The "START" of Something Big:
Commencement 1982
After being President for nearly
a year and a half, Reagan returned for commencement in 1982. The
Cold War had no end in sight and Reagan hoped that his speech at Eureka
might be a pivotal moment in U.S.-Russian relations. Now that the
Cold War has passed into history, scholars are starting to hail Reagan's
"Eureka speech" as the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
In
the speech, Reagan announced that he would begin a new initiative, known
as Strategic Arms Reduction Talks, or START. The proposal, unlike
earlier negotiations, called for actual cuts in the number of existing
nuclear weapons held by the Soviets and the United States. In the
tradition of Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, given at a small
Missouri college, the address at Eureka, Illinois, in 1982 marked a turning
point in U.S. foreign policy. The full text of the speech is available
here.
Of course, Reagan's 1982
visit was not all business. In recognition of his accomplishments
as a student-athlete, the President was inducted into Eureka College's
Athletic Hall of Fame.
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with the Reagan at Eureka Photo Essay to 1984
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