State Historical Society of Iowa
Courtesy of Ford Presidential Library, "Strategic Arms Limitation Talks" 1976
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were a series of bilateral conferences and international treaties signed between the United States and the Soviet Union. These treaties had the goal of reducing the number of long-range ballistic missiles (strategic arms) that each side could possess and manufacture. The first treaty, known as SALT I, was signed on May 26, 1972, in it the US and the USSR agreed to a limited number of ballistic missiles and a limited number of missile deployment sites. Additionally, the two countries agreed to a principle of non-interference and respect for national sovereignty. Previously President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhev had agreed to a ban on new land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), limiting strategic nuclear delivery vehicles (SNDVs), including ICBMs and heavy bombers to 2,400 and limiting multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs)which could have multiple warheads attached to a single missile to 1,320.
However, talks hit a stalemate after 1974 because of new advanced technology developed by the two countries. The US had created new cruise missiles, which had greater accuracy and were undetectable by radar. The USSR had been developing Backfire bombers, which were long-range aircrafts capable of performing nuclear and maritime attacks. President Ford and General Secretary Brezhnev were hesitant to restrict the manufacturing of their respective weapons, which resulted in stalled negotiations. Hoping to ensure that SALT II was signed under the Ford Administration, Secretary of State Kissinger traveled to Moscow in January 1976 with two proposals that incorporated cruise missiles and Backfire bombers into the treaty, but the two sides were still unable to come to a consensus. Disagreements over these two weapons delayed the signing of a final treaty until after President Ford left office. Excerpts from the speech below came a few months following Kissinger's meeting in Moscow. In this speech President Ford continued to address the idea of peace through strength which was a signature part of his failed 1976 campaign.
Ford, Gerald. "Foreign Relations Speech," March 12, 1976. Courtesy Gerald Ford Presidential Library. Courtesy of Library of Congress
