Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

ruse. Copeland claimed that the plan was discarded when experts

demonstrated that, even under the most optimistic scenarios, the U.S.

would still be dependent on Middle Eastern oil. The nature, substance,

and veracity of Operation Rainbow is in dispute, largely because of

Copeland’s tendency to exaggerate his stories. Some experts, how-

ever, have found evidence to support his claim.

RC-135 RIVET JOINT AIRCRAFT. This aircraft is an airborne in-

telligence platform used by the air force to eavesdrop on radio con-

versations or pick up signals from radars. The airplane flies some dis-

tance from the target, employs an array of sensors to collect the

intelligence, and then sends warnings about the location of threaten-

ing forces. The aircraft has been used to great effect in peacekeeping

and contingency operations, such as the 1999 war in Kosovo.

REAGAN, RONALD (1911–2004).The 40th president of the United

States between 1981 and 1989. ALiberal Democrat in his youth, Presi-

dent Reagan joined the Republican Party in 1962 and began to cham-

pion conservative causes, enthusiastically endorsing presidential candi-

date Barry Goldwater in 1964. In the California gubernatorial election

of 1966, he defeated incumbent governor, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, and

served two terms (1967–1975) as governor. President Reagan also un-

successfully ran twice, in 1968 and 1976, for the Republican presiden-

tial nomination but lost to Richard M. Nixonand Gerald R. Ford, re-

spectively. In 1980, with the help of his friend, William J. Casey,

Ronald Reagan won his party’s nomination for president and went on to

defeat incumbent president Jimmy Carter.

Ronald Reagan advocated a balanced budget to combat inflation

and pursued supply-side economic programs of tax and nondefense

budget cuts through Congress. Adopting a hard-line stance against

the Soviet Unionand other communist countries, President Reagan

advocated and presided over an escalation of military spending,

which included his 1983 proposal for a space-based defense system

known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).

During his two terms as president, Ronald Reagan was keenly in-

terested in strengthening U.S. intelligence capabilities. He installed

William Casey, a veteran of the Office of the Strategic Service

(OSS), as director of central intelligence (DCI), issued Executive

Order 12333on 4 December 1981, approved various anti-Soviet

REAGAN, RONALD• 169

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