November 4
0730-0815 Coffee and Conference Gathering (Marshall Hall)
0830-1000 Panel 4b: Reagan and the World: The Middle East and Africa
(Turman Room, Preston Library)
Chair: Francis MacDonnell, Southern Virginia University
“Stranger in a Dangerous Land: Reagan and Lebanon, 1981-1984”
–Charles Brower IV, Virginia Military Institute
“United States’ Southern Africa Policy under Reagan: The Specter of
Colonialism”
–James Hentz, Virginia Military Institute
“Beyond Iran-Contra: The Dichotomy of the Reagan Administration’s
Policy towards Iran”
–David Crist, The Joint Staff
0830-1000 Panel 4c: Reagan and the World: Europe
(Pogue Auditorium, George C. Marshall Library)
Chair: Rob Havers, George C. Marshall Foundation
“For Better or for Worse: Ronald Reagan’s Relationship with Margaret
Thatcher”
–James Cooper, Oxford Brookes University
“Navigating Choppy Waters: U.S.-German Relations during the Last
Decade of the Cold War”
–David Patton, Connecticut College
“Ronald Reagan, François Mitterrand, and the Sense of History”
–William Hitchcock, University of Virginia
0830-1000 Panel 4a: Reagan and the World: The Americas
(Hall of Valor, Marshall Hall)
1000-1020Break
1030-1200 Panel 5: Reagan, Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War
(Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall)
Chair: Ambassador Paul Trivelli (ret.)
“An Obsession: The Reagan Administration and Central America, 19811989”
–Kyle Longley, Arizona State University
“Towards an Ecological Frontier: Environmental Policy, Economic
Development, and U.S.-Mexican Relations during the Reagan Presidency”
–Evan Ward, Brigham Young University
“The Iran-Contra Scandal and U.S. Foreign Policy Leadership”
–James F. Siekmeier, West Virginia University
Chair: Richard Bidlack, Washington and Lee University
“The Enduring Legacy: Reagan, Nuclear Weapons, and the Ending of the
Cold War”
–Beth Fischer, University of Toronto
“Gorbachev, Perestroika and the End of the Cold War”
–Archie Brown, Oxford University
1200
Closing Remarks (Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall)
1230-1400 No-Host Lunch at the Sheridan Livery, 35 N. Main St, Lexington, Va.
1430
4
Optional Tour of VMI Post, gathering at Jackson Memorial Hall
5
Selected Chronology
1980
Nov 4
Ronald Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter in Presidential election
1981
Jan 20 Mar 30
Jul 19-21 Oct 2
Nov 18
Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President
Iran releases the remaining American hostages
President Reagan is shot during an assassination attempt
President Reagan participates in his first G-7 Summit, held in Ottawa, Canada
U.S. Strategic Weapons program announced
Arms reduction speech at the National Press Club
1982
Jan 26 Feb 24
June 8
Aug 25
Nov 10
Nov 6 Reagan, 73, is sworn in as the oldest president in history
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the USSR
TWA Flight 847 is hijacked, but all hostages are eventually freed
Economic sanctions against South Africa announced
President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet face-to-face for the first time
in Geneva, Switzerland
1986
Jan 28 Feb 28
April 14
April 25
Oct 1
U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all 7 crewmembers
Packard Commission report on defense management
Air strikes on Libya
Nuclear disaster at Chernobyl
Reagan signs the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization
Act of 1986
Oct 11-12 Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland
Nov 26
Tower Commission appointed to investigate the Iran-Contra scandal
President Reagan delivers his first State of the Union Address
Caribbean Basin Initiative announced at the Organization of American States
Reagan addresses both Houses of Parliament during a visit to the UK
U.S. Marines arrive in Beirut, Lebanon
USSR General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev dies
Feb 26
Mar 4 Jun 12 Address on El Salvador
Address to the nation on national security and Strategic Defense Initiative
Bombing of U.S. Embassy in Beirut
U.S.-Mexico Agreement on the environment in the border area
Soviet attack on Korean airliner KAL 007 kills 269
U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut bombed by terrorists, killing 241 Americans
U.S. troops invade Grenada
1988
Sept 15
Dec 8 Mar 1
April 14
May 31
Sept 26
Tower Commission report on Iran-Contra
Ronald Reagan addresses the nation on the Iran-Contra scandal
Reagan demands that Gorbachev “tear down this wall” during a speech at
Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate
Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers Treaty signed
President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev sign the Intermediate-range Nuclear
Forces (INF) treaty during Washington Summit
NATO Summit in Brussels
The Soviet Union agrees to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan
Reagan visits Moscow and gives address at Moscow State University
Speech to UN General Assembly on disarmament
1989
1984
Jan 16
Feb 3
May 9
Jun 6 Jan 20 Mar 11
June 14
Sept 9
Nov 16
1987
1983
Mar 10
Mar 23
April 18
Aug 14
Sept 1
Oct 23 Oct 25 1985
Address to the nation on U.S.-Soviet relations
Henry Kissinger delivers bipartisan report on Central America
Address to the nation on Central America
President Reagan gives an emotional speech in Normandy, France, in
commemoration of the 40th anniversary of D-Day
Ronald Reagan is re-elected President, defeating Walter Mondale
6
Jan 20 Reagan leaves the White House; George Bush sworn in as President of the
United States
7
Cadets
Campus Map
Adams Center programs help cadets acquire advanced research skills—and a keen
understanding of the utility of history. Featured below are some examples of the
research our cadets have conducted in recent years. Throughout the center is focused
on educating national security professionals for the twenty-first century.
VMI cadet John P. Hansen
’14 conducted research on
the history of U.S. Special
Forces at the National
Archives during the
summer of 2013.
Cadet Ryan Long ’15 studied
the history of U.S. counterdrug operations at the Library
of Congress in August 2014.
Adams Center cadet
assistants Salena Chiep
’16 and Austin Bajc ’17
collaborate on Cold War
history projects in October
2014.
8
9
Reagan at the Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987:
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Fall of the Berlin Wall, November 9, 1989,
during George H.W. Bush’s presidency.
Photo Credits: “ReaganBerlinWall” by White House Photographic Office - Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, ID
C41244-9. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. ”Crane removed part of Wall Brandenburg Gate”
by SSGT F. Lee Corkran. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.“BerlinWall-BrandenburgGate” by Sue
Ream, photographer (San Francisco, California). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via Wikimedia
Commons.