ABSTRACT
Although 1984 and 1985 marked a low point in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, there were some indications that relations would improve. President Reagan had cooled his anti-Soviet rhetoric before the 1984 election. During the campaign he insisted that his defense buildup was a prerequisite for arms negotiations, not a means to preclude them. That could have been mere political maneuvering, but about that same time Reagan replaced his hard-line national security adviser, William Clark, with the more pragmatic Robert McFarlane. McFarlane advised Reagan that the military power of the United States had probably reached its apex and would soon start to decline because Congress was resistant to further defense budget increases. Therefore, he said, it might be best to negotiate with the Soviets from the existing position of strength. This seemed possible because the Soviets returned to the nuclear arms negotiating table after Andropov died in February 1984 and Konstantin Chernenko replaced him as leader of the Soviet Union. The Soviets demonstrated their continuing displeasure with the Reagan administration, however, by announcing that they would boycott the Los Angeles Olympics.
