On Tuesday, November 15, the Strauss Center, Clements Center for National Security, and LBJ School of Public Affairs hosted William Inboden, Executive Director of the Clements Center, for a talk on his landmark new book The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink.

Inboden was introduced by Bobby Chesney, Dean of the Law School and former Strauss Center Director, who characterized this text as “the definitive work on Ronald Reagan.” The book, according to its author, is written as a narrative, meant to be accessible to both academics and the general public. Inboden was able to interview many of the people in the room with former president Reagan and review recently declassified materials from his presidency, which allowed him to craft a history of this era and present it in a new lens with which we can not only understand Reagan’s role but interpret current events as well.

The public talk followed four main themes of the book: 1) the situation at the start of Reagan’s presidency, 2) the strategy Reagan and his team used, 3) the speeches he gave, and 4) his summits with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.

Inboden characterized the situation, both domestically and abroad, as one of tumult at the beginning of Reagan’s term in the White House. In Inboden’s estimation, the U.S. at the time was seen as a “crippled giant” – with inflation and unemployment high and public trust in the presidency low – and was facing the most dangerous security situation of the Cold War since the Cuban Missile Crisis. In terms of strategy, Inboden referenced Reagan’s quote: “My Cold War strategy is simple: We win, they lose” but also characterized Reagan’s dual motivations of bringing an end to the “Soviet empire” and arms race while also trying to pursue reforms for the Soviet Union, to the benefit of his people. Reagan utilized multiple speeches throughout his tenure as a way to talk directly to the people of the Soviet Union, while also using this as an avenue to signal his intentions to the Kremlin. Lastly, Inboden described Reagan’s multiple summits with Gorbachev and the close personal bond the pair developed over their years at odds.

Inboden concluded his talk with a poignant description of Gorbachev’s farewell to Reagan on the occasion of Reagan’s passing in 2004 and left us on the sentiment of Gorbachev’s words about Reagan: “He was an extraordinary political leader who chose, at the right time, to be a peacemaker.”

This event was open to the public and held at the University of Texas at Austin’s Main Building.

Biography

William Inboden is Executive Director and William Powers, Jr. Chair at the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin. He also serves as Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Distinguished Scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and Editor-in-Chief of the Texas National Security Review. Inboden’s other current roles include Associate with the National Intelligence Council, member of the CIA’s Historical Advisory Panel, member of the State Department’s Historical Advisory Council, Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum, and member of the Advisory Board for the Vandenberg Coalition. Previously he served as Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council at the White House, where he worked on a range of foreign policy issues including the National Security Strategy, strategic forecasting, democracy and governance, contingency planning, counter-radicalization, and multilateral institutions and initiatives. Inboden also worked at the Department of State as a Member of the Policy Planning Staff and a Special Advisor in the Office of International Religious Freedom, and has worked as a staff member in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.

For more information on this event, contact Elizabeth Doughtie at [email protected].

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