ABSTRACT
Richard M. Nixon was an epitome of the Cold War warrior. Kissinger's goal was achieving sufficiency rather than superiority. Nixon and Kissinger's paths crossed throughout the years prior to Nixon's invitation to Kissinger to join his administration. They assumed that the Soviets wanted SALT so much, that they would be ready to pay a price for it. The result was creating a linkage between the negotiations on strategic arms limitations to other outstanding political problems. As the Soviet Union drew closer to Western Europe, it wanted to avoid American opposition to the rapprochement. The Kremlin assumed that SALT would be the price that the Americans would seek in return for allowing improvement in Soviet–Western European relations. While the various branches of the administration were studying US strategic-military position and the options for SALT, the bodies that would deal with SALT were taking shape. Gromyko managed to involve the military in SALT.
