23. THE BIG FOUR
A remarkable quartet was powering the rapprochement in world poli-
tics. On the American side were Reagan and Shultz; their Soviet
opposite numbers were Gorbachëv and Shevardnadze.^1 Reagan and
Gorbachëv initiated the process of conciliation at Geneva and Reykja-
vik, and progress was rapid from 1986. Neither the President nor the
General Secretary could not allow foreign policy to occupy their entire
time, and it often fell to the Secretary of State and Foreign Affairs Min-
ister to crowbar the general plans and assumptions on to each national
agenda sheet. Shultz and Shevardnadze were always prodding their
own leaders towards greater boldness in arms reduction talks with the
other superpower.
Truth be told, Reagan and Gorbachëv had to take a broad range of
factors into consideration and neither could afford to alienate the feel-
ings of influential groups of supporters. They also had to feel that they
could safely trust each other. The early summits convinced Reagan
that if he wished to achieve the global elimination of nuclear weapons,
he was unlikely to find a readier partner than Gorbachëv. He told
President Mauno Koivisto of Finland in May 1987 that ‘Gorbachëv is
motivated less by his interest in developing a positive relationship with
us than by the nature of his internal economic situation’. He added: ‘He
knows what we have long known, namely that his economy is a kind
of basket case.’^2 Reagan did not mind if Gorbachëv was not as he liked
to appear under public gaze. The point was that the Soviet leader was
willing to make a lot of the changes that the Americans demanded.
Steadily Reagan was choosing to favour Shultz over Weinberger and
Casey. But he hated to fall into dispute with any member of his team.
Once when Shultz gave him a draft copy of a speech he intended to
make, the President offered no direct criticism. All he would say was:
‘Oh yes, George. I looked it over. Not a bad speech. But I wouldn’t give
it.’ This was the nearest he came to a presidential prohibition, and the
two of them proceeded to rewrite the speech together.^3