American Experience

Mikhail Gorbachev on his Attitude Toward Ronald Reagan

Requires the RealAudio Player. Download the player from Real.com.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (AND TRANSLATOR): Reagan did not like detail. Reagan liked generalities in politics in policies. He did not like detailed analysis. But, well, different people have different styles. And what President Reagan was doing was in his manner, in his style. And of course, he was also accompanied by very, very smart people, particularly George Shultz. They were a team that was working very well. And I am very pleased that we met, that as two top leaders of our countries we were able to take the most important positions and to work together with others. So from the very start my attitude toward him was very serious. Also, I understood that on our side too, far from everything was right. Both in terms of ideology and policy and in terms of practical negotiation and the practical business of politics. Not everything was right on our side. And I could not have any intention of upstaging President Reagan because I saw that it was because of the inertia of our old leaders. Brezhnev was ill, Andropov was ill, Chernenko was ill; that many problems accumulated. So the first of term of President Reagan, he was not quite lucky on that score. And therefore, again, I did not have any kind of a priori intention, negative intention towards President Reagan. Of course, my impression, and I make no secret of that was that, and is, that this is a very conservative person. He was very much on the right of the Republican party. And many Americans said that beyond President Reagan, to the right of President Reagan, is just the fringe. And that makes it even more important that we were able to work together.

Return to Interviews >>