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- [thunder rumbling] - [waves crashing]
[dramatic music plays]
[Shultz] Mr. President?
Mr. President.
I failed.
I offered him the deal of the century,
of human history,
and he's walking away over one word, a single word.
Never should've trusted him.
Sir, the car is here,
ready to take him to the airport,
but it's not over, not yet.
It's over.
The whole world living on hope.
Press will know by tonight.
Sir, when you recruited me,
you told me we could make a difference.
You told me we could
make America safer than when we found her.
It's over.
[thunder rumbling]
Ask him to come to Washington.
For what? More talk that leads to nothing?
Maybe this place is haunted.
Ask him anyway, sir. Please, in spite of it all.
We have maybe a minute left until he comes out that door,
gets in that car, and he is gone.
Do not let what happened in that house, in that room,
over the last 30 hours destroy our entire future.
[wind howling]
[solemn music plays]
[bright orchestral music plays]
[agent on radio] All teams, Rawhide has arrived.
[helicopter rotor thrumming]
[agent on radio] He stays with the football.
- Establish position. - The Brits gave it up.
Pictures falling off the walls in the night,
the ambassador's wife refused to stay.
They sold it back to the Icelandic government.
Let me get this straight, George,
of all the places on earth you could pick for a meeting
about the fate of the human race,
you picked a haunted house in Iceland?
Not me, sir. Secret Service.
Perfect for security.
Nothing around but lava rock and the North Atlantic.
Total isolation.
"Total isolation."
Can't blame Nancy for staying home.
But I am blaming you.
[Shultz] Yes, sir.
Ready to begin?
[agent on radio] Copy. All clear.
Hello, how are you?
- Good to see you. - Mr. President.
- Good to see you. - Welcome, sir.
- This is George Shultz. - Hello, sir.
[staff 1] Should be in the same area.
We'll share this top floor, Soviets are down the hall,
and here is our conference room.
- [staff 1] Any update? - [indistinct chatter]
Tight quarters.
I'm surprised you didn't shove me in the basement.
You'll be pleased to know, sir,
that the basement, in the spirit of this summit--
It's not a summit.
We've been having summits for 40 years.
Nothing changes.
Actions speak louder than words.
If this guy Gorbachev wants to bluster and bullshit,
then... [sniffs] ...we'll just walk.
Call it a meeting. And no press.
Sir, we can say no press,
but the leaders of the two superpowers,
with 70,000 nuclear-tipped ICBMs, IRBMs,
air-launched cruise missiles,
not to mention,
five million active duty conventional troops
at their fingertips, are having a... meeting.
Mr. President, whatever we call it,
we have two days.
Perhaps you'd like to glance at the briefing binders?
What, the basement...
You were saying, what's in the basement?
That where you keep the ghosts?
Well, in a manner of speaking, sir.
The CIA.
Ah, of course.
- And the KGB. - Together?
Oh, well, that's got to set a world record for awkward.
Or cooperation?
Have you met the CIA and KGB?
George, where's our team?
Yes, sir.
[indistinct chatter]
Let's be quick, gentlemen.
Max Kampelman.
Paul Nitze.
Richard Perle.
And Ken Adelman.
The entire State Department, entire federal government,
at your disposal and you could only find Democrats?
I'm actually a Republican, sir.
Well, that makes two of us.
[chuckling]
I'm glad you're all here.
I-I know you gave up time at home
for a weekend in a house in Iceland.
But, hey, I hear there are ghosts,
so it should be fun.
Let's talk about how we open this thing.
We've agreed to begin with formal statements, sir.
This is our basic boilerplate,
plus a few other ideas.
Uh-huh.
I'm going to move up the human rights stuff.
I strongly suggest we don't poke the bear first thing, sir.
You read the briefing binders?
The Russians are focused
on the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Think it violates
the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.
When, in reality, SDI does nothing of the kind
and they're violating the ABM already
with the radar installation at Krasnoyarsk.
Being underestimated
is a tactical advantage, gentlemen.
Let's not make that same mistake
with the new secretary-general.
Gorbachev is relatively young for a Sov--
Considering the last three died before I could even meet them,
I guess he must be.
Well, he acted for a while in high school,
- then some in college. - No kidding?
Not film like you, just stage plays.
Explains his bombastic speeches.
All those big hand movements.
At least you have something in common, sir.
Yes, except for the fact that we disagree
about free enterprise, freedom of speech,
and freedom of just about any kind.
[clears throat]
Gentlemen, can you trust an enemy?
Since the founding of the Soviet Union,
they have concentrated their foreign policy
on the, uh, coercion of other nations.
And no nation, not a single one,
that has become communist
has ever turned back to democracy.
And because of that,
we face an enemy that is ever-growing,
an octopus stretching tentacles into even our own hemisphere.
Some of you, except for this former Marine,
are too young to remember the Second World War.
I am not.
A system, no matter fascist or communist,
that subjugates every citizen,
denying them not just basic rights,
but their God-given free will,
is a threat not just to one nation,
but eventually to all nations.
So we have rebuilt our military,
we have moved our Pershing missiles into Germany
in defense of our NATO allies,
we have funded those committed
to the cause of democracy and freedom
throughout the world,
and, now, finally, we have begun scientific work
on a missile shield to protect the American people.
[chuckles] We have done all this,
even though I have been called a warmonger
by The New York Times and even some of our allies,
even though the atomic scientists
have the Doomsday Clock down to five minutes 'til annihilation,
we have done all this...
because I believed it would drive the Soviets
to the negotiating table.
But...
if we fail, if I fail...
well, then I will be just a warmonger.
I will have endangered the American people.
Which is the absolute opposite of our goal.
We must find out if we can trust this Gorbachev,
if we can make a deal with him,
if I can shake his hand at the end of all this as the...
photographers click and flash.
- [wind whistling] - [dramatic music plays]
[ship horn blowing]
[indistinct announcement in Russian]
If the capitalist press finds out
you brought so many clothes,
they will confuse you with Nancy Reagan.
Oh...
That doesn't look like Karl Marx.
"A nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought."
Who?
A quote from the leader of our main enemy
when he addressed the Japanese parliament three years ago.
Don't get your hopes up, Miliy.
It looked promising before, in Geneva, and it fell apart.
"The production of too many useful things
results in too many useless people."
Karl Marx never had to deal with Paris and Mitterrand.
Do you not remember?
I wore the same thing twice
and their press treated me like a peasant.
In the West, people are on the streets, begging,
yet I'm mocked if I repeat a dress.
The hypocrisy.
But I will remind them how sophisticated we are,
how we are strong,
as you will show him in that room.
We gave Reagan the option of London or Reykjavik.
He chose not the capital of his main ally,
the British,
but this place, that is equidistant between us.
This is a good sign, Raisa.
[Raisa] He chose it
because the only airport is at their airbase,
forcing, for the first time ever,
a Soviet premier to land upon NATO military territory.
Their electronic warfare teams
must have enjoyed themselves immensely
scanning all our communications.
He is arrogant and uncompromising.
We have survived the bloodletting
of the Revolution,
the onslaught of the Nazis,
and the purges of that maniac Stalin.
We will survive electronic warfare teams, my love.
[knocking on door]
[Raisa] I know you want to accomplish great things
for our nation.
I can't accomplish anything if we continue fighting
this Cold War with the Americans.
The soil of the Ukraine is as rich as their Iowa,
yet we continue to import more and more of their grain.
Forty million tons last year alone.
[exhales]
"Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."
- Tolstoy? - Goethe.
What a dissident reader you've become.
[laughs] Well, thanks to you, Miliy,
we no longer need to be dissidents about what we read.
[knocking on door]
No heavy coat. Take the light one.
You'll look like you can't take the cold.
And you're Russian.
[footsteps receding]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[dramatic music plays]
[indistinct chattering]
[intense music plays]
[chatter continues]
[Reagan] Well, I see they made their own border.
CIA on one side, KGB on the other.
That's the spirit of cooperation?
Lao Tzu tells us
the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
[Reagan chuckles]
Mr. President, I'm Margaret Clancy.
How can I help you?
That your real name?
It is as far as they're concerned, sir.
Ah. Well, then, Ms. Clancy, I'd like to talk to my wife.
Well, sir, the best option is a scrambler.
Ours isn't set up yet,
but there is one in the Ambassador's residence.
And if I promise not to tell Nancy
any classified nuclear secrets?
Well, sir...
Uh, that'll be fine for the sat relay.
The switchboard at Langley
ought to be able to put you through to the Lincoln Bedroom.
[Reagan grunts]
[siren blares in distance]
Ronnie? You look good on TV.
NBC says Air Force One made a textbook landing
despite the winds.
I wish the Secret Service would've brought the car.
It's got better armor.
[Reagan] Didn't think we'd need it.
And the Ambassador's car is fine.
I mean, we... we, uh, kicked him out of his residence,
might as well take his car too.
Wonder where we sent him.
You're too trusting.
Well, if they launch a first strike,
they take out Gorbachev too.
Seems unlikely, Nance.
And, uh, you know I don't trust the Commies.
[chuckles]
Listen...
Raisa Gorbachev is here.
Intelligence reported it as we landed this morning.
[Nancy] Oh, Ronnie, I should be there.
And you know what this will look like.
It's fine. We're not doing anything social.
There will be no pictures of her
and him and me, and not you, no loss of face.
I'm sorry, Nance.
[gentle music plays]
Don't worry about it.
I've got lots of work to do here.
Go be great.
Yes, ma'am. Love you.
Love you.
[beeping]
[clicks]
Yes, would you ask my chief of staff to come by?
Yes, wake her if need be. Thank you.
[cup clatters]
- [helicopter rotor thrumming] - [indistinct chatter]
[man 1] Convoy is on approach.
[man 2] There it is in the formation.
[camera shutters clicking]
Cameras?
Just our guy, Pete Souza, and one for the Soviets.
Last time anyone gets this close to the summit.
Meeting.
[speaking Russian]
[in English] Good to see you, Mr. President.
And you're early, hm?
Always looking for the advantage.
Well, we are politicians, Secretary-General.
That we are, yes.
And I hope we can be partners in peace
and begin the work
that the world and our peoples expect of us on arms reduction.
I'm sure we will. Yes.
And, uh, did you hear this place is haunted?
[camera shutters clicking]
[dramatic music plays]
Must be a British joke, hm?
I don't see any ghosts.
[laughs]
I'll, uh, I'll let you get settled with your staff
and then I'll, uh, I'll meet you in that room there.
How much time do you need? Half an hour?
[scoffs] Five minutes?
Unless you need more time
to recover from your early arrival.
I'll be there.
[indistinct chatter in Russian]
- Did he say "reduction"? - He did.
He mistranslated the English word for "control."
He meant arms control.
Hell of a mistake to make in the first minute, sir.
Gorbachev has been in the Party
and making moves since he was a teenager.
He's too good for that.
Yeah.
There have been countless agreements
about arms control, sir,
but in all of human history,
there has never been a single pact
between peoples on the reduction of arms.
This could be historic.
Your legacy.
Or it's a move meant to throw us off our game
and he's just going to bullshit for two days.
There's an old Russian saying, George,
"Trust, but verify."
[Shultz] So...
we need a test
to see if he's serious about change.
Yes.
I have the Rostropovich letter in my briefcase upstairs.
[tense, dramatic music plays]
[wind whistling]
[people chattering]
Shall we begin?
Minister Shevardnadze.
Secretary Shultz.
I never imagined I'd see the controls
for 70,000 nuclear weapons in the same room...
a few feet apart.
I have always wondered why you Americans
call it the "nuclear football."
Only a weak people need to be afraid of their own creation.
Yes, we humans do have a way
of making the horrific sound innocuous.
For example, "Gulag"...
sounds so much nicer
than "inhumane Siberian torture prison."
[tense music plays]
Mr. General Secretary,
I have been impatiently awaiting this meeting.
In the organizational plan,
it would evidently be expedient
to devote part of the time to talks held one-on-one,
and part of the time
to the exchange of opinions
in the presence of our ministers of foreign affairs.
Is this procedure acceptable to you?
Yes, I agree with this.
As a matter of fact,
that is what we had in mind when we suggested this meeting.
[huffs]
With what problems shall we begin our discussions?
It seems to me we have an entire series of problems.
I am referring to the problems
of intermediate-range weapons, space,
and agreements on the ABM defense,
as well as proposals on strategic weapons.
Mr. President, I believe it would make sense
to first conduct a brief exchange of opinions
on the situation in the world
which has prompted me to appeal to you
with the proposal of this meeting.
Obviously we would be willing to discuss
all questions
which the American side feels necessary to raise.
Thank you, sir.
I would like to add that, in my opinion,
we really will have to talk about human rights.
Unlike other questions which we have cited,
they have great influence on how far we can go
in cooperation with the Soviet side
in view of our public opinion.
Please continue with your thoughts.
Human rights,
specifically questions of exit from the Soviet Union,
are ever present in appeals to my office.
Specifically, sir, I...
Well, you may know
that the National Symphony in Washington,
a wonderful, cherished orchestra,
has a cellist and conductor, Mr. Rostropovich,
who hails from the Soviet Union.
He left in 1974, I believe.
His birthday is coming up
and, uh, he has not seen his sister, his only family,
in over ten years.
I have his letter here, Mr. General Secretary,
from him, beseeching you...
to let her travel to Washington...
for his birthday.
Hmm.
We will talk about human rights, hm?
But now I would like to express in principle
what problems concern the Soviet Union
such as arms control,
including strategic arms, medium-range missiles,
the ABM Treaty,
and the cessation of nuclear testing.
Yes, I agree with your approach.
However, it is important that you know
the force of public opinion in the USA.
We are a nation of immigrants.
One out of every eight Americans
has some relations
with your vast Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
And, of course, I... [chuckles]
...I understand this national spiritual tie
since I, as an Irishman,
feel these ties myself with Ireland.
Therefore, I see that all Americans are concerned
about what is going on in your country
because we are all immigrants.
And it will be easier to conclude agreements
on various arms questions
when public opinion is not angered
by some events in the countries of their cultural heritage.
However, I agree that these problems are secondary
as compared with the problems of nuclear arms.
Our situation is unique in human history.
Here we are, the two of us,
sitting together in a room,
deciding whether there will be peace or war in the world.
[slow, dramatic music plays]
[exhales]
We both want peace,
but how will we achieve it?
How do we strengthen trust and reduce suspicion
between our two peoples?
[dramatic music plays]
Hmm.
I will consider your request.
[Reagan] Thank you, Mr. General Secretary.
I may continue?
[wind howling]
[tape crackling]
- We're on channel two. - Copy that.
For Pete's sake, Austin,
how many waffles did you have for breakfast?
I gotta take a leak!
[KGB officer laughs]
Oh, yeah, as if this is the first time
you've seen someone waiting in line.
You guys, you have to wait in line for a loaf of bread.
- [laughs] - [typewriter clacking]
KGB doesn't wait for bread.
Oh, yeah, no class warfare
when you have the only guns
and they're aimed at the proletariat.
[instructor speaking indistinctly]
[indistinct chatter]
[Raisa chuckles]
[official] The water is very pure and very clean.
It has a really high mineral content
that is especially [indistinct].
- Bravo! - Who are you with?
NPR. I'm-I'm Cleo.
You're The Times? London?
Yeah. Alexander. How'd you... Uh, right.
Just, uh... I knew that.
- [Raisa] It is so beautiful. - [sighs]
[Raisa] The water is so beautiful. So blue.
Good morning.
[laughs]
Well, this is crazy. Right?
What?
The entire world's press corps descends
on the tiny, freezing strategic cornerstone
of the North Atlantic,
only to discover a whole island with no hotels,
no motels, no bed and breakfasts,
not even cars to rent.
Just an old church with cots to sleep in,
and a complete media blackout of the actual summit?
So instead of covering the leader of the free world
and the leader of the communist empire
alone in a room together for the first time in 40 years
debating whether we're all gonna die in a mushroom cloud,
we're left here at a natural hot springs
watching water aerobics?
Madam Soviet First Lady?
Uh, The Times. I have a question.
- Uh, no-- - Of course.
I would be happy to answer any questions.
But I am not First Lady.
I'm sure Nancy Reagan appreciates the title,
but in the Soviet Union, we are all truly equal.
I am simply Raisa Gorbacheva.
[Alexander] Ah, yeah. Right.
Um, Mrs. Gorbacheva, how are you enjoying your time here?
On behalf of the Soviet people,
I am very grateful and, uh, hope we will become friends.
As Chekhov once said,
"We must trust and believe in people
or life becomes impossible."
[laughs]
- [indistinct greeting] - Oh, thank you, darling.
Where is your, uh, counterpart, Mrs. Reagan?
I don't know.
I can't imagine leaving my husband
at such a critical time in our world's history.
Perhaps she doesn't feel well?
- Mrs. Gorbacheva! - Mrs. Gorbacheva!
Any word from your husband?
[Gorbachev] For too many years,
there has been an overly complex mechanism
of Soviet-American dialogue.
In this time, this mechanism of dialogue
has been disrupted several times,
and still we are not resolved on the main questions
even though many, many words have been said
regarding these questions.
[Reagan] I have been frustrated for many years myself
with this lack of progress.
So now we find ourselves
in an increasingly urgent situation,
and that is why I have suggested
this meeting with you.
I was very struck
by your first campaign for the presidency,
when you suggested a Nuclear Zero option.
I wonder now if this was merely rhetoric.
I wonder, Mr. President,
because despite the millions of protestors
for peace in Western Europe,
despite the condemnation of many allies
and the political costs to Chancellor Kohl
and Prime Minister Thatcher,
you have moved intermediate ballistic missiles
into Germany.
If launched,
these missiles are five or six minutes from Moscow.
You would give me five or six minutes
to respond to an attack?
What do you think would happen?
How am I to respond to such aggression?
Are these the actions of peace?
[sighs]
Hm. [inhales deeply]
Thank you, Mr. Gorbachev,
for your sincere and clear remarks.
I would remind you that the United States
has placed its Pershing missiles, our IRBMs,
in West Germany at the request
of a democratically elected government,
and that our number, 108,
is less than half of the 279
that you have stationed in Eastern Europe.
Yet we have nothing similar
threatening Washington in five or six minutes.
Threatening the free peoples
of Brussels, Paris, Rome, and London
is threatening Washington, Mr. Gorbachev.
Such is the nuclear umbrella policy
of our security agreements with our allies.
An attack on one is an attack on all.
Yes, I am familiar with NATO Article 5.
However, we have discussed
many times the subject of arms control.
We have many agreements.
Yes.
Are you suggesting such a thing in Europe with the IRBMs?
To limit them, to control them?
No.
I am suggesting that the Soviet Union
would be willing to remove our IRBMs.
I am suggesting that we develop
an agreement on arms reduction...
and that nuclear intermediate- range ballistic missiles
in Europe
can be reduced...
to zero.
[dramatic music plays]
We would be open...
to discussing such an agreement.
[TV reporter] As the press blackout continues
here in Iceland,
the Soviet premier's wife, Raisa Gorbachev,
was available for questions.
When asked why the First Lady was not also available,
she suggested that perhaps health concerns
had prevented Mrs. Reagan from making the trip.
Mrs. Gorbachev...
[Nancy] Samantha, I'll need my press secretary as well.
- Thank you. - ...as she uses her time
to draw attention to the cultural treasures
of this island country.
[Reagan] And what about the missiles in Asia?
The IRBMs that have a range of 1000 kilometers or less?
Our proposal only concerns Europe.
There is a small problem.
I am not authorized to negotiate
the nuclear forces of Britain and France, Mr. Gorbachev.
I am aware
that you are neither Mrs. Thatcher
nor Mr. Mitterrand.
So you are saying that your proposal
would include only US and Soviet Union weapons?
I am.
Britain and France have the right to keep theirs
as a part of their own defensive posture?
I would hope you'd encourage them
to see that by withdrawing our weapons,
we leave our Warsaw Pact allies vulnerable.
That their NATO weapons are an unaligned threat
and that there is then no deterrence for us.
I would hope you would help your NATO allies
to see that their weapons were no longer necessary.
And you won't simply paint over the Soviet flag
with an East German flag,
thereby, magically,
a Soviet missile becomes an East German one?
I will not.
What assurances do we have?
[Gorbachev] My word and that of the Soviet Union.
You'll forgive me, Mr. General Secretary,
but we have a long history of finding the USSR
to be cheating on its international obligations,
including those to the United States.
[Gorbachev] You have a long history of suspicion of us
and a history of covert activities
in sovereign nations hostile to you.
I was sorry to hear
of your recent misfortunes with the Contras.
[sighs]
I hope you will see this proposal
as a bold new initiative for peace.
[Reagan sighs]
There is a very old Russian saying.
A proverb.
"Doveryai, no proveryai."
"Trust, but verify." Yes.
Yes.
How do you propose we do that?
[dramatic music plays]
Well, perhaps it's as simple as letting American personnel
observe the removal of your missiles from Europe.
[grumbles] This is not possible.
My military will never allow an enemy
to observe our most closely guarded technology.
How would it be different if you were to observe us?
We would have the same problem.
But our military still reports to our civilian leadership.
To me.
Does yours?
- "Trust, but verify"? - Yes.
How did you say it?
We would be willing to discuss such an agreement.
Now...
what about those IRBMs in Asia?
[helicopter rotor thrumming]
- [wind howling] - [indistinct radio chatter]
[indistinct chatter in Russian]
[indistinct chatter]
[banging on door]
[indistinct speaking in Russian]
[chuckles]
What happened to solidarity, comrade?
"From each according to their ability,
to each according to their need."
You do not need to quote Marx to me.
How about, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"?
You've heard of that one?
Yes, written by a slaveholder.
How conveniently capitalist.
Yeah, well,
at least he didn't massacre 20 million farmers like Stalin.
That's enough.
Go upstairs and get me a coffee.
[phone rings]
[footsteps receding]
[Gorbachev] But you expect me to abandon my Asian allies?
[Reagan] We have no intermediate ballistic missiles in Asia,
at least not ones that are nuclear-tipped.
What do you expect me to withdraw?
I expect the United States to have the same regard
for Soviet concerns as you have for your own.
Are we not mutually assured partners in destruction?
Shall we not be mutually assured partners in reduction?
That's a great turn of phrase.
You mock me?
No, on the contrary, Mr. Gorbachev, I salute you.
You have a better command of English
than I ever could of Russian.
Let me ask you this.
What is the difference between Brussels and Tokyo?
The sushi is better in Tokyo.
[laughs] Yeah, yeah, well, yes, that's very funny, sir, but no.
I mean, you have suggested
that we remove our nuclear protection of Belgium
by removing our Pershing missiles.
- Yes. - And yet,
we have none protecting our Japanese allies,
but you have ones that could threaten them.
You have 6,500 nuclear warheads
aboard American submarines all over the world.
More than 800 of which are multiple reentry vehicles,
multiple warheads per missile.
And we know, as equally as you do,
of the greater accuracy of American missiles.
You're upset that we're good at what we do?
I'm explaining that you have submarines
in the Pacific defending Japan.
And you have none threatening it?
The numbers are not equal.
We have more land-based IRBMs.
You have more submarines.
But you expect me to withdraw my Asian missiles
while you offer no compromise, be it submarine or otherwise.
I am not going to leave our Asian allies,
none of whom have nuclear forces of their own,
defenseless.
Yet you are asking me
to leave my Warsaw Pact allies defenseless,
while I let your NATO allies keep their nuclear weapons.
I am not asking anything of you, Mr. Gorbachev--
you are asking me.
[scoffs] The arrogance of the Americans.
Uncompromising arrogance.
[spoon clatters]
What are you suggesting?
I am suggesting
that while I have proposed
decoupling the question of your NATO allies
and their nuclear forces
from the IRBM equation in Europe,
I have agreed, have I not,
that they are separate from the issue between us,
you are not allowing that Asia is another separate issue.
How am I to compromise with you
when you will do nothing of the sort with me?
[tense music plays]
[clock ticks]
It is near the time
for the first session
this morning to end, Mr. Gorbachev.
Perhaps we should update our foreign ministers.
And...
in the spirit of compromise,
I will advise mine that we wish to pursue this deal
relevant to the European IRBM reduction.
I'll ask him to have our staff draft some language for it...
with your approval, of course.
This is satisfactory.
[Reagan] We will meet again at 3:00 p.m.?
Of course.
[door opens]
- [footsteps receding] - [indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter in Russian]
[gasps]
Stand to, gents.
Gorbachev came to play.
What's going on?
Soviets are saying that they will withdraw their IRBMs
from Eastern Europe if we pull the Pershings.
- We're sure? - That's unheard of.
- They suggested it? - Gonna lose my bet, aren't I?
We have work to do.
Chancellor Kohl is gonna throw a fit.
He just spent two years
and every last ounce of political capital he has
to move them in there.
He had a million people on the streets protesting.
We'll worry about him when we have a deal.
For now, let's get started on the details.
A phased withdrawal.
[Adelman] Seems right, but--
First priority is determining how it would be certified.
"Doveryai, no proveryai."
"Trust, but verify"?
Russians will never let a Yankee soldier
on their rocket pads to observe.
Never happen.
- No. - He didn't.
He knows this could be his legacy,
the President's legacy, our legacy.
There's plenty of room on this boat
for all of our résumés and reputations.
I'll see about getting us some food.
You get to work on a proposal.
Shouldn't the boss be here? Where is he?
He's doing the smart thing, Perle, resting.
You know something about that.
Mm. [chuckling]
[bell tolling]
[dramatic harp music plays]
[sighs]
[The Oprichnik: Oprichnik, Act IV: Danses plays]
It's just chicken salad, friend.
[sighs]
[phone rings]
[groans]
Yes?
How are you?
What is that music?
I tried to find something by Rostropovich,
but, uh, they don't have it.
I'm sure he'd play here when you get home.
Well, let's see if I can get his sister
out of the Soviet Union for his birthday first.
Gorbachev isn't exactly Gandhi.
Are there reindeer in Iceland?
I'm pretty sure I'm staring at a reindeer.
I don't know.
Well, I'm gonna have to inquire about our ambassador.
He shouldn't be hunting the rare, indigenous, endangered
- Icelandic reindeer. - [laughs]
The environmentalist lobby
will never let me hear the end of it.
[Nancy] Oh, Ronnie.
I don't think
the environmentalists vote Republican.
Well, I won 49 out of the 50 states, Nance.
Some of those votes were Democrats.
Some of them care about the environment.
She told reporters I was ill.
Raisa Gorbachev is just enjoying the spotlight.
You know they don't even know her name back home in Russia?
The KGB cuts her out of pictures before the press,
well, what they call the press, can, uh, print it in the paper.
She, uh, she doesn't exist back there.
That's gotta be tough.
I'm not in this for the spotlight.
I know. Yeah.
There is, uh, there's something weird about reindeer.
Maybe just dead ones.
Santa's all wrong about them.
It's like a...
It is like a menagerie of death in here.
What are you working on?
Oh, uh, nothing, just some little stuff
my office has been planning.
[Reagan] Listen, I'll tell them
to issue a statement that you're healthy.
No. I can take care of myself.
And I've got lots to do here,
and you've got a ball game. You stay focused there.
- Love you. - Okay, bye.
Bye.
[music crescendos]
[music stops]
[steam hissing]
[dramatic music plays]
[thunder rumbling]
[female reporter] Reagan shot at close range,
apparently by a...
- [gunshots] - [crowd clamoring]
[knocking on door]
[gasps]
[panting]
[pants]
- Sir. - George.
What happened to your shirt?
Chicken salad sandwich. [chuckles]
- Come on in. - Uh...
Plenty of time for you to change.
Something on your mind, George? Speak up.
I've been going over the proposal with our team, sir.
It's... it's been a big day already.
You want to quit while we're ahead?
The thought had occurred.
- [chuckles] - Every missile out of Europe?
That's a hell of a legacy.
Yeah.
Someday, you're gonna have to explain to me
what "legacy" means to all you East Coast blue bloods.
[laughs]
That means the next generation is better off
because of something you did.
I'm sorry, sir, that came out snarkier than I intended.
I didn't hire you for your suits.
I hired you for your candor.
We, uh... We're not done yet.
You want to talk about human rights again?
[chuckles] Yeah. I do.
Why? It'll only annoy him.
They-They'll try to avoid it.
Well, all the more reason.
If you poke the Russian bear too hard, he will react poorly.
You trust me, George?
Of course, Mr. President.
Don't give me that "salute-to-the-flag" answer.
I asked you a question.
Establishment thinks I'm a warmonger,
dangerous.
What's the, uh, difference
between me and any other chucklehead on TV,
except now I'm in the Oval.
I'm asking why you trust me?
New York boy, Princeton, upper class,
you're part of the establishment.
I trust you because you're right.
It can't just be diplomacy.
The Soviets will not listen to us unless we are strong.
Peace through strength.
We tried everything else.
Engagement, encirclement, low-intensity conflicts.
Nothing worked,
until your military buildup.
You got us here, sir. You got them to the table.
[laughs]
"If you can't make them see the light..."
"...make sure they feel the heat."
[chuckles] That was a good line.
[chuckles]
Mm.
You tell me if you think we should call it,
if we get right up to that red line.
For now, let's see how far they'll bend.
Let's see how today ends.
If it's a stalemate...
I'll reconsider.
Yes, sir.
[dramatic music plays]
[Reagan] We resume this afternoon
with our secretary of state, George Shultz,
and your foreign minister, Eduard Shevardnadze.
Mr. General Secretary, we are pleased
with the morning's progress.
Our team believes that we can find a way
to reduce the European IRBMs to zero.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is very good news.
I wonder if now might be the time
to turn our discussions to human rights,
for instance, Mr. Rostropovich.
We are a nation of immigrants.
We take their rights and their families' rights
very seriously, Secretary-General.
If we could discuss his sister's visit--
As you stated before,
and as I stated before,
we would first like to continue
on the subject of arms reduction.
Okay.
[Gorbachev] We have a further proposal.
My foreign minister and I
have been discussing the nuclear triad,
as you call it.
Yes, our strategy
relies upon a three-point threat deterrence,
our land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles,
our long-range strategic air command of bombers
with their cruise missiles,
and our submarine-launched missiles.
You have something similar.
We don't have nearly the same numbers
of submarines or bombers.
Our strategy relies almost entirely
on the, uh, overwhelming superiority of our ICBMs.
Superiority? You have a number
that's vastly greater than our own.
I might call it redundancy.
- Please, you insult-- - We could, however, reclassify
all these weapons as strategic offensive armaments, hm?
In years past, our predecessors,
going all the way back to the advent
of the hydrogen bomb,
have tried to restrain
the development of these weapons,
mostly the ICBMs,
but also the bombers and other types,
to control the expansion of arms.
- Yes? - Yes.
They have failed.
We have tens of thousands of these weapons anyway
all pointed at each other.
You propose a new plan for these weapons?
We propose,
using this morning's European plan as our guide,
to reduce these weapons as well.
[whispers] And, uh, you wanted to quit while we were ahead.
You're not going to let me live that down, are you, sir?
Never. Okay.
Your turn at bat, swing away.
We agree this would be an admirable goal.
Perhaps by as much as one third?
Or even by half?
Half?
Fifty percent?
That is correct.
In land-based ICBMs?
In all. Huh?
All parts of the triad.
Which would still leave you a significant advantage
in land-based and mobile-launched ICBMs.
We understand and are prepared to discuss
how this goal could be achieved.
What I am asking is, is this of interest to you?
It certainly is.
[laughs] Good. Good. Good!
We are making progress.
Seems like Christmas has come early.
What-what does your religious holiday have to do with this?
Nothing. I'm sorry, I forget you're all atheists.
Although, it, uh...
Well, it seems to me that the Party
is about the same as a church.
You're true believers in the Party, right?
Sir, perhaps...
Please, continue with your thoughts, Mr. President.
Well, I mean, you deny religion as hokum,
bunk, nonsense,
and there can't be an Almighty Party
when there's an Almighty God above it,
so your people can't worship.
They, uh, they have to worship the Party.
Mmm.
To paraphrase the words of our, um, theology,
we believe religion is a false prophet,
promising the people things
they ought to achieve for themselves.
And yet you make them stand in line
for bread and milk and shoes,
and then deny them the hereafter
that would suggest that their,
well, their suffering is temporary.
They have nothing to look forward to,
this life or the next.
No wonder they're so pissed off.
The Soviet people are not pissed off.
Then why do they wanna leave?
Why do you have to keep them locked up behind walls,
like the one in Berlin?
Why not tear it down?
This is western propaganda.
Your Voice of America.
Which you keep trying to jam the signal of.
And we have nothing like it attacking American ears.
You won't even let our movies into your cinemas,
and yet you call this free speech?
Hmm? Open debate?
Well, that's the difference, gentlemen.
The Republican Party doesn't control
what goes on the radio or TV. We don't have our own channel.
If you make something that the American people
actually wanna watch, I guarantee they'll play it.
Media companies don't care
if you're religious or fascist or nihilist,
they just want to make money.
Yes. [laughs] The great American distraction,
making money.
And you are trying to distract us from our purpose here.
This is pointless.
I, uh I got an intelligence report
the other day from our CIA.
They were, uh,
they were assessing your economic conditions,
tracking a bread line in Moscow.
There was a guy, Boris,
and, uh, he was in front of our agent,
and he got so pissed off
that he, uh, he left the bread line.
He said he was gonna go find you, Mr. General Secretary,
and bludgeon you with a hammer and sickle.
Well, poor ol' Boris, he came back about an hour later
and when our agent asked him why,
he said the only line longer than the one for bread
was the one to attack you.
[laughs]
[inhales]
[laughs]
You see, Mr. President,
you're not the only one with public opinion problems, hm?
We both must answer to the people.
Yes, but, uh, my people, if they criticize me publicly,
don't get sent to the Gulag.
True.
And my people can't shoot me.
[ominous music plays]
We must also ascertain throw weight.
The amount of weight the missile itself can carry,
how much a warhead, or warheads, can weigh.
Your missiles can carry a heavier payload,
so equal number of missiles
does not mean equal number of warheads.
Let us discuss it.
[thunder rumbling]
[flagpole clanging]
[agent] Hold on, guys.
[KGB officer] Perhaps I should become a capitalist.
Then I could sell you time in my restroom.
[chuckles]
[paper rustles]
Colonel.
Détente, comrade.
[paper rustles]
[typewriter clacking]
[bird chirping]
[gentle dramatic music plays]
- [indistinct chatter] - [camera shutters clicking]
[Cleo] Any idea why she's looking at the Prose Edda?
[Alexander] The what?
[Cleo] The ancient Icelandic text.
Odin, Thor, Loki.
All their culture and religion and things rolled into one.
[Alexander] Why would you possibly know...
Oh, of course, NPR.
- Snorri Sturluson. - "Snorry"? [chuckles] Come on!
That's the author of the Prose Edda.
Snorri. S-N-O-R-R-I.
- Snorri Sturluson. - Sturluson. Yeah.
So ask her.
Ask who what?
The Not First Lady of Russia.
She quoted Chekhov.
I expect she's got a reason we're here
all looking at the Prose Edda, so ask her.
- I see. And tell me-- - Mrs. Gorbachev!
- National Public Radio-- - American.
American National Public Radio.
Um, why are we here?
We are here to exchange cultural knowledge, Ms. NPR.
The Prose Edda is a seminal text in Norse history
and I am flattered to examine it here
in the Land of Ice and Fire.
I'm sure you've seen the press release.
Mrs. Reagan is feeling just fine.
A rather terse and unusual pronouncement
for a weekend from the Administration.
You care to comment?
Well, I'm, uh, thrilled to hear Mrs. Reagan is well.
I only wish she had brought her good health here
so we could share this incredible honor together,
viewing the Prose Edda.
What's it like staying on a ship, Mrs. Gorbachev?
Why not a hotel?
I was told it is for security reasons.
But I must tell you,
it is very romantic.
- Madam Gorbachev! - Madam Gorbachev.
[reporters clamoring]
Huh. "Romantic."
That's one mental image I won't get out of my head.
Ah, they're entitled to their happiness.
Aren't we all?
I'm calling it.
I can't imagine my editor will care.
Saturday afternoon on NPR is always a dead zone.
- Let's find a bar. - Schnapps!
[Reagan] Fifty percent reduction.
I think that is considerable progress.
Imagine tomorrow, Mr. General Secretary,
we will shake hands for the cameras and say "deal."
I would like this very much.
But we must still discuss your shield, hm?
The Strategic Defense Initiative.
[Gorbachev sighs]
[grunts] Perhaps it is too much for this evening.
Uh, Mr. President, you had been saying
that you wish to discuss with your allies
the potential INF implications in Asia.
Shall we adjourn so that you may?
Yes, we will have an answer quickly.
As we are able to assure you that our eastern allies
will understand our withdrawals in Europe.
I must warn you, our NATO allies
are less subservient.
Didn't Mrs. Thatcher thank you personally
for modernizing her arsenal?
And that you coordinate your attacks
in the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact
so as to avoid duplication.
You seem to know an awful lot.
That is how this game is played, is it not?
Surely all of your intelligence
isn't wasted analyzing bread lines?
No. It's not.
We also monitor Russian treaty violation.
[chuckles] More waste, huh?
There have been none.
Trust, but verify.
As I have agreed we will do.
But you can imagine the objections of my, uh, KGB.
[Reagan laughs] And I...
I doubt I'll have an easy time of it with our Congress.
You have your senators, I have my generals.
We must convince them that we are strongest together.
Yes, I suppose so.
Too bad we can't just get rid of all of them.
Your senators?
No. [laughs]
The nukes.
We're going to cut them by 50% in the next ten years.
But that still leaves thousands,
tens of thousands, threatening the world.
Who's to say who comes after us,
perhaps the next general secretary
will want to renegotiate,
wish to build more, not less.
Or the next president.
Traditionally, throughout the history of our republic,
new presidents have upheld
the treaties of their predecessors.
But there is no law they must.
No.
I'm not sure then I understand what you're saying.
I'm saying good leaders make things better now.
Great leaders make things better for the future.
I'm saying...
why can't we just get rid of all of them?
Every last one of the...
goshdamn contemptible things once and for all!
I'm saying why don't we make a deal
that the whole world can rejoice,
a deal too good for those who come after us
to reject or replace or renegotiate?
I'm saying why don't we just get rid of all of them?
I'm saying, are we going to be merely good, Secretary-General,
or are we going to be great?
[suspenseful music plays]
We would be willing to discuss such an agreement.
All nuclear weapons reduced?
- To zero. - In ten years?
- All. - Comrade...
let's not be too hasty with the atmosphere
of what we have achieved here today.
Perhaps we should break for the evening.
Nuclear Zero.
Every single nuclear weapon on earth, gone.
Taken out of the silo, off the sub, out of the bomber,
dismantled, junked, warheads spun down.
In just ten years.
Peace on earth? Hm?
Good will to all men?
Your Christmas come early?
Amen. [chuckles]
- Well... - Well, then let's do it!
Yes. [laughs] Let's do it.
It is impossible, gentlemen.
How would we even begin to start?
We'll ask the experts
to make the arrangements, handle the fine print.
You brought your experts, they're upstairs
across the hall from mine.
They have a long night ahead of them, huh?
Yes, I'd say they do.
We will meet tomorrow morning to discuss the terms.
- And SDI. - And human rights.
Good night, Mr. General-Secretary.
Sleep well, Mr. President.
[agent on radio] We're moving.
Not sure we're going to need you much longer, Tim.
Sorry, sir?
Nothing. Thank you, Colonel. I'll be out in a minute.
Yes, sir.
They, uh, make me do rehearsals every few months.
You wanna know how it works?
How to end the world? No, thank you, sir.
Well, you're in the line of succession, George,
and I'm not bulletproof.
I know.
Try not to get shot again
before we get through tomorrow, sir.
Yeah.
I'll assemble our team,
and get them caffeine, lots of it,
get them in a room with the Soviets.
Well, get them to zero.
Every nuclear weapon gone from the face of the Earth
in just a few hours?
Congress is going to lose their minds.
Joint Chiefs too.
And the CIA, and the DIA,
and I need to tell our allies.
Yes, do that tonight.
Get Thatcher and Mitterrand and Kohl to sign off.
And if they don't?
I don't know, George. We'll think of something.
But just, you know, just get the team into it.
All right? This is a better world.
We can leave America safer than we found her.
[bell tolling]
"Peace on earth. Good will to all men"?
Gorbachev actually said that?
The head of the worldwide communist plot?
It upsets 50 years of stable geopolitics.
[Kampelman] A mutually assured destruction works for a reason.
How the hell are we gonna defend Western Europe
when they have overwhelmingly superior conventional forces
that will just roll downhill,
thousands of T-72 tanks
right through Frankfurt and Paris,
straight to the English Channel?
Does any man here doubt
that the world would be safer without nuclear weapons?
Hard to put the genie back in the bottle,
and I've been doing this longer
than the rest of you put together.
When we got here, you all thought
this was a colossal waste of a weekend.
- Well... - Now, no denying it.
And yet, the General Secretary of the Communist Party
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
has just offered us the best deal
since Russia sold us Alaska.
Hell, maybe of all time.
Are we going to pass it by?
You've all trained for high stakes negotiations.
This is it.
This is our Super Bowl.
Are you in or are you out?
I serve at the pleasure of the President.
[all] I serve at the pleasure of the President.
So, who's going to lead this moonshot?
- [grunts] Paul. - Paul.
[clears throat]
[typewriter keys clacking]
[indistinct chatter]
Have you got the scrambler set up?
You're kidding.
It looks like something out of Get Smart.
Sorry about that, Mr. Secretary.
What's the button for Foggy Bottom?
Four.
[beeps]
This is the secretary.
Get me a line to Ambassador Price in London.
- [beeps] - Yes, this is the secretary.
Get me a line to Ambassador Rodgers in Paris.
Richard, George Shultz.
Yes, it's late. Sorry.
Listen, you're gonna have to get Helmut up as well.
Call me back when you have him.
The President has an update
from Reykjavík for the chancellor.
His ears and yours only.
Wake him up. Wake him up. Wake him up.
[overlapping chatter]
[all fall quiet]
Move.
Holy shit.
Is that...
Marshall Sergey Akhromeyev.
Four time winner of the Order of Lenin,
veteran of the siege of Leningrad,
hero of the Soviet Union...
Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces.
They brought their Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
to negotiate?
- [scoffs] - Not intimidating at all.
Well...
I'm glad we voted on you, Paul.
[Italian Concerto, F Major-Andante plays]
[phone rings]
[sighs]
I forgot to call.
[Nancy] You all right?
- Ronnie? - [Reagan] I'm just...
I'm-I'm just tired.
[Nancy] How's the hand?
[inhales]
Fine.
[Nancy] Do they have a TV there at least?
You need to take your mind off things.
Well, I'm sure there's one around here somewhere,
but I... I just don't think Icelandic broadcasters
have Family Ties.
[both laugh]
You know, they say that Icelanders
don't have TV at all on Thursdays.
Something about having time for family and cultural awareness.
Can you imagine, whole country with no TV for a night?
Well, thank goodness it's Saturday. [chuckles]
[Nancy] I know how lonely the job feels,
being responsible for millions of people.
I'm so sorry I'm not there with you.
It was a mistake.
Eh, it's okay. Uh...
I'm just fine.
I love you.
Good night.
Love you.
Good night.
[music continues]
[sighs]
I should've stayed on a boat.
[groans]
- [ship horn blows] - [seagull squawking]
[groans]
[Gorbachev] This is different, hm?
You coming home after me.
We seize the opportunities we have.
[Gorbachev] How many times did you change today?
Eight already.
The models of Milan have nothing on you.
Going back out?
Dinner with the prime minister of Iceland.
How is it with your American?
Hmm.
You must trust and believe in people.
Otherwise,
- life becomes impossible. - Life becomes impossible.
You got a KGB report on me at the hot springs?
What has happened?
I cannot say.
Are you being proud or desperate?
I think you will say we have something to be proud of.
Good.
Then you will be able to make the changes we need
and our people will prosper.
You harbor no doubts?
Not about our nation.
Not about you.
- Do you? - [door opens]
[door closes]
[Raisa grunts softly]
What?
You think the KGB
is now bugging the Soviet premier's toilet?
I think the minister of state security
chose this boat and not the embassy for our lodging
so that we could not take long walks away from microphones.
What preys upon your mind, my love?
[tuts, sighs]
He seems genuine.
[Raisa] But you're not sure.
I offer him Nuclear Zero.
But I cannot tell.
I don't think he will give up SDI.
Well...
I brought it up for the first time at the close of day
and the look on his face was clear.
SDI is a mirage.
Even his own people don't think it'll work.
Don't let it distract you.
Nuclear weapons gave them powered submarines
so quiet we cannot detect them.
The space race gave them computers now so small
they fit on a desk.
If we cannot contain this SDI...
who knows what terrible inventions
they will come up with.
And if we have to take the arms race into space,
our people will starve.
Hmm.
[Raisa sighs]
Famine.
Like Stalin's time.
But your reforms-- perestroika, glasnost--
they are working.
We just need time.
The one thing we cannot beg, borrow, or steal.
Hm.
Don't let them harm the rodina.
But even more, my love,
don't let us harm the rodina.
Even with the best of intentions.
[dramatic music plays]
Our submarines have the ability
to protect our homeland the longest--
Which is precisely why we want them gone in the first round.
Can you not understand?
We must become vulnerable together.
We think the opposite.
A slow drawdown,
several years of confidence-building reductions
in other areas, culminating in--
Let it be noted it's the Americans
who wish to proceed cautiously for the first time in history.
Why don't we proceed with a different topic?
We proceed nowhere.
- [wind howling] - [loud banging]
Well, it is supposed to be haunted.
It is the wind from the sea.
I will go out to enjoy it for a moment.
[contemplative music plays]
[ominous music plays]
[female reporter] Reagan shot at close range,
apparently by a lone assailant.
[man yelling indistinctly]
[panting]
[grunts]
[sips, swallows]
[sighs]
[pants]
[gentle, solemn music plays]
How close are we?
Well, there's a reason they trained
the astronauts here, sir.
Might as well be the moon.
How do you tell one mound of lava rock from another?
I meant our team.
Oh, yes. Sorry.
Um, they're closing in.
[grunts]
- I want it done. - [Shultz] Yes, sir.
Thatcher was telling me
her theory one time at Chequers.
You heard this? "Two lads and a pint"?
That like two guys and a beer?
[chuckles] She has this theory that everything in the world
is actually decided by two lads and a pint.
Or in her case, two ladies and a whiskey?
[chuckles] It's not a bad theory.
Can we trust an enemy? Can we trust Gorbachev?
If so, then in theory,
we can trust his word to stick to this plan
until we can ink a treaty.
- And we can verify. - Yes.
I want you to get me some information on the refuseniks.
Sir?
- The refuseniks-- - [Shultz] I mean,
why do you want that information?
[huffs] Get me the information.
[tense, dramatic music plays]
Yes, sir.
[bird squawking]
[indistinct chatter]
Good morning, Mr. President.
Good morning, Mr. General Secretary.
I understand from my team that we have made some progress,
but not all the progress.
I have instructed them to continue.
As have I, for our side.
Good. [exhales]
Then, for the moment, shall we pick other topics?
- Human rights. - [Gorbachev] Yes.
[Gorbachev clears throat]
I have spoken with my ministers
about your maestro in Washington.
They believe he would be a bad person to appease.
He is very prominent
and his case would undoubtedly cause unwanted attention.
Public opinion.
So perhaps now we can discuss the ABM Treaty and your SDI.
Well, first, let me just say
that we are particularly sensitive
to the travel rights of the Soviet peoples,
not just Mr. Rostropovich.
And we are concerned,
especially with those who wish to practice their religion,
enshrined in our Bill of Rights.
There are small numbers of Jewish peoples
wishing to emigrate to Israel.
The refuseniks, you call them.
Yes, and there are some Christians, Pentecostals,
who wish to leave as well to come to America.
Did you know Jesus was the first socialist?
It's true.
The first to seek a better life for all mankind.
So why would these Christians want to leave my country
and go to yours?
You have homeless.
What do you mean?
Your citizens who are homeless have no rights to housing.
We have no homeless in the Soviet Union.
Your murder rates are enormous.
And... [sighs]
...the less said about your country's longstanding history
of racism, the better.
Well, unlike you,
we acknowledge, uh, we have many faults.
And yet I'm the one that must be lectured on human rights
and people without passports?
Well, then I would ask you
if they may not have the freedom to travel,
why not give them the freedom
to form their own political party?
Organize their future in your country?
The Soviet people organized this Communist Party.
Seventy years ago.
You think they might like to try something else?
Your own party has been around much longer.
Yes, but Republicans can be voted out of office.
Your backstabbing political gridlock
is something you wish us to endure?
No, thank you.
"Democracy is the worst form of government,
except for all the others."
Churchill had a rather convenient horse in that race,
don't you think?
And Lenin, like Marx before him,
suggested that socialism may need to be global to succeed.
And so we see you
actively trying to manipulate the elections
and futures of nations around the globe.
And you do not? [laughs]
In Chile? In Iran? In Angola?
[Reagan] And I suppose you were just helping
the people of Cuba and Poland and Vietnam
to choose their oppressive regimes,
and Germany, when you tore it in two?
[Gorbachev] You fly your U-2 spy planes
over our heads with impunity,
sail your Seventh Fleet
around the Pacific as if it were your swimming pool,
and park your submarines within sight of our shores,
and yet you expect my people to trust you?
And seizing our journalist in Moscow
only a few months ago?
Does that encourage trust?
[Gorbachev] I returned him!
Despite evidence from my security services.
He was a spy.
The United States will remain vigilant and strong
to the threats posed by international communism
by the Soviet Union.
As we will maintain our strength as well
in defense of socialism
desired by billions all around the globe.
To defend those who seek our way of life.
In all your speeches,
you deride us as the "evil empire"
to be met by force in every sphere.
I wonder, Mr. President,
who it is here that is trying to expand his ideas by force.
You would do well to remember
that no such method has ever succeeded on Russia.
Not by Napoleon, not by Hitler.
No one.
We are a strong people.
And we have learned that strength
is how you win a war.
We're not trying to win a war.
We're trying to end one.
Perhaps a break, hm?
[chair scrapes]
[sighs]
[Shultz inhales, sighs]
May I speak candidly, Mr. President?
George, we're both exhausted, just speak.
Let it go.
Don't blow this deal over refuseniks
and Pentecostals and a cellist.
I love classical music,
and I dearly love the freedom
that comes with being an American...
but...
he said Rostropovich left,
when we all know he defected.
And if his sister was allowed to defect
at a birthday party in Washington, DC,
it would be a public relations disaster.
Gorbachev cannot take that risk.
Sir, I'm truly afraid that we could lose this deal.
Well, George,
what about the millions of people
that'd still be oppressed?
[door opens]
[clears throat]
Tell me good news, Democrats.
- Sir, I-I'm a-- - [Shultz] Yes.
Can we all agree
that this is a bipartisan effort
to avoid World War III?
Just tell us.
The most stealthy, stable,
and, therefore, serious part of the triad
is the submarines, sir.
They are impossible to track,
and therefore cannot be targeted.
They are the absolute last line of defense.
You can't get rid of the subs?
We're close.
Almost there, but, uh...
You're out of time.
[clicks tongue]
Well, all right.
Give me what you got.
We're not giving up the game on the ten-yard line.
[Reagan sighs]
We have already agreed
to unilaterally suspend nuclear testing,
draw down our conventional forces in Western Europe,
offered a 50% reduction in all arms,
and agreed to a Nuclear Zero future,
and still he tries to distract you
with this dissident conductor.
Constantly evading SDI. Constantly.
You must at least consider
that he is making you the obstacle
and is not a partner in peace.
[Reagan] We should thank our teams.
They have not reached a, uh, final agreement,
but they have come close.
We are indeed very close.
We've reached an agreement in the first five years
to eliminate the SOA category of land-based ICBMs.
And in the next five years
to dismantling the remaining IRBMs
and cruise missiles.
Yes, which leaves only the submarine-launched missiles.
We must first discuss SDI.
In regards to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty?
The ABM treaty forbids SDI.
[Reagan] Well, we, uh, we disagree
and, anyway, you...
you've already violated the ABM at Krasnoyarsk
with your defenses around Moscow.
We have no such defenses in Washington.
Our defenses are exactly matching to the letter
of the ABM treaty.
And it is not our fault that you chose not to exercise
your rights under the treaty
to build such defenses around your capital.
But the ABM treaty
specifically rejects the idea of space-based weapons.
SDI is not solely space-based.
How are we to begin to eliminate
our Strategic Offensive Arms
if you will have a "shield" to defend yourself?
You could renege or launch a first strike from a NATO ally
and we would be defenseless.
You are obsessed with this SDI.
What about the people?
It will make the people safer for both our nations.
What if some rogue state launches a missile?
The shield will protect us, protect the American people.
You are free to develop your own for your people.
You won't let them leave, at least you can protect them.
Of course I care about the people.
The Soviet people are my responsibility.
But you cannot possibly believe
that their fate is not tied to this shield,
which you have already announced you intend to--
Mutually assured destruction works from the point of view
that each side must be vulnerable.
That the, uh, Sword of Damocles not only hangs above us,
but must remain hanging over us.
Why can we simply not take the sword down?
This is what SDI will do.
[sighs deeply]
[tense music plays]
"Men rise from one ambition to the next.
First, they seek to secure themselves from attack,
and then to attack others."
Machiavelli.
Are you suggesting that we are building a shield
in order that once we have it
we can then strike you first with impunity?
Well, why wouldn't you strike the "evil empire"?
[sighs]
Look...
all we are asking
is that you do not develop this SDI
during the ten years
that we are eliminating these weapons,
so as not to gain an advantage.
This is not an offensive weapon.
It is a shield.
It is a threat.
[clears throat]
Mr. General Secretary,
are you coupling the arms reduction
to the end of SDI?
I am.
It is the position of the Soviet Union
that they are the same thing.
[sighs]
[tense, dramatic music plays]
After the use of mustard gas in World War I,
we developed a gas mask.
Why would you not want a gas mask, a shield,
against nuclear missiles?
We owe it to the world to develop this technology.
The world has gotten along just fine without it.
This is absurd.
And how will you ensure
that your allies do not strike us?
I will do everything in my power
to get them to give up their nuclear weapons as well.
But do you really believe that their people
will let them keep them?
With the costs of maintenance and dangers of mistakes,
when there is no longer a threat from the Soviet Union?
I believe it is very difficult
for people to give up their weapons of any kind,
including shields.
Gentlemen, I suggest we take a short break.
- Perhaps-- - I would like to know
if the President is serious
about continuing this discussion on SDI.
If he is serious about compromise.
[suspenseful music plays]
[grunts]
- [horses whinnying] - [indistinct chatter]
[camera shutters clicking]
Isn't it beautiful?
The Icelandic horse is the only horse in the world
that has a fifth gait called the tölt.
[scoffs] Amazing.
Oh, is it? I'm still hungover.
I told you to quit on the schnapps.
You did not.
Just watch.
You won't even spill your coffee.
Or vodka!
[Cleo whimpers]
Really think I’m gonna blow schnapps chunks.
I can't believe you'd insult Icelandic schnapps
by calling it chunky.
[groans] Do something.
Do something? What do you want me to--
Distract me.
Mrs. Gorbachev!
[groans] I didn't mean shouting.
I have a question for you.
Of course, wonderful. How can I help?
Well, the White House released a statement
just before we got in the vans--
The First Lady decided to come here
to see the famous Icelandic horse?
She's a little late.
Actually, sources say
that she's launched a new national campaign
for breast cancer awareness.
It's a major new initiative
that she hopes can be a model for the world.
What do you say to the American people
and people across the globe
about your own efforts this weekend
on behalf of the Soviet peoples?
Not that this Icelandic horse isn't important,
but it's not exactly cancer prevention.
[reporter 1] Mrs. Gorbachev, have you spoken to Mrs. Reagan?
Would you like to meet with Nancy Reagan?
- No questions. - [reporters clamoring]
Mrs. Gorbachev must be livid,
her spotlight pulled so hastily.
[Reagan chuckles]
You mess with the bull.
[laughs]
[Nancy] How's it going?
Well, we're, uh, at an impasse.
Well, Mars is ascendant, so we have that going for us.
Yes, yes.
They can't afford it.
What?
They can't afford to compete.
Not on SDI, not on any of it anymore.
Isn't that what you wanted?
What you've been working towards?
I know.
I've just gotta reach him.
I've gotta try, Nance.
[Nancy] Go be great.
[dramatic music plays]
[Reagan] Can we agree, Mr. General Secretary,
that the, uh, issue of submarines can be resolved
with our considerable engagement
and commitment at a later date, and that, uh, the main focus
of our last discussion should be about SDI?
Yes.
Then I would like to take us back to World War I.
The horrifying advent of chemical warfare,
mustard gas and chlorine.
We have been over this before, Mr. President.
And-And the development, in a few years,
of the gas mask,
of chemical and biological protection suits.
An anti-ballistic missile system,
full of lasers, counter-attack radars,
interceptors, and satellite weapons
is hardly a gas mask.
[Reagan] But the principle is the same.
[Gorbachev] I returned to this session under the impression
that you were serious about compromise.
What if we gave it to you?
[wind howling]
This is not serious.
I will give you the shield.
I will give you SDI.
Your Congress will never allow it.
They will if it's coupled
with complete Soviet nuclear disarmament.
Nor will your military.
I have told you, they report to me.
Say nothing of your military industrial complex.
What does that have to do...
You expect Lockheed and Northrup
and all your other defense contractors
to simply give up the license
to the most complex
and advanced military technology ever developed?
I may not be a capitalist, Mr. President,
but I do understand how it works.
[Reagan] We can work that out.
[sighs] This is a fantasy!
You have come in here with a fantasy.
Or is this some trick?
You can't afford it,
you don't believe me
that we won't use it to protect ourselves
and preemptively strike.
I'm telling you that I won't give it up
because of rogue nations
and I will not have future generations
of Americans live in fear.
We will give it to you.
You won't even give us milking machines!
You have a stranglehold on every technology
ever created in the West so tight
that you will not sell us
basic agricultural tractors, plows,
milking machines for cows to us!
But you want me to believe
that you will give us
the most incredible American science ever created
and that you will be able to do this
over the objections of your Congress
and your companies and your Pentagon
and your citizens and your allies and...
and you won't even sell the machines
so that we can produce more milk for our children!
[inhales deeply, sighs]
I, uh... I will look into the milking machines.
I-I...
[sniffs] Never, uh,
never occurred to me that I might get assassinated.
Not once.
Nancy would, uh, bring it up during the first campaign,
but I just never...
If I survived that bullet,
uh, it was for a reason,
a new mission, a purpose, so...
What if we agree...
not to deploy the system
for ten years?
[dramatic music plays]
SDI?
You will not deploy it
for the ten years that we are eliminating these weapons?
And you will do everything in your power
to persuade the British and the French
to give up their weapons as well
or else you'll not extend your shield to them?
It will be very hard,
many of our allies are under our nuclear umbrella.
As are ours.
We would all be exposed together.
Yes. Okay. I will talk with our allies.
I don't believe their peoples will wish them to continue
when we have given them up.
Such is the peace-loving nature of a democratic people.
Yes.
So...
we will both agree to remove all warheads
over the next ten years.
Nuclear Zero.
And, of course,
your inspectors, trust, but verify.
And, um, you can develop SDI
in the laboratory.
[clatters loudly]
Not just the laboratory.
I'm sorry?
We will not deploy the system,
but we must be allowed to test the shield
to know if it can work.
You can test it in the laboratory.
Of course, but-but they must be tested in the real world.
Progress cannot be made in just a laboratory.
I mean, you think we could launch
a man into space on a rocket
that just worked on a simulation
in some scientist's lab?
So you will agree, we can test the shield?
In the laboratory.
You will have inspectors at our secure sites as well.
We would welcome them to our testing grounds.
You put a man on the moon in less than ten years.
Yes, I was just talking about that.
Developed the atom bomb in under five.
- Okay. - Do you not see?
[Reagan] See what?
I cannot allow you to field test a new weapons system...
Shield.
...this thing, in the next ten years,
less time than it took you to put a man on the moon.
I can't understand-- You will have inspectors.
If you're successful,
you could immediately deploy it,
and we would be right back to where we are now.
You could order a strike.
We would be defenseless while you hid behind your shield.
You can test it in a laboratory,
just like any other scientific advance.
And in the meantime, if in the next ten years
some other state wants to launch a missile
against my people,
we won't be able to prove
that it would be futile
except in some sort of, uh, scientific journal.
We will be defenseless.
As would we.
It's one word.
"Laboratory."
It's one word.
It's one word that changes everything for my people.
And my people.
Another generation lost to the terror
and horror of waiting for the bomb to drop.
Not if the bombs don't exist.
[ominous music plays]
[inhales deeply, sighs]
I-I don't know what else I could have done.
Just say yes.
[scoffs]
On this one point, Mr. President...
[sniffs]
...I cannot compromise.
Where are you going?
I'm afraid I will not see you again.
[thunder rumbling]
[sighs]
[thunder rumbling]
[waves crashing]
[lightning cracking]
[Shultz] Mr. President.
[female reporter] ...apparently by a lone assailant.
[Shultz] Mr. President.
[wind howling]
Mr. President!
I failed.
[inhales]
I offered him the deal of the century,
of human history,
and he's walking away over one word,
a single word.
Never should've trusted him.
Sir, the car is here,
ready to take him to the airport,
but it's not over, not yet.
It's over.
The whole world living on hope.
Press will know by tonight.
Sir, when you recruited me,
you told me we could make a difference.
You told me we could make America safer
than when we found her.
It's over.
Ask him to come to Washington.
For what? More talk that leads to nothing?
Maybe this place is haunted.
Ask him anyway, sir. Please, in spite of it all.
We have maybe a minute left until he comes out that door,
gets in that car, and he is gone.
Do not let what happened in that house, in that room,
over the last 30 hours
destroy our entire future.
[thunder rumbling]
This is the red line, sir.
You asked me to tell you.
Well, this is it.
This is it.
You don't want to be seen as a warmonger.
Sir, if we fail here,
there will be war.
And when that war is over,
there will be nothing left on God's green earth
but smoldering, irradiated, lifeless rock.
I know that that is not what they want.
That is not what any sane person wants.
It's not about want, George, it's about need.
We need peace.
And that requires the end of them.
Liberty, George, only liberty equals peace.
You didn't come here
to negotiate about nuclear weapons.
You came here to try to prove to them
that they are fundamentally wrong.
You came here to end the Soviet Union.
I came here to show him the contradiction.
That holding people at gunpoint
and claiming you're a utopia is not possible.
No one is safe,
no free citizen anywhere is safe,
until a system
that is based on the devaluing of individual liberty,
that threatens everyone with tyranny, is over.
We can talk about arms control, arms reduction,
missile shields 'til Kingdom come,
but if they just admit that they're wrong,
they admit that their perfect Soviet commune is wrong...
if he admits something as simple
as people want to leave...
then it's over, it crumbles.
We consign them to the ash heap of history.
George, we just have to show that it's possible.
- [sighs, sniffles] - [laughs]
Last night we had a deal
to rid the planet of nuclear weapons, sir.
Ah, anything is possible.
May I suggest, sir,
that you retry your test with Rostropovich's sister,
this time with a compromise.
Well, why should I compromise when he won't?
Because, sir, good leaders make the present better,
great leaders make the future better.
He wants to do great things too, sir.
He needs a partner.
Well...
what's the compromise?
That you'll send her back home.
And it won't be forever, sir. Not if you're right.
Secretary-General.
[reporters clamoring]
Let Rostropovich's sister come to his birthday in Washington.
Let her leave, and I give you my word,
she'll return.
A journey of a thousand miles doesn't start
with the most incredible arms agreement in history,
it begins with a single step.
If you seek peace,
tear down this wall between us, Mr. Gorbachev,
tear down this wall,
just this one time, for this one woman,
and we will meet...
we will talk again.
[Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude plays]
[Shultz] The world thought it was a failure at the time.
Even I had my doubts.
But a year later,
President Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev
signed the first arms reduction agreement in human history.
Since then, nuclear weapons have been reduced
to less than 10% of their Cold War peak.
Two years later, the Cold War was over.
And just as President Reagan had foreseen,
the Soviet Union ended
because our leaders
decided to build bridges instead of bombs.
Rostropovich flew to Berlin
and, with a folding chair and a borrowed cello,
played Bach as the Wall came down.
A few years later,
Mr. Gorbachev visited me out at Stanford.
I said, "When we first met,
the Cold War was at its most dangerous point
and, three years later, it was over.
What do you believe was the beginning of the end?"
He replied with one word:
"Reykjavik."
[music continues]
Deal.
[applause]
- [camera shutters clicking] - [indistinct chatter]
[applause continues]
[gentle dramatic music plays]
[music fades]