Edward L. Rowny
not muster the necessary 66 votes to ratify the treaty. In fact, they had about 55
votes, a majority but not the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution for
ratification of a treaty. The Senate Arms Services Committee wrote a report
stating that more than a dozen serious errors would have to be corrected before
they would vote for the treaty.
In late December, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. President Carter withdrew the
treaty from consideration by the Senate, citing the Soviet invasion as his main
reason for doing so. It was at this point that President Carter said he had learned
more about the Soviets in two weeks than he had up to that time. SALT II, which
had been dead in the water for several months, was now sunk.
Q ..
What did you do after you retired? Obviously you testified before the Senate. But
what else did you do?
A
In addition to testifying, I became a scholar at the Wilson Center of the
Smithsonian Institution. I spent the next year writing a book about my experiences
in negotiating with the Soviets.
Cochairman, Advisory Group for Governor Ronald Reagan
In late 1979 I received a call from Governor Reagan who said he had read my
testimony before the Senate. I was pleasantly surprised that he was familiar with
the main faults of SALT II and quite pleased that he agreed with my views. He
asked me if I would talk to him when he came to Washington. I met with him in
January 1980 in a downtown hotel. We talked for about three hours. At the end
of our conversation Reagan asked me if I would come to work for him. I said,
"Governor, I want to ask you a question point-blank. Are you in favor of arms
control agreements, because you should know that I am. If you are not in favor
of arms control, then I'm not your
"Yes," said Reagan, "I am in favor of arms control but I'm in favor of good arms
control agreements and not arms control agreements for agreements' sake." He
said he favored only those arms control agreements which were equitable and
verifiable. He added that a bad arms control agreement would be worse than no
agreement at all.
I told Reagan I agreed with him completely. He also queried me quite extensively
on strategic defenses. "Isn't there a better way of deterring a would-be aggressor
who had a pistol at your head than holding a pistol to his head?"
129
Previous Page
