Copyright

by

Benjamin Griffin

2015
 The Report Committee for Benjamin Griffin
Certifies that this is the approved version of the following report:

The Good Guys Win: Ronald Reagan, Tom Clancy, and the
Transformation of National Security

APPROVED BY
SUPERVISING COMMITTEE:

Supervisor:
Jeremi Suri

Mark Lawrence
The Good Guys Win: Ronald Reagan, Tom Clancy, and the
Transformation of National Security

by

Benjamin Griffin

Report
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of

The University of Texas at Austin

in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements

for the Degree of

Master of Arts

The University of Texas at Austin

May, 2015
 Dedication

For Amibeth, Natalie, and Patrick. Thank you for your love, patience, and support.
 Acknowledgements

I owe a significant debt to my advisors on this paper, Jeremi Suri, Mark

Lawrence, and William Inboden. Each provided invaluable assistance and

direction throughout the project and without their time and advice; it would not look

anything like its present form nor approach its quality. Additionally, the Clements
Center for History, Strategy, and Statecraft very graciously funded my research

trips to Simi Valley, California, Washington, DC, and Springfield, Virginia. The

access to archival sources and interviews conducted on these trips helped the

project immeasurably and I am grateful for their generous support. Thank you also

to Ambassador Jack Matlock, Secretary Tom Reed, Larry Bond and Chris Carlson

for allowing me to interview them. Their first hand recollections are a crucial part

of the project and I am grateful for the hospitality they showed me.

v
 Abstract

The Good Guys Win: Ronald Reagan, Tom Clancy, and the
Transformation of National Security

Benjamin Griffin, MA

The University of Texas at Austin, 2015

Supervisor: Jeremi Suri

This paper examines the relationship between popular culture and policy.

It argues that popular culture serves to make policy legible to a broad audience

and exerts influence on policy makers themselves. It examines the way the

administration of Ronald Reagan made use of the novels of Tom Clancy to build

support for its national security agenda, how the public received the works, and in

turn how the novels reinforced Reagan’s confidence in his policy. The paper also
explores how Reagan developed his political ideology and how his background

informed the method in which he received, and then presented information. It

argues that Reagan was the driving ideological force in his administration.

vi
 Table of Contents

Introduction: Intersections of Policy and Culture ........................................1

Chapter 1: Storyteller in Chief: Reagan and the Power of Narrative ........12

Reagan the Bookworm ....................................................................20

The Rise of Tom Clancy ..................................................................26

Reagan and Clancy .........................................................................32

Chapter 2: Up From the Depths: The Hunt for Red October and Military

Morale ............................................................................................40

The Hunt for Red October's Appeal to Reagan ................................42

Fixing a Hollow Military ....................................................................46

Confronting the Evil Empire .............................................................63

The Best Weapons ..........................................................................70

Chapter 3: Weathering the Storm: Peace through Strength .....................75

Problems with the Bomb ..................................................................78

Deus ex Machina .............................................................................89

The Value of Friends .......................................................................92

Identity Problems .............................................................................95

vii
 Rolling the Dice .............................................................................100

Chapter 4: Techno Thriller Rising: Clancy in the Wider World ...............105

Weinberger and Clancy .................................................................106

Clancy and the Pentagon ..............................................................116

Clancy on the Hill ...........................................................................121

Clancy and the Public ....................................................................125

Conclusion: Cultural Legacies ..............................................................134

Bibliography ...........................................................................................137

viii
 Introduction: Intersections of Policy and Culture

Americans watching Saturday Night Live on December 6, 1986, saw

rookie cast member Phil Hartman portray Ronald Reagan for the first time. The

sketch opens with an apparently senile president discussing the unfolding Iran-

Contra scandal with a reporter. The reporter mentions that she is not sure which

is worse: Reagan knowing or not knowing about the crisis. Hartman gradually

ushers her from the oval office, saying he hopes he was informative even “given

the very little that I know.”1 When the reporter leaves, Hartman’s Reagan

transforms. The president no longer shakes and stands straighter, and an

expression of angry calculation replaces one of grandfatherly confusion. He calls

for his staff, gruffly tells them that he is “only going to go through this once, so it’s

essential that you pay attention.” With that, he launches into a master plan to

continue supporting the Contras. He directs William Casey, the director of the

CIA, to observe the loading of new weapons for sale to Iran. His chief of staff,

Don Regan, is going to have to resign, but not before releasing a statement

supporting the president, conveniently already written on a computer that the

perplexed staffer cannot operate, prompting Reagan to declare “oh, alright I’ll do

1 “President Reagan: Mastermind,” Saturday Night Live, NBC December 6, 1986.

1
it for you,” with an exasperated tone indicating this is not the first time. When

Caspar Weinberger, played by Jon Lovitz, asks Reagan to slow down as “there’s

still a lot about the Iran-Contra affair” he did not understand the president berates

him. He shouts, “You don’t need to understand! I am the President, only I need

to understand.2 When newly anointed National Security Advisor, played by Kevin

Nealon, worries about what would happen to the plan if Reagan should die as he

is the only one who knows what is going on, Reagan responds by quoting

Montesquieu and the danger of sharing knowledge. Over the remainder of the

skit, Reagan does complex financial calculations without the aid of a calculator,

concludes a weapons deal with Iraqis while speaking Arabic, and speaks Swiss

while conducting financial transactions. His staff looks on befuddled before

eventually falling asleep as the president works through the night.

The skit touched on an issue that still dominates the study of the Reagan

administration; exactly who was in charge of the whole thing. Bureaucratic chaos

and personal rivalries played out publicly throughout Reagan’s time in office

lending the impression that the administration lacked a strong leader. Tell-all

books by disgruntled former aides and administration officials contributed to the

public image of the president as an amiable figurehead that was out of his depth

on policy issues. David Stockman, Reagan’s first director of the Office of

2 Ibid.
2
Management and Budget and architect of the administration’s early budget cuts,

released the first of these, entitled The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan

Revolution Failed, in 1986. He describes how those around Reagan “made him

stumble into the wrong camp,” and how the president “had no business trying to

make a revolution” as he lacked the will to lead one. 3 The book debuted in the

top spot on The New York Times non-fiction bestseller’s list and Stockman

played a prominent role in a media blitz promoting the book and the failure of

Reagan’s leadership.4

In its review of the book, The New York Times highlighted what it viewed

as evidence that Reagan was not mentally capable of directing his

administration. It noted that Stockman’s “Reagan stories are priceless.”5 The

book repeatedly demonstrates the president sitting silently in meetings until the

mention of a magic word, like ‘welfare’ or ‘Medicare,’ caused him to launch into

an anecdote. For Stockdale and The New York Times these stories and jokes

showed how the president “totally misunderstood the preceding conversation.” 6

The memoir showed cabinet members who “take skillful advantage of the

president’s capacity for befuddlement,” as they pursue their agendas by using

3 David Stockman, The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed (New York:
Harper and Row, 1986), 5.
4 Bob Greene, “Triumph of Politics is a Triumph of Hype,” Chicago Tribune, May 14, 1986.
5 Michael Kinsely, “In the Land of the Magic Asterisk,” The New York Times, May 11, 1986.
6 Ibid.

3
misdirection, movies, and comic strips to sway the leader of the free world. 7

Stockman and The New York Times view Reagan’s preference for spinning

yarns as a sign of his intellectual incapacity, and proof that he did not provide the

ideology and policy ideas his administration pursued.

George Shultz, who served as Reagan’s Secretary of State from 1982 to

1989, views the use anecdotes differently. He acknowledges that many of

Stockman’s criticisms were in fact accurate. Reagan “could allow himself to be

deceived, sometimes almost knowingly.” 8 He would rearrange facts to make

stories better, and at times simply ignore the facts entirely. However, Shultz did

not view this as a sign of intellectual incapacity or even dishonesty on the part of

Reagan. Instead, he views the president’s use of stories in a positive light,

noting, “he used a story to impart a larger message --- and sometimes the

message was simply more important than the facts. 9 Reagan recognized the

“stories create meaning” and that “facts are the unassembled parts” of a story

waiting for a master to piece them together into something greater than its parts.

Caspar Weinberger, Reagan’s Secretary of Defense from 1981-1987,

agrees with Shultz on the issue of Reagan’s use of anecdote, one of the few

areas where Shultz and Weinberger concurred. He argues that Reagan’s use of

7 Ibid.
8 George Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State, (New York: Scribner’s,
1995).
9 Ibid.

4
stories and jokes were important factors in giving the president “such high

standing and deserved popularity” with the public. 10 The stories and jokes

created “an atmosphere” that produced “vital agreements that neither logic, nor

table pounding, nor cajoling could bring about.”11 Weinberger viewed Reagan’s

seemingly unorthodox method of communication as essential to the success of

the administration and the accomplishment of Reagan’s agenda. Both

Weinberger and Shultz vehemently deny that anyone other than Reagan acted

as the driving force of the administration, and years after Reagan’s term in office

ended wrote their memoirs in part to combat the continuing perception that

others defined Reagan’s policies and goals.

The “President Reagan: Mastermind” skit also shows the role of popular

culture in shaping perceptions of leaders and policies. It played on and

reinforced the public’s false understanding that Reagan was a figurehead, or as

former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford termed him, “an amiable dunce.” 12

Literary scholar Edward Said argues that culture provides “a sort of theater

where various political and ideological causes engage one another.” 13 In Culture

and Imperialism, he asserts that the novel and imperialism are “unthinkable

10 Caspar Weinberger, Fighting for Peace: Seven Critical Years in the Pentagon (New York:
Warner Books, 1990), 33.
11 Ibid
12 Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1991), 132.
13 Edwrad Said, Culture and Imperialism, (New York: Vintage Books, 1993), xiii.

5
without one another.”14 This is because novels either explicitly or implicitly

reinforce the existing structures of the state. They depend on the existing

“authority and power” of society and established institutions to create legibility

across a broad audience which adds to the legitimacy of the existing structure of

the state. Said could easily include the other mediums of popular culture into his

framework. Movies, plays, and music, as well the novel, depend on their

audience instantly contextualizing it within their own lives, and as a result adopt

present societal norms as a common language. Even elements of culture

intended as subversive rely on this common language. They often shock

consumer’s sensibilities through the absence of a familiar frame of reference or

create a sense of alienation through the juxtaposition of existing norms. Melani

McAlister expands on this notion in Epic Encounters. She looks at depictions of

and references to the Middle East in American culture to show that culture

actively assists the construction of “narratives that help policy make sense in a

given moment.”15 She notes that cultural fields constantly interact with and

respond to “other fields in the larger social system.” 16 The relationship is a

complex one, and often results in a cultural object that is a fun house vision of

policy rather than a direct reflection.

14 Ibid, 71
15 Melani McAlister, Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, & U.S. Interests in the Middle East since
1945, (Berkley: University of California Press, 2001), 6.
16 Ibid, 7

6
 Said and McAlister are correct to identify the absence of cultural

examination from the study of policy. However, their focus on the idea of culture

as a clarifying agent of policy and strategy describes only a part of the

relationship. Culture also influences decision makers. In Grand Strategies,

Charles Hill argues, “literature shows it relationship with statecraft to be

reciprocal.”17 Although he then goes on to lament how “popular cultures of

entertainment” evicted literature “from its place in the pantheon of arts,” his

argument still applies to the cultural realms he disdains. 18 Hill recognizes that

literature informed the actions of leaders, which then in turn informed the actions

of future works of literature. Popular culture accelerates this cycle. Popular

culture helps and influences policy makers in several ways. It can provide

feedback on popular attitudes and opinions across a larger scale than other

measures such as polls. Culture can also model the outcomes of policies in an

accessible and visible manner, potentially providing a sense of the feasibility of

particular course. This is particularly useful in defense planning, as culture can

serve as informal war games allowing for visualization of concepts without an

actual war or large-scale exercises. Positive cultural portrayals will serve to

17 Charles Hill, Grand Strategies: Literature Statecraft and World Order (Cambridge: Yale
University Press, 2010), 8.
18 Ibid, 5.

7
reinforce a leader’s confidence in a given initiative, while the opposite can

highlight the need for a new course.

Reagan was exceptionally cognizant of the representations of American

policy and strength in popular culture, and actively sought to shape them to

support his agenda. On the eve of his election to the presidency, he perceived

the prevailing trends as hostile to his agenda. Popular movies, books, and music

portrayed the United States as weak and morally compromised, and Reagan had

a particular revulsion for movies such as Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter.

They were, Reagan asserted, examples of the “reprehensible pandering” of

Hollywood to the forces of “anti-militarism and anti-Americanism.”19 If themes of

moral equivalency and impotent American military might remained dominant in

cultural discourse, it would be difficult for Reagan to accomplish the

reinvigoration of the defense establishment and pursue a hawkish course with

regard to the Cold War.

Fortunately for Reagan, the majority of the American public was ready for

a change in the discussion. They felt battered by the previous decade. Military

embarrassments in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Iran raised difficult questions about

the capacity of the United States to exert its will on minor powers, much less the

Soviet Union. Communism seemed on the march as well, as in addition to the

19 Draft of Reagan’s Commencement at West Point, Folder: “West Point Speech and Back Up
File (1)”, Box 8 Speechwriting, White House Office Of: Research Office, 1981-1989, Ronald
Reagan Library.
8
emergence of new communist state in Southeast Asia, military action led to

communist states in Angola, Afghanistan, and Nicaragua. Americans began to

doubt their chances for a victory in the Cold War. Additionally, the fall out of the

OPEC oil embargo demonstrated the ability for small states to drastically affect

the lives of everyday Americans and inflict lasting harm on the economy. The

diminishment of American prestige and power in the 1970s created an

enthusiastic audience for Reagan’s message of optimism and rebirth.

Throughout Reagan’s time in office a large segment of popular culture

reflected the resurgent American nationalism his administration encouraged.

Movies like Rocky IV, Rambo II, and Top Gun reflected a desire to move beyond

the questioning of the previous decade towards an embrace of exceptionalism.

No one captured the sentiment and content of Reagan’s presidency as well as

Tom Clancy. The author’s first book, The Hunt for Red October, debuted in 1984

and after receiving an endorsement from Reagan catapulted up the bestseller

lists. Every year from 1986 through the end of the decade, Clancy would release

a new novel that finished in the top two on end of year bestseller charts and

would later spawn a movie franchise. Clancy’s books certainly support

McAlister’s sense that popular culture makes policy legible to the public. Each of

his early novels highlights the superior morality and quality of those in the

American military, the need for advanced technology to fight and win modern

wars, and the rightness of the American cause in the Cold War. Clancy’s novels

9
also demonstrate the ability of popular culture to affect policy makers. In addition

to gaining a wide readership within the Pentagon and Congress, the novels

became of favorite of Reagan. He read them both as entertainment and as

research.20 The realistic and successful portrayal of administration initiatives

reinforced Reagan’s sense that he was pursuing the correct course. Clancy’s

books became evidence to Reagan that not only were his policies popular, but

that they were working as intended and could achieve their goal of winning the

Cold War.

This study argues that the complex relationship between culture and

policy remains under examined, to the detriment of historical inquiry. Its study

helps to answer questions about how policy comes to be and about the

sustainability of strategies that leader implement. In particular, the paper will

explore the symbiotic relationship between the Reagan administration and the

works of Tom Clancy and examine how the interactions between policy maker,

author, and popular culture writ large created an environment for the sustainment

of Reagan’s vision. The first chapter, “Storyteller in Chief,” will argue that

Reagan’s career as a broadcaster and actor led him to place particular emphasis

on fictional narratives as a medium for conveying greater messages. It will also

argue that Reagan formed the core tenants of his Administration’s policy long

20 Cannon, Role of a Lifetime, 294.

10
before he arrived in Washington DC and that he acted as the driving ideological

force of the administration. Reagan communicated this ideology through stories,

and upon his discovery of Tom Clancy knowingly raised the author’s profile to

help his message reach a broader audience. The second chapter, “Up From the

Depths,” will examine Reagan’s first term efforts to improve the public’s

perception of the military, increase ideological pressure on the Soviet Union, and

pursue technological advancements as a means to close a gap in capability

between the Warsaw pact and NATO. It will explore these trends through the

context of The Hunt for Red October, Clancy’s first book, and identify what about

the novel drew Reagan’s attention and caused him to promote the book publicly

and privately. Chapter three, “Weathering the Storm,” will use Clancy’s second

book, Red Storm Rising, to study Reagan’s anti-nuclear views, the

administrations fielding of new military technology, the importance of realism in

fiction, and the second term emphasis on emphasizing the difference between

the Soviet system and the Russian people. The final chapter, “Techno Thriller

Rising,” will look at the impact of Clancy’s works on the military, on Congress,

and in popular culture. It will identify how the themes of the novel and the

Reagan Administration expanded into other parts of culture to increase public

and political support for Reagan’s ultimate objectives.

11
 Chapter One

Storyteller in Chief: Reagan and the Power of Narrative

In December of 1983, Ronald Reagan stood before the Medal of Honor

Society at its annual dinner in New York City. Facing an audience composed of

the recipients of the nation’s highest award for valor and courage under fire, the

president sought to highlight stark differences in the values of the United States

and the Soviet Union. After a self-deprecating opening and comments about the

recent death of Marines fighting in Lebanon, Reagan ended the speech by telling

a story. He recalled reading about Ramon Mercader, the assassin of Leon

Trotsky, who after serving two decades in a Mexican jail arrived in the Soviet

Union and received their highest honor, the title of “Hero of the Soviet Union.”

The notion disgusted Reagan, and he derided the Soviets for giving “their highest

honor to a political assassin.” 21

He contrasted the Soviet award with his own experience serving in World

War II. Serving as an adjunct for the First Motion Picture Unit, Reagan

frequently read citations for awards in the course of his duties. One citation for

the Medal of Honor particularly struck the future president and offered a perfect

21 Ronald Reagan, “Address to the Medal of Honor Society in New York,” (speech, New York
City, New York, December 12th 1983).
12
contrast to the Soviet lauding of murder. The citation told the story of a doomed

B-17, damaged on its return from a bombing mission over Germany. Losing

altitude and unable to reach a landing strip, the pilot orders the crew to bail out

before the plane crashes into the English Channel. The ball gunner, wounded

and unable to escape, cries out, terrified of dying alone. The pilot, hearing the

fearful cries, moves to the rear of the plane, sits down and as he grabs the young

airman’s hand tells him, “it’s ok son, we’ll ride it down together.”22 Reagan

pauses a moment before adding, “Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously

awarded.”23

For Reagan it is obvious that “a man who would sacrifice his life simply to

bring comfort to a boy who had to die” deserves his nation’s highest honor and

highlights the “great difference” between the societies of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. 24

His story dramatically and effectively made his point. However, there was one

problem with the story. The doomed B-17 never existed. No pilot received a

Medal of Honor for sacrificing his life in order to comfort a dying boy. Instead,

Reagan was most likely recounting a story he read in Reader’s Digest decades

before.25 This is far from the only time that he chose a fictional narrative over

actual events. Though he often frustrated his aides and speechwriters with his

22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 Canon, Role of a Lifetime, 59.

13
tendency to rely on stories, Reagan believed that fictional narratives created a

personal connection with his audience impossible from a more conventional

approach.26 Reagan’s Secretary of State George Shultz explains the favoring of

stories in his memoir Turmoil and Triumph. He argues that Reagan “used a story

to impart a larger message.”27 Like a modern day Aesop, Reagan constructed

fables to “create meaning” and leave a permanent imprint on his audience.28

An important part of Reagan’s pre-political life centered on his ability to

weave compelling stories and established himself as a master storyteller long

before he reached Hollywood. In 1932, freshly graduated from Eureka College,

Reagan walked into the WOC Davenport radio station seeking a job as a

sportscaster. For his try out, he recreated from memory the final quarter of a

football game between Eureka College and Western Teachers. Edmund Morris,

Reagan’s official biographer, notes that Reagan took some liberties in the

account, changing the result to a win for his alma mater and describing the locale

in more glowing terms than an impartial observer would find. 29 “Radio…was

theater of the mind” for Reagan, and he recognized the need to take dramatic

liberties to hold his audience’s attention.30

26 Jack Matlock, interview by author, tape recording, Austin, Texas, September 23, 2014.
27 Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph
28 Ibid.
29 Edmund Morris, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (New York: Random House, 1991), 112.
30 Ibid.

14
 The mock sportscast won Reagan the opportunity to call football games

for the station on a freelance basis, and he soon turned this into a full time job.

“Dutch” Reagan soon moved to a larger audience with WHO in Des Moines and

received the assignment to broadcast Cubs games for the station. The ability to

improvise and create a story from imperfect information proved critical to his

success in the job. Information about the game came into the station via three

letter codes over telegraph. A code of “SC1” meant “curve ball, strike 1,” a

statement that hardly makes for compelling listening. 31 Based on these small

pieces of truth Reagan created a story about the games. While people listening

to “Dutch” would know the game’s final score, their understanding of the action

on the field would differ considerably from that of someone who attended the

game at Wrigley Field. Success in the job depended less on a slavish devotion

to facts than on the ability to use them as the seeds for something more lasting

and compelling.

The pursuit of compelling stories led directly to Reagan’s career as an

actor. He received his first exposure to California in 1936. He convinced the

WHO station manager to let him follow the Cubs to Catalina Island, just outside

of Los Angeles, for Spring Training. Reagan believed that the personal

connection he could establish between himself and the players there would

31 “Cubs-Pirates,” WGN, September 30, 1988.

15
cause him to capture the essence of the game in both his radio broadcasts and

in his weekly newspaper column for the Des Moines Dispatch.32 The trip proved

successful in livening up both broadcast and column, and Reagan would follow

the team again in 1937. This time he had an ulterior motivation, to become an

actor. While on the trip, he arranged a screen test, and soon after his return

received his first movie contract from Warner Brothers. The contract paid him

two hundred dollars a week, was renewable on an annual basis for seven years,

and ultimately brought Ronald Reagan to national attention. 33 If not for his ability

to compose compelling stories around small nuggets of truth, it is unlikely that

Reagan would have reached Hollywood, much less the White House.

Reagan’s Hollywood career only reinforced his belief in the power of

narrative, and simply added a visual scope to his previous auditory efforts.

Although his career peaked with the 1942 Oscar-nominated movie Kings Row,

he spent nearly two decades in an industry that immersed him in narrative

creation. Reagan’s wartime duties included starring in short movies that trained

new recruits and maintained support for the war effort. He keenly observed the

critical role Hollywood played in softening American perceptions of Stalin. 34 This

32 Morris, Dutch, 124.

33 Ibid, 132.
34 Jack Matlock, Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended (New York: Random House,
2005), 6.
16
further taught him the power and importance of managing and creating narratives

to achieve policy success.

His move to television as host of General Electric Theater also afforded

the opportunity to hone his political message and speaking style through his

frequent visits to corporate locations. His time as the leader of the Screen Actors

Guild provided his first experience as a negotiator as he led often-contentious

efforts with studios over actor compensation. 35 Reagan’s time in Hollywood also

marked his political awakening. He responded to the dropping of the atom

bombs by becoming an advocate for international control of atomic energy. Only

studio intervention prevented him from reading Norman Corwin’s anti-nuclear

poem “Set Your Clocks to U-235” at a public rally in 1945.36 His postwar time in

Hollywood also marked the start of his drift away from the Democratic Party.

Faced with the prospect that Warner Brothers would not renew his contract he

bitterly complained about the ability of the IRS to take “as much as 91% of an

actor’s salary,” even though actors only had a small window to maximize their

earnings.37 In 1952, though still a registered Democrat he urged Dwight

Eisenhower to run for office.38 The campaign also introduced him to Richard

35 Morris, 314.
36 Paul Lettow, Ronald Reagan and his Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, (New York: Random
House, 2005), 4.
37 Morris, Dutch, 294
38 Thomas Reed, The Reagan Enigma (Los Angeles: Figueroa Press, 2014), 43.

17
Nixon, whose own presidential bid Reagan would prominently support in 1960. 39

Reagan’s time as a broadcaster and actor played a significant role in creating his

style of political speech.

In office, Reagan used stories and cultural shorthand to communicate not

just with the public but with his staff as well. While president, he often referenced

the Gary Cooper western High Noon as a shorthand for the type of policy he

wanted to pursue. Tom Reed, a former secretary of the Air Force and one of the

principle authors of Reagan-era strategy document NSDD-32, recalls that

mention of Cooper’s character meant that Reagan wanted a policy that would “do

what’s right; deal with the risks [and] leave recognition for others.” 40 Those close

to Reagan soon recognized that stories offered a way to reinforce their

arguments. Reagan’s longtime friend and second National Security Advisor,

Judge Clark, made use of movies to highlight certain countries and issues. 41

These efforts fed Reagan’s voracious need for stories and information,

particularly ones that reinforced his deeply held views. Jack Matlock, then

serving as part of the National Security Council, would use fake memos that told

the story of the mounting pressures Mikhail Gorbachev faced in the Soviet

Union.42 One such memo took the form of a message from Anatoly Chernyaev,

39 Ibid.
40 Reed, The Reagan Enigma, 248.
41 Cannon, Role of a Lifetime, 156.
42 Matlock, Reagan and Gorbachev, 195.

18
one of Gorbachev’s lead foreign policy advisors, to the Soviet leader. Matlock

filled the memo with “jokes and anecdotes” to show that Grobachev “desperately

needed some agreements” with the U.S. in order to continue his reforms at

home.43 Gorbachev needed show his people, and perhaps more importantly the

hardliners on the Politburo, that Reagan was serious about arms control. This

would allow him to continue his efforts to reform the economy and control military

spending.

Jokes were also important to Reagan’s communication, as in many ways

they can carry the same message of a longer narrative in a shorter, more

memorable format. Soon after taking up residence in the Oval Office, Reagan

asked the State Department to collect popular Soviet jokes and include them in

his briefings.44 He would then use them in meetings, speeches, and even in the

presence of Soviet leaders to punctuate his points. During the 1987 Washington

Summit, Reagan offended Gorbachev early in the proceedings with a joke about

a traveling scholar asking two young cab drivers what they want to do. The

American responds that he has not decided yet, while the Soviet answers, “They

haven’t told me yet.”45 Anatoly Dobrynin, the long-time Soviet Ambassador to the

U.S., recalls Reagan joking with him about the media response to his

43 Ibid.
44 Steven F Hayward, The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution, 1980-1989 (New
York: Three Rivers Press, 2009), 111.
45 Cannon, Role of a Lifetime, 776.

19
misappropriation of Lenin quotes and ascribed it to the president’s “habit of

borrowing dubious quotations” to make his point.46 A favorite Reagan joke was

the lament of the Soviet worker that “they pretend to pay us, and we pretend to

work.”47 Those hearing Reagan’s jokes would immediately recognize that their

punchlines touched on issues central to his argument. The cab driver

demonstrates differing views on individual liberty, the worker’s lament reflects on

the economic inefficiency of the Soviet system, and jokes about Lenin attack the

foundation of the Soviet state. Reagan correctly believed that an individual is

more likely to remember and perhaps even retell a good joke, to an extent

unlikely for a line from even the best-crafted speech to duplicate.

Reagan the Bookworm

That a former actor with the interpersonal skills of Reagan would take

inspiration from film and humor is unsurprising. These were not the only source

that Reagan drew on, however. Though it runs against the public perception of

the president, he was a lifelong, voracious reader who would often read himself

to sleep in the White House.48 As a young man, Reagan was seldom without a

book. While working as a lifeguard he would read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John

Carter books. Edmund Morris hints in Dutch that Burroughs’ walking cities with

46 Anatoly Dobrynin, In Confidence: Moscow’s Ambassador to America’s Six Cold War

Presidents (New York: Time Books, 2005), 519.
47 Hayward, Age of Reagan, 111.
48 Cannon, Role of a Lifetime 293.

20
impenetrable glass shields facilitated Reagan’s later embrace of Strategic

Defense.49 This perhaps overstates the importance of John Carter to Reagan,

but some books he read as a young man left a permanent and indelible

impression on him. Reagan admitted to Morris that reading That Printer of

Udell’s as an eleven year old made him “a practical Christian.”50

Dick, the protagonist of the book, sees his mother destroyed by his

alcoholic father. The opening scene in the short novel depicts Dick unable to

move the drunkard before discovering the body of his mother. Telling his dog “he

can’t hurt maw anymore,” he leaves and spends sixteen years as a transient.51

Returning to Boyd, he distrusts Christians until a small group shows charity of

deed instead of word. Dick slowly returns to society and engages with the

community, speaking powerfully for the better “application of Christ’s teaching”

amongst the community. 52 By the end of the book, the former tramp is a pillar of

the community held in high regard as an ideal Christian and finally wins both the

hand of the woman he pursues throughout the novel and election to Congress.

The 11-year old Reagan strongly identified with the family situation of Dick.

Reagan’s father Jack was an alcoholic, and a formative moment in Reagan’s life

was the day he found his father passed out in the snow and had to drag him into

49 Morris, Dutch, XII.

50 Ibid, 40.
51 Harold Bell Wright, That Printer of Udell’s, (Chicago: The Book Supply Company, 1903) 13.
52 Ibid. 114.

21
the house.53 The simple narratives of overcoming adversity through steadfast

faith and good works appealed to the future president, and shortly after reading

the book, he asked to join his mother’s church.54

Whitaker Chambers’ memoir, Witness, had a profound effect on Reagan’s

anti-communism. Lou Cannon, a White House reporter and Reagan biographer,

notes that while president, Reagan could quote from memory the “passage

where Chambers watches his sleeping daughter and decides he can no longer

be an atheist.” 55 In the passage, Chambers reflects that in that moment the

baby “had begun invisibly, to lead us out of that darkness, which we could not

even realize, toward that light, which we could not even see.” 56 Just prior to this,

he reacts with joy to the news that his wife not only is pregnant, but also to keep

the child. Chambers describes a “wild joy” sweeping over him, and that “the

Communist Parties and its theories… crumbled at the touch of a child.” 57 He

then notes that his rejection of Communist ideology came “not at the level of the

conscious mind, but at the level of unconscious life.” 58

The powerful implication of Chamber’s assertion is that communism is an

ideology of death and decay and that the path to freedom goes through religion.

53 Morris, Dutch, 39.

54 Ibid, 41.
55 Cannon, Role of a Lifetime, 293.
56 Whitaker Chambers, Witness, (New York: Regnery Publishing, 1952), 273.
57 Ibid.
58 Ibid.

22
Witness is even more explicit on this point in the forward, which takes the form of

a letter to the author’s children. In it, Chambers articulates that “God alone is the

inciter and guarantor of freedom” and that “[r]eligion and freedom are

indivisible.”59 Reagan embraced this notion and often linked his most strident

anti-communist statements with religion. Tom Reed, who also counts Witness as

crucial in his own political formation, claims that Reagan identified with

Chambers’ sense that those under communist rule were screaming for freedom

and sought to “rescue those in the clutch of the Soviet state.”60 He also recalls

Reagan quoting from the book at length during meetings on how to deal with the

Soviet threat.61

Reagan cited Chambers in his famous “Evil Empire” speech, delivered to

the National Association of Evangelicals in 1983, incorporating the ex-

communist’s notion that the threat to the “Western World exists to the degree in

which the West is indifferent to God.”62 Reagan also referenced another famed

work of religious scholarship in the speech, C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. He

used Lewis’s sense that evil occurs not in “sordid ‘dens of crime’” but in “clear

carpeted, warm offices by quiet men” to attack those in the United States who

59 Chambers, Witness.
60 Reed, Reagan Enigma, 253.
61 Conversation with the Author, Austin, Texas, March 31, 2015.
62 Ronal Reagan, “Address to the National Association of Evangelicals,” Orlando, Florida, March
8, 1983.
23
would establish moral equivalency between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.63

Reagan argued that declaring the arms race “a great misunderstanding” is a

cowardly attempt for critics to remove themselves from “the struggle between

right and wrong and good and evil.” 64

Reagan continued to read actively throughout his time as governor and

president. While managing his shadow campaign for president in 1968, Tom

Reed recalls Reagan reading primarily books on current affairs. 65 Biographies

remained a favorite throughout Reagan’s political career. At a state dinner in

1981, Reagan welcomed Edmund Morris warmly after an introduction from

Senator Mark Hatfield. Reagan told Morris that he read The Rise of Theodore

Roosevelt in bed in the White House, while Nancy lay next to him reading Edith

Kermit Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady by Morris’ wife Sylvia. 66 Morris later

became Reagan’s authorized biographer thanks to lobbying by Hatfield on his

behalf, a feat likely made easier by Reagan’s appreciation for The Rise of

Theodore Roosevelt.

While seeking to broaden Reagan’s understanding of Russia, Jack

Matlock provided a number of books for the president to read. 67 One in

63 Reagan to National Association of Evangelicals

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: Harper Collins, 1942)
64 Reagan to National Association of Evangelicals
65 Reed interview with the author, Austin, Texas October 16, 2014
66 Morris, Dutch xiii.
67 Matlock interview with author, Austin, Texas, September 23, 2014.

24
particular, Suzanne Massie’s Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia,

struck a powerful chord. Reagan read the book just prior to the Geneva Summit

and would interrupt preparation sessions to ask the Russian experts questions

about Russian merchants in the 1830s.68 Massie visited the White House often

and played an important role in clarifying the distinction Reagan made between

the Soviet system and the Russian people.

While still governor of California, Reagan told Nancy Reynolds, then his

assistant for electronic media, “if you have a book around you never lack for

friends.”69 Reading was a deeply personal act for him, and he would rarely

discuss books publicly. Even Reagan’s diary scarcely mentions books the

president read, a stark contrast to the frequent appearance of movies in

Reagan’s personal musings. Lou Cannon believes that Reagan had “a reader’s

conceit that books were secret personal treasures” and thus did not care “if

anyone else knew he was a reader.” 70 Cannon’s notion meshes well with

Reagan’s statement to Reynolds about books as “friends.” A friendship is a

personal and private relationship, complete in itself and needing little in the way

of outside validation. Reagan would only violate this deep trust for a compelling

reason.

68 James Mann, The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War, (New
York: Penguin Books, 2009)
69 Reed interview with the author, Austin, Texas October 16, 2014.
70 Cannon, Role of a Lifetime, 293.

25
 Reagan’s reluctance to share his literary side makes his very public

embrace of Tom Clancy’s books fascinating. He received a copy of Clancy’s first

book, The Hunt for Red October, as a Christmas present from Nancy Reynolds in

1984. Reagan proceeded to read a third of the novel on Christmas Day and

finished the rest soon after. 71 The president then publicly praised the book as

“unputdownable” and the “perfect yarn.”72 In March, Reagan brought Clancy to

the White House and The Hunt for Red October would debut on the New York

Times Bestsellers List immediately after the meeting, almost nine months after its

initial publication.73 Reagan embraced the book in such a public way because it

was effectively a fictionalized version of his administration’s national security

policy and represented another way to speak to the American public in a

memorable and effective manner.

The Rise of Tom Clancy

Clancy was an unlikely person to serve as unofficial spokesman for the

Reagan Administration. While working on the novel he wrote a friend that “the

odds of becoming the next Frederick Forsythe are…somewhere between merely

exponential and astronomical-incredible.”74 He assured his friend he would

71 Tom Clancy to Susan Richards February 5, 1985, accessed online at

http://piedtype.com/2013/10/05/tom-clancy-boy-writer-part-3/
72 Patricia Blake, “One of Their Subs is Missing: An Insurance Broker’s Novel has the White
House Reading,” Time, March 4, 1985.
73 Edwin McDowell, “Publishing: Doing Right by a Book,” New York Times 22 March 1985.
74 Tom Clancy to Susan Richards February 5, 1983. Accessed online at
http://piedtype.com/2013/10/02/i-remember-tom-clancy/
26
happily settle for a “book-jacket with [his] name on it.”75 Clancy would defy those

long odds and prove the exception to his belief that “writers normally die poor,”

as upon his death he would leave behind an estate valued at eighty-two million

dollars.76

Clancy graduated from Loyola College in Baltimore after majoring in

English and minoring in Physics. Denied an opportunity to join the military due to

his vision, his co-author and friend Larry Bond notes he was nearly blind without

his glasses, Clancy instead worked with his wife at a small insurance agency in

Owings, Maryland.77 A lifelong Republican, he notes that he voted for Reagan

four out five times he could. The only time he did not was to cast a vote for

George Bush in the 1980 primary.78 Clancy explained this vote by asking God’s

forgiveness and then stating, “NOBODY’S perfect” (emphasis Clancy). 79 He

strongly supported the politics of Reagan. In March of 1981, he wrote his

congressman, William Broomfield, to request a signed photo of the president. In

forwarding the request, Broomfield identified Clancy and another autograph

75 Ibid.
76 Clancy to Richards, February 5, 1983. Scott Dance and Justin George, “Tom Clancy 82M
Estate focus of tussle between widow, lawyer,” The Baltimore Sun, September 18, 2014.
77 Author interview with Larry Bond and Chris Carlson, Springfield, Virginia, October 20, 2014.
78 Clancy to Richards, March 8, 1985.
79 Ibid.

27
seeker as “faithful republicans.” 80 The White House responded positively and in

July of 1981 mailed a signed photo inscribed to Clancy and his wife Wanda.81

Clancy also maintained a deep interest in the military in general and the

Navy in particular. The location of his insurance company in Owings, Maryland,

and its proximity to Annapolis and Washington proved advantageous as Clancy

counted a number of naval officers among his customers. He used the

opportunity to build his knowledge about naval procedures and capabilities and

one, Lieutenant Commander Gregory Young, earned Clancy’s thanks at the end

of Hunt for Red October for his assistance in providing technical expertise. 82

Clancy also built expertise through playing the tactical miniature game Harpoon,

designed by former-Naval officer and future co-author Larry Bond. He noted in a

letter that “after digesting” the game it would be easy to explain the concepts in

his book to anyone.83

Although Clancy had long harbored a desire to write novels, he did not

begin to work on Hunt until early 1982. This is when he purchased Harpoon and

began reaching out to Bond and others for technical assistance.84 The

80 Representative William Broomfield to Max Friedersdorf March 17 1981. WHORM Subject File
Public Relations PR 005-01 008386-018157 Box 37, Ronald Reagan Library.
81 “PR 005-01 850327” WHORM Subject File Public Relations PR 005-01 008386-018157 Box
37, Ronald Reagan Public Library.
82 Tom Clancy “Acknowledgements,” The Hunt for Red October (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press,
1984)
83 Tom Clancy to Susan Richards, November 1, 1984, Accessed online at
http://piedtype.com/2013/10/04/tom-clancy-boy-writer-part-2/
84 Tom Clancy to Larry Bond, February 19, 1982, Personal papers of Larry Bond.

28
inspiration for the plot of the novel came from the Storozhevoy mutiny of 1975.85

In the mutiny, the ship’s political officer led a crew of enlisted men in an effort to

take over the Soviet destroyer and sail it to Sweden to gain asylum. The

mutineers succeeded in taking control of the ship and getting it out of the Gulf of

Riga and into the Baltic. However, Soviet aircraft disabled the ship’s rudder

before it could make it to Sweden. Soviet officials quickly tried and executed the

political officer and several other mutineers received long jail sentences. 86

Clancy took the idea of Soviet mutiny and changed the setting to a submarine

and the perpetrators to the ship’s senior officers in order to give the mutiny a

more realistic chance of succeeding.

From the start, Clancy had a grand vision of his project. He planned Hunt

for Red October as the middle book of a trilogy and already had rough outlines of

Patriot Games and the Cardinal of the Kremlin completed when he began work in

earnest on Patriot Games in late 1982.87 In addition, he planned two other

novels with the rather abysmal working titles of The Penache Procedure and The

Pandora Process. These books would depart from the Jack Ryan universe and

center around a Coast Guard cutter and terrorist detonation of a nuclear weapon.

85 Author interview with Larry Bond and Chris Carlson, Springfield, Virginia, October 20, 2014.
86 Gregory Young, “Mutiny on the Storozhevoy: A Case Study on Dissent in the Soviet Navy”
Naval Postgraduate School, March 1982, 29. The author later expanded the thesis into a book
with co-author Nate Braden entitled The Last Sentry: The True Story that Inspired the Hunt For
Red October published by the Naval Institute Press in 2013.
87 Clancy to Richards, Feburary 5 1983.

29
Though the two novels never came to fruition, Clancy incorporated the elements

of the plot he described to Susan Richards into Clear and Present Danger and

the Sum of All Fears.88 Clancy began these projects without any hint of publisher

interest and continued his day job at the insurance company. That Clancy could

complete a 560-page draft of Hunt for Red October, early chapters of Patriot

Games, and concepts for three other novels within a period slightly longer than a

year while working fulltime provides insight into his future prolific output. 89

The Hunt for Red October’s path to publication was an unusual one. The

Naval Institute Press published the hardcover, and Hunt was the first original

work of fiction the press released. Located on the campus of the United States

Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the publisher’s best-known book was

The Bluejackets’ Manual, a guide given to all naval recruits since 1902. 90 Clancy

first came to the publishing house’s attention by hand delivering a letter to the

editor, which it subsequently published.91 The letter was the first time Clancy

received compensation for anything he had written. After writing an article for the

Naval Press Institute’s journal Proceedings, he then approached them with the

unsolicited manuscript of Hunt. Clancy’s timing was fortuitous, as the publishers

board of directors had just determined it would seek to publish fictional works that

88 Ibid.
89 Ibid.
90 Robert Andrews, “’Tugboat’ Surprises the Battleships of New York Publishing Industry,” The
Associated Press, March 11, 1985.
91 Author interview with Deborah Grosvenor, Austin, Texas, November 11, 2014.

30
were “wet.”92 In order to offset the costs of publishing the book, the publishers

chose to sell the paperback rights before publication. Berkley Books, a division

of Putnam, paid $35,000 for the rights, an amount that Clancy’s editor Deborah

Grosvenor viewed as decent but not high for a first time author. 93

In July of 1984, Hunt for Red October hit the shelves of bookstores around

Washington DC and New York, signaling a career-change for the 37-year old

insurance agent. The book received generally favorable though not exceptional

reviews. A review in the Wall Street Journal states that Clancy rewards the

reader “quite satisfactorily” with a thriller that is “great fun.” 94 The Los Angeles

Times reviewer took a more ambivalent track, praising Clancy’s talent for making

the “arcane information of U.S. and Soviet submarines approachable” but

lamenting the “cardboard characters.”95 Reviews like this would become

commonplace for Clancy’s books. Hunt’s sales also exceeded publisher

expectations. The first run of 16,000 sold out by November, as did half of a

second run of 10,000 books.96 The book sold particularly well in Washington DC,

making the Washington Post’s local bestseller list in November. 97 Reagan’s

December endorsement of the book greatly influenced sales. By March, just

92 Andrews, “Tugboat Surprises the Battleships of New York,” March 11, 1985.
93 Author interview with Deborah Grosvenor, Austin, Texas, November 11, 2014.
94 John Alden, “Bookshelf: The Cold War at 50 Fathoms,” The Wall Street Journal October 22,
1984.
95 Richard Setlowe, “Adrift with Subplots,” The Los Angeles Times, December 28, 1984.
96 Clancy to Richards November 1, 1984
97 Clancy to Richards February 5, 1985

31
prior to Clancy’s meeting with the president in the White House, sales passed

75,000 hard copies, and Clancy received word that the first paperback run would

total 850,000 copies. 98 The presidential endorsement also led to features about

Clancy in Time magazine, which hailed the book as a “gripping narrative” and

gushed over the high-level officials in Washington that read and endorsed the

book.99 The article added a sense of real life intrigue when it noted that the

Soviet Embassy in Washington “reportedly bought several copies, presumably

for shipment to Moscow.”100 The article helped generate enough buzz around

Clancy to earn him an invitation to appear on Good Morning America.101 With

these accomplishments under his belt Clancy, rising star of the publishing world,

prepared to meet the man who defined his trajectory.

Reagan and Clancy

On March 13, 1985, Clancy prepared to meet the president. Led into the

oval office by Michael Deaver and Nancy Reynolds, he described stepping over

the threshold as the equivalent of Dorothy stepping from “the wrecked house into

Munchkinland.”102 Instantly struck by Reagan, Clancy glowingly writes that the

president “is a Mensch” (emphasis Clancy), and that the charisma and star-

98 Tom Clancy to Susan Richards, March 8, 1985.

99 Blake, “One of Their Subs is Missing,” March 4, 1985.
100 Ibid.
101 Tom Clancy to Susan Richards, March 8, 1985.
102 Ibid.

32
quality of Reagan were on an “order of magnitude” more than expected. 103 He

goes on to note that the president could “charm the fangs off a cobra” with a

personality that “envelopes you like a cloud.” 104 Reagan asked about Clancy’s

next book, and upon hearing it was about World War III inquired about who wins.

Clancy responded “the good guys” to the approval of the president. 105 All of this

took place in approximately five minutes, as Reagan had to go meet Henry

Kissinger for lunch where they would discuss the recent death of Soviet leader

Konstantin Chernenko.106 The change in Soviet leadership was on Clancy’s

mind as well, and he recalls that if Reagan could not charm “Garbage-ov” then

“Ronnie can probably drive him into the pavement.” 107 Clancy and Reagan

departed to their separate lunches, Reagan with Kissinger in the East Garden

and Clancy with a mixture of administration officials and White House journalists.

In the Roosevelt Room, Clancy discussed the book with Secretary of the

Navy John Lehman, who confided his response on reading it was to ask, “who

the hell cleared” it.108 Robert Merry, at the time a White House reporter working

for The Wall Street Journal, recalls the lunch quickly turned into a lively and

erudite” discussion between Clancy and the Navy Secretary over the “arcana of

103 Ibid.
104 Ibid.
105 Ibid.
106 Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries, (New York; Harper, 2009), 435.
107 Clancy to Richards, March 8, 1985.
108 Ibid.

33
naval warfare and strategy.” 109 Clancy noted the discussion also covered the

Strategic Defense Initiative, which he voiced support for, and the prospect of the

use of nuclear weapons over which he and future National Security Advisor

General Brent Scowcroft disagreed on the prospect of winning a nuclear

exchange.110 Other attendees included Senator Hatfield, who asked Clancy to

sign his book, despite being in Clancy’s words “a rather dovish fellow,” and the

Director of the U.S. Information Agency and longtime friend of Reagan, Charles

Wick.111 The audience of the lunch, and the seriousness with which it

participants recall, is indicative of the growing regard for Clancy within official

Washington and that he was already establishing himself as an expert on issues

of National Security.

Clancy’s only other visits to the Reagan White House came one week

later. On March 19, he returned for a ceremony marking the arrival of the

President of Argentina and for a State Dinner in the evening. While awaiting the

arrival of the presidents, Clancy mingled with his fellow guests including Arnold

Schwarzenegger.112 After a brief welcome ceremony, the Clancys left the White

House to prepare for dinner in the evening. In the receiving line, Clancy again

felt the full force of Reagan’s charm before going to his table, where he sat with

109 Robert Merry, “Tom Clancy and Ronald Reagan,” The National Interest, October 3, 2013.
110 Clancy to Richards, March 8 1985.
111 Ibid.
112 Ibid.

34
Michael Deaver. Following dinner, Clancy and his wife spoke briefly with Nancy

Reagan, who took “her charm lessons from her husband,” and National Security

Advisor Robert McFarlane who professed his love of the book, but also had to tell

Clancy that he was nothing like the NSA, Jeffery Pelt, from Hunt. Clancy briefly

mentions in a letter that he “floated an idea” on sea power and mobility that

McFarlane liked, though unfortunately did not elaborate on what the idea was. 113

After listening to some jazz music from Pete Fountain and watching the president

and first lady dance, Clancy and his wife made their exit, though not before

hearing that Hollywood producers approached Schwarzenegger about starring in

a movie adaptation of Hunt for Red October.114

Clancy was clearly a hit in official Washington. Newspapers articles

breathlessly listed the senior administration officials who read, and enjoyed, Hunt

for Red October. Indeed, while at the state dinner, the photographer enthused to

Clancy that “everyone in the White House” read the book.115 Secretary of

Defense Caspar Weinberger was among the last in the administration to read the

book, but quickly became its biggest public supporter, behind Reagan himself.

In August of 1985, the editors of the Time Literary Supplement

approached Weinberger about taking part in an issue that asked prominent

113 Ibid.
114 Ibid.
115 Ibid.

35
public officials to review books that they felt deserved more attention.

Weinberger agreed, and his longtime secretary Kay Leisz passed him a copy of

Hunt. Along with the book, she included a not expressing that she had it “on

good authority” that “the big boss across the river” loved it.116 Weinberger read

the book, and much like Reagan, recognized its potential for shaping cultural

American public opinion on the administration’s policy. He glowingly reviewed

the book, explaining that it offered “many lessons” for “those who want to keep

the peace.”117 He also submitted the review to The Wall Street Journal, which

also published it. Weinberger also glowingly reviewed Clancy’s third novel,

Patriot Games, for the paper, stating that it gave “considerable insight into the

minds and motivations of terrorists” and how “quietly heroic upholders of

international peace and order” ensure the freedom of all. 118 Putnam books would

make use of Weinberger’s review as a blurb on the back of the book, lending the

impression of official sanction.

Clancy’s second book, Red Storm Rising, was another hit with Reagan.

He read it almost immediately upon its release in August of 1986, even going as

far as to term it research for the upcoming arms control summit with the Soviet

116 Kay Leisz to Caspar Weinberger, August 14, 1985, Caspar Weinberger Papers, The Library
of Congress, Washington, D.C., Box 596.
117 Caspar Weinberger, “Caspar Weinberger,” Times Literary Supplement October 18, 1985.
118 Caspar Weinberger, “Heroes and Terrorists in a Deadly Game,” The Wall Street Journal,
August 5, 1987.
36
Union at Reykjavik, Iceland.119 As Air Force One flew towards the summit,

Reagan ventured to the back of the plane to discuss the book with his staff. 120

Those close to Reagan recognized how much he enjoyed the novels of Clancy

and on occasion sought to turn it to their advantage. Charles Wick, the USIA

director present at the 1985 luncheon, sought out Clancy’s reaction to the

agency’s creation of WorldNet, a satellite television station aimed at spreading

American viewpoints. Clancy toured the station’s facilities and wrote an

enthusiastic report back to Wick. He argued that “WorldNet has the potential to

remake the world,” and enthused that it had the “potential to become the most

powerful, most useful, most cost-effective tool of American diplomacy.” 121 Wick,

obviously delighted with Clancy’s response, forwarded the letter to Reagan along

with a note of thanks for his ongoing “support for USIA’s efforts.” 122 The letter

went through the National Security Council and Frank Carlucci, on the day he

transitioned from National Security Advisor to Secretary of Defense, added a

brief memorandum noting that Reagan was “familiar with” Clancy’s work and

“may find interesting Clancy’s comments” on WorldNet.123 Wick’s efforts to seek

119 Cannon, Role of a Lifetime, 294.

120 Ken Adelman, Regan at Reykjavik: Forty-Eight Hours that Ended the Cold War (New York:
Broadside Books, 2014), 12.
121 Tom Clancy to Charles Wick, October 17, 1987 ID#525617, FG298, WHORM: Subject File,
Ronald Reagan Library.
122 Letter, Charles Wick to Ronald Reagan, November 5, 1987, ID#525617, FG298, WHORM:
Subject File, Ronald Reagan Library.
123 Memorandum, Frank Carlucci to Ronald Reagan, November 23, 1987, ID#525617, FG298,
WHORM: Subject File, Ronald Reagan Library.
37
out the author’s view and Carlucci’s endorsement of it in forwarding the letter to

the president imply that both men expected Reagan to value Clancy’s opinion

and that they both agreed with the views Clancy expressed and his utility as an

unofficial spokesman for the administration.

Reagan’s treatment of the fourth Clancy novel The Cardinal of the Kremlin

speaks most powerfully of the lasting affection the president held for the author’s

work. It was the only work of fiction present on the bookshelves behind

Reagan’s desk in his personal office after leaving the presidency. 124 The other

forty-four books on the shelves are biographies about Reagan or books that hold

some biographical significance to the former president. The Cardinal of the

Kremlin, and its plotline centering on missile defense, falls squarely into the latter

category. Its presence on Reagan’s shelves a decade and a half after its

publication speaks to how closely Reagan identified with it and more generally to

the notion that the ex-president viewed Clancy’s work as accurately depicting the

administration’s goals.

After his White House visit in March of 1985, Tom Clancy wrote a letter

thanking Reagan for the opportunity and expressing what an honor it was to

spend time with him in the Oval Office. Clancy tells Reagan that the thrill of

being in the White House was one of three things “more important than monetary

124“Books from Personal Bookshelves From Behind Ronald Reagan’s Desk at Office of Ronald
Reagan,” Ronald Reagan Library.
38
success,” along with his son recognizing his picture on the dust jacket and

receiving a plaque with the twin dolphins of the submarine service. 125 He counts

it as a personal honor that the book allowed the president “a few hours of respite”

and concludes by expressing that “he would deem it a privilege” if he could “ever

be of the slightest service” to Reagan.126

Even though Reagan never took up Clancy on his offer, the author

provided more than slight service to the president. Clancy did what Reagan

often excelled at: turning policy into a narrative. The novels, video games, and

movies that began with Hunt for Red October helped shape cultural narratives

both inside and outside the administration and continued the shift in public

discourse in a direction that favored the goals of Reagan.

125 Letter, Tom Clancy to Ronald Reagan, March 14, 1985, WHORM Subject File Public
Relations PR 005-01 008386-018157 Box 37, Ronald Reagan Library.
126 Ibid.

39
 Chapter Two

Up From the Depths: The Hunt for Red October and Military Morale

The Hunt for Red October opens with Marko Ramius, captain of the titular

submarine, cold bloodedly murdering the boat’s political officer. Standing over

the body, he then substitutes the orders from fleet headquarters with new ones,

intended to make the crew believe that the Soviet Union’s most technologically

advanced submarine is bound for Cuba. Ramius orders the activation of the

nearly silent “caterpillar” drive and sets a westerly course. However, Ramius and

his senior officers are not setting course for Cuba, but rather intend to sail into

the U.S. Naval Base at Norfolk, Virginia, and defect, making a present of the Red

October to their new homeland. This seems an easy prospect given that the

vessel runs almost silently, making it difficult to detect on sonar especially when

no one is looking for the boat to sail west. However, Ramius allows his ego to

get in the way and before departing, mails a letter to the lead political officer of

the fleet explaining his intentions in detail. The Soviet navy immediately recalls

its other missile subs and launches the rest of the Atlantic fleet west in an

attempt to catch and destroy the Red October.

As this takes place CIA analyst Jack Ryan flies to Washington D.C. from

London carrying pictures of the Soviets newest subs and hoping to do some

40
Christmas shopping while back in the States. The escalation of Soviet fleet

activity draws Ryan into the crisis, quickly taking him to the White House to

explain the CIA theory of defection to the president and National Security

Council. He then becomes the president’s personal representative on an

operation jointly conducted by the British and American navies to recover the

wayward submarine. An enlisted sailor onboard an American submarine

discovers a way to track the Red October, and eventually the Americans are able

to contact Ramius directly. After Ryan’s friend develops a plan for the U.S. to

fake the Red October’s destruction and repatriate the unknowing crewmembers

to the Soviet Union, Ryan finds himself on the sub working with Ramius to drive it

to the United States.

With the submarine’s crew evacuated due to a faked radiation leak and a

decoy sub scuttled by the Navy, Ryan’s plan is poised for success. However,

one of Ramius’ protégés remains in the area after the withdrawal of most of the

Soviet Fleet and detects the Red October moving towards the east coast. The

Soviet sub fires on the Red October, damaging it, and then moves in for the kill.

Ramius turns his boat towards the enemy and rams it, consigning the Soviet sub

to a deep and watery grave as the Red October limps away to its new home.

The United States wins its secret battle with the Soviet Union and strikes an

important blow in the Cold War.

41
 The Hunt for Red October’s Appeal to Reagan

Even without the underlying themes that spoke to Reagan’s policy goals, it

is likely that he would enjoy Clancy’s first book. Jack Ryan bears strong

resemblance to Marshall Will Kane, Gary Cooper’s character in High Noon. He

becomes the protagonist very reluctantly. Ryan also serves as a moral

grounding rod in the novel. Despite working for the CIA, he apologizes for

deceiving an admiral by wearing a navy uniform, stating that he does not “like

pretending to be what [he’s] not.”127 That even this minor deception rankles

Ryan helps to establish him as a character who will put what is right over what is

necessary. Finally, in true Gary Cooper fashion, Ryan does not seek accolades

for his work. After successfully completing his mission, he does not return to the

White House seeking praise or political favor. Instead, he immediately boards a

plane to head home, with a skiing Barbie in hand to mark the completion of his

original mission. Ryan asleep on an eastbound Concorde is Marshall Kane and

Amy walking away from town with discarded marshal’s star in the dust.

Clancy’s depiction of sex and violence was also more in keeping with the

storytelling Reagan enjoyed than what was increasingly common in the era. In

one of his letters to Susan Richards, Clancy describes the violent acts he

“vicariously committed” in the draft of his book. 128 The total casualty count from

127 Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October (Annapolis; Naval Institute Press, 1984), 102.
128 Clancy to Richards, February 5, 1983.
42
the destruction of two subs, a helicopter crash, air-to-air combat, a murder,

Soviet political machinations, and a shootout is approximately 210 dead and

another half dozen wounded. Despite the high count, Clancy does not linger on

the violence or engage in overly graphic descriptions of it. The most graphic

descriptions, though still rather tame, have the clear purpose of hardening the

resolve of Clancy’s white hats. Red October only hints at sex. The most explicit

comment in the book is that Skip Taylor, the Ryan friend involved in planning the

operation, still has a zest for life that his oft-pregnant wife “could testify to.”129 In

his Wall Street Journal review of the book, John Alden notes that the only

positive trait of Ryan that Clancy does not expound upon is “his undoubtedly

impressive technique in bed.”130 This trend largely holds throughout Clancy’s

work, though the author did entertain the idea of writing a romance novel while

on a brief hiatus from the Ryan series. 131 Clancy abandoned that project, likely

to the benefit of his reading audience.

The relatively sanitary nature of Hunt for Red October appealed to

Reagan, who disliked much of the explicit nature of modern culture. He

lamented in his diary after viewing the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentlemen that

it was “a good story spoiled by nudity, language, and sex.” 132 Reagan was more

129 Clancy, Hunt for Red October 45.

130 Alden, “Cold War at 50 Fathoms,” October 22, 1984
131 Author interview with Larry Bond and Chris Carlson, Springfield, VA October 20, 1984.
132 Reagan Diaries, 150.

43
tolerant of depictions of violence. He noted after viewing Rambo: First Blood

Part II in 1985 that everyone “had a good time.” 133 He would also reference the

film during the hostage ordeal of TWA flight 847, noting, “After seeing Rambo last

night, I know what to do the next time this happens.” 134 Hunt for Red October fit

very comfortably into the range of what Reagan viewed as acceptable and

enjoyable examples of modern culture.

Hunt’s unnamed president also likely increased Reagan’s affection for the

novel. Clancy clearly based his character on Reagan. Though a lawyer, rather

than an actor, Clancy’s version was a collegiate “president of the dramatics

society” capable of earning convictions through the force of his “sheer

rhetoric.”135 During Ryan’s first encounter with the president he recognizes

“being blinded” by a “dazzling charm” that the president could “turn on and off like

a spotlight.”136 These sentiments serve as a predictor for the same force Clancy

would feel upon meeting Reagan after the book’s publication in 1985.

Even the Soviets respect the president in Hunt for Red October. The

Soviet ambassador serves as the president’s primary foil and views the president

as a “bastard” who is “easy to underestimate.” 137 He further describes the

president as “a strange man, very open, yet full of guile,” who is “friendly” but

133 Ibid, 477.

134 Hayward, The Age of Reagan, 436.
135 Clancy, Hunt for Red October, 140.
136 Ibid, 96
137 Ibid, 184

44
“always ready to seize the advantage.”138 The description echoes future Soviet

leader’s statements about Reagan, in particular, Gorbachev’s frequent lament

that Reagan kept “pocketing concessions” without giving much back.139 In short,

Clancy’s president is an intelligent negotiator, who charms those he needs and

exercises the strategic vision to outmaneuver his opponents. This matches

Clancy’s image of Reagan, an image that he would confirm in his White House

visit. In addition to recognizing Reagan’s charm in the Oval Office, Clancy notes

that the president is “smart” with the “twitchy alertness of a fox” which belies his

“soft voice” and “very relaxed manner.”140 The movie version of Hunt for Red

October also hints at Reagan as inspiration for the depiction of the president. In

the penultimate scene of the movie, the Soviet ambassador realizes that he is

outmatched and outmaneuvered; sinking back into his chair as a smiling

president contentedly eats jellybeans from a bowl on his desk.

For Reagan, the familiarity of the story and positive portrayal of himself in

Hunt for Red October likely made the type he would view as a “friend.” However,

they do not explain why Reagan chose to support the book so publicly and raise

the profile of its author. Hunt’s portrayal of the exceptional competence and

honor of those who serve their country and the clear moral distinction Clancy

138 Ibid., 141.

139 Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph.
140 Clancy to Richards, March 8, 1985.

45
makes between the US and USSR drove this. Clancy effectively captured two of

the most important policy objectives of Reagan’s first administration with the

book, making it something worth the administration’s effort to publicize given the

potential to reach such a broad audience. Hunt for Red October afforded a

unique opportunity for the administration to build upon the favorable trends in

popular culture that Reagan and those close to him used to feed further efforts at

reforming American national security posture.

Fixing a Hollow Military

In his commencement address to the 1981 graduating class of West Point

cadets, Reagan spoke to the “widespread lack of respect for the uniform” of the

United States military. 141 Returning to the themes of his 1980 presidential

campaign, he argued that the nation “shortchanged” the military in the wake of

Vietnam by stripping benefits from the GI Bill, continuing low pay, and lingering

resentment of those in uniform from the public. 142 Arguing that the military

deserved “better than a bare subsistence level,” Reagan then listed the

accomplishments of his young administration and remarks with pride that

observers noted a “decided rise in quality” of those joining the military. The

president noted that policy changes did not solely explain the rise in enlistments

141 Ronald Reagan “Address at the Commencement Excercises of the United States Military
Academy,” West Point, NY May 27, 1981.
142 ibid

46
and the quality of those joining. Instead, “a new spirit [was] abroad in the land,”

which more than changes “to pay or benefits” led to a rediscovery of “how much

there is to love in this blessed land.” 143 The unequivocal language of Reagan’s

first major defense policy speech as president demonstrated recognition that the

shaping of public narratives was a critical element for policy success. A

memorandum from Caspar Weinberger shows how conscious the choice of

language in the speech was. Weinberger wrote the president that the speech

needed to “increase the appreciation and honor the American people feel for the

uniformed services” which was a matter that the Secretary of Defense and

Reagan “discussed before.”144

Earlier drafts of the speech show the link in even stronger terms. A telling

paragraph terms “the ingratitude and lack of respect” the nation showed the

military over the last decade “a national disgrace.” 145 It singled out Hollywood for

criticism noting, “The film industry’s pandering to this anti-American and anti-

military sentiment was reprehensible.” 146 The margins of the draft lists the

movies Coming Home, Deer Hunter, Kent State, and Apocalypse Now as the

143 Ibid.
144 Memorandum, Caspar Weinberger to Ronald Reagan, April 17, 1981, Folder: “West Point
Speech and Back Up File (1)”, Box 8 Speechwriting, White House Office Of: Research Office,
1981-1989, Ronald Reagan Library.
145 Draft of Reagan’s Commencement at West Point, Folder: “West Point Speech and Back Up
File (1)”, Box 8 Speechwriting, White House Office Of: Research Office, 1981-1989, Ronald
Reagan Library.
146 Ibid.

47
prime examples of Hollywood’s complicity in destroying the public image of the

military.147 The passage did not make the final draft of the speech, likely over

concerns that it would alienate the entertainment industry, which would need to

play a significant role in shifting popular perceptions of the military.

The West Point speech also demonstrated Reagan’s preference for fiction

and familiar stories. Seeking to illustrate the sacrifice and patriotism of those in

the military, he reached back to the stories of a favorite author from his time as

an actor. Referring to a work by James Warner Bellah, whom Reagan cited as

“our Rudyard Kipling,” the president told the story of a dying officer speaking to a

subordinate.148 The dying man transfers command to the young officer,

exhorting him to “do the nasty job” asked by his country or “forever after there will

be the taste ash in your mouth.”149 Strangely, Reagan emphasized Bellah as an

author of books, as Bella was widely known as the screenwriter for Rio Grande,

starring John Wayne, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, starring Jimmy

Stewart. Reagan also worked with Bellah professionally. The two worked on a

project entitled Battle Mountain that never made it to screens and Bellah wrote

an episode of General Electric Theater entitled “Lash of Fear.”150 Bellah also

147 Ibid.
148 Reagan, “Address at the Commencement Exercises of the United States Military Academy,”
May 21, 1981.
149 Ibid.
150 Hedda Hopper, “Looking at Hollywood: An Empty Camera Slices Ham Off an Egotistical Film
Actor,” Chicago Tribune, April 8, 1953.
“Lash of Fear,” General Electric Theater, NBC, October 16, 1955.
48
wrote a failed TV pilot adapting the Reagan favorite, High Noon, for television.

Reagan prioritized Bellah as a writer of fiction, arguably his least known role,

demonstrates the importance the president placed on books.

Reagan similarly emphasized the literary credentials of Undersecretary of

the Navy, and future senator, James Webb to achieve a similar effect. Speaking

this time at the 1985 commencement of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis,

Maryland, he praised Webb’s service in the Marine Corps, and then quoted from

Webb’s novel Sense of Honor to emphasize the higher nature of military service.

The novel takes place at Annapolis amidst the Vietnam War and focuses on the

indoctrination of a plebe into the academy’s culture. Reagan cites an

upperclassman telling the plebe about the difference between a military man and

a politician; “The President and the Congress may suffer bad news stories. The

military man suffers the deaths of his friends, early and often.” 151 Like his

speech at West Point, Reagan again references the demoralization of the military

in the 1970s and highlights how the situation “dramatically reversed” during his

administration.152

“A new appreciation for our men and women in military service” animated

the land.153 In contrast to the immediate post-Vietnam era, Americans now had

151 Ronald Reagan, “Address at the Commencement Exercises of the United States Naval
Academy,” Annapolis, Maryland, May 22, 1985.
152 Ibid.
153 Ibid.

49
“faith” in the military to “make decisions” in a morally difficult environment. 154

This was because not only was the military meeting its recruiting goals, but also

that it was bringing higher quality recruits into service. Reagan believed the men

and women entering the military better embodied the nation’s values and that the

“character” of those in service was superior. 155 The increase in quality was

essential; as the Navy now possessed the “sophisticated equipment and high

tech weaponry” needed in a modern fleet.156 New and more powerful weapons

required greater technical skill to use and stronger moral compasses to employ.

Linking the quality of personnel with the idea of equipment on the cutting edge of

technology reflected the core of how the Reagan administration sought to

revitalize U.S. military strength.

Reagan took every opportunity to praise the character and quality of the

U.S. military, and often favored fictional references to create a more heroic and

memorable narrative. In his presidential message for Armed Forces Day in both

1981 and 1982 he referred to James Michener’s 1953 novella The Bridges at

Toko-Ri, quoting a “commanding officer who thinks about the self-sacrifice” of his

unit and asks “where do we get such men?” 157 In the 1981 version of the

message, Reagan continued by noting that “today millions of Americans are

154 Ibid
155 Ibid.
156 ibid
157 Ronald Reagan, “Armed Forces Day Message,” May 16, 1981
Ronald Reagan, “Armed Forces Day Message,” May 15, 1982
50
asking themselves that same question” with “respect and affection in their

hearts.”158 The 1982 message answers the question. Reagan stated that the

U.S. finds “them where we’ve always found them,” that those that serve are the

highest caliber individuals produced by “the freest society man has ever

known.”159

The Armed Forces Day messages were not the first times that Reagan

referenced Michener’s novella as president. Just one month into his presidency,

Reagan awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to Master Sergeant Roy

Benevidez for his role in extracting a trapped group of green berets during the

Vietnam War. At the end of his remarks, just before he read the award citation,

Reagan told the story of the admiral on the bridge of an aircraft carrier marveling

at the quality of his men. As he does in his 1982 address, Reagan decides to

answer the character’s rhetorical question. The U.S. finds men and women of

exceptional quality in the same places it always has, “in our villages and towns,

on our city streets, in our shops, and on our farms.” 160 The question and answer

seek to reforge the civil-military relationship by creating an explicit link between

the aspirational values of America and its military. Reagan’s goal with such

158 Armed Forces Day Message 1981

159 Armed Forces Day Message 1982
160 Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on Presenting the Medal of Honor to Master Sergeant Roy P.
Benavidez,” Arlington, Virginia, February 24, 1981.
51
remarks was to cause Americans to better identify with the armed forces through

emphasis on the local origins of service members.

In his memoir Fighting for Peace, Caspar Weinberger treats the award

ceremony as a crucial event in the early days of the administration. It was an

important public display that “not only did the President and Department of

Defense” value the welfare of the military, but also that the “American people as

a whole… respected, honored, and appreciated” it.161 He argues that Reagan’s

actions “almost single-handedly” led the U.S. towards a more positive

relationship with the military and marks the ceremony as a key first step. 162 This

is because the event marked a shift in tone from the previous administration,

which had sought to award Benevidez’s medal in a quieter manner without

presidential involvement.163

Reagan’s repeated public use of The Bridges at Toko-Ri marks another

instance of prioritizing novels over movies, as a movie based on the book came

out in 1954. The movie starred William Holden, who was best man and one of

two guests at Reagan’s second wedding, and Grace Kelly, a favorite of Reagan’s

and the female lead of High Noon. More interesting is the role that Michener and

his writing played as an informal instrument of U.S. policy during the 1950s and

161 Caspar Weinberger, Fighting for Peace: Seven Critical Years in the Pentagon (New York;
Warner Books, 1990), 52.
162 Ibid.
163 Ibid.

52
early 1960s as Reagan became increasingly politically active. Literature scholar

Christina Klein argues that Michener “put his writing into the service of the

government.”164 The writer shared the views of his government about the Cold

War in Asia and his writing reflected that. Michener also incorporated new

technologies and weapons systems into his writing and wrote an article about the

B-52 bomber that introduced American allies and the public-at-large to the new

airframe.165

Michener’s articles for newspapers and magazines focused on the

individual heroism of the men of the military, with an emphasis on the navy. A

1952 article in the Los Angeles Times tells of a Navy pilot with the call sign “Bald

Eagle.” The pilot’s commander determines that it is time to ground him, as “no

man in the task force is required to risk his life more than four times in a row.” 166

However, before he receives word, the pilot takes off on a fifth mission and

enemy fire downs his plane over the freezing waters off the North Korean coast.

The story ends happily, as a destroyer rescues “Bald Eagle” from the sea and

returns him to his ship. Michener concludes the article by quoting the admiral as

stating that the “paperwork, from now on” will be the scope of the pilot’s duties. 167

164 Christina Klein, Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945-1961
(Berkley: University of California Press, 2003), 125.
165 Ibid.
166 James Michener, “Enough Bravery for Bomber Pilot: Admiral Ground Navy’s Bald Eagle Who
Cheated Death Five Times,” The Los Angeles Times, February 6, 1952.
167 Ibid.

53
 The heroic portrayal of US service members and sympathetic accounts of

locals who the benefited from American presence were essential parts of

Michener’s work and powerfully influenced his broad readership at home. In

1962, Representative Daniel Inouye, the Medal of Honor recipient, and future

long-time senator from Hawaii, praised Michener’s work from the floor of the

House. Inouye detailed Michener’s many accomplishments and argued that his

work made him “one of our most effective anti-Communist weapons in the

worldwide struggle” and his efforts on behalf of Asia had made many parts of it

“Communist-proof.”168 In Cold War Orientalism, Christina Klein notes that

Michener served as “paraphraser” for the government’s national security policy

and that his ability to translate “Cold War ideology into popular narrative” made

him invaluable to the government. 169 The writer transformed the terms and

methods of the struggle into an account that “the man on the street could

understand and accept.”170 The role of administration “paraphraser” is the one

that Clancy would assume for Reagan, and much like with Michener’s work, it

would become difficult to find the line between Clancy’s own thoughts and those

of the government.

168 Daniel Inouye, “James A. Michener,” Congressional Record-House, September 17, 1962.
169 Klein, Cold War Orientalism, 126.
170 Ibid.

54
 Reagan also sought non-traditional forums to praise the military before

large audiences. One such example originates in September of 1982, when a

Reagan supporter suggested to Michael Deaver, the assistant Chief of Staff for

the president, that Reagan record a message for play at halftime of all National

Football League games on Veterans Day weekend.171 The writer felt that the

message should encourage “standing ovations to the veterans” and would serve

as “an informal structure to promote patriotism.”172 Deaver agreed with the idea,

though he decided to propose the message take place at halftime of college

football games in order to avoid the possibility that labor unrest in the NFL would

lead to a strike and cancellation of the message.173 In the message played in

stadiums across the country and aired nationally on television coverage of the

games of November 13, 1982, Reagan praised the service of veterans of each

major American war beginning with the First World War and concluding with

Vietnam. He referred to the veterans “as an elite group of men and women” who

even in times of peace keep the country “secure from foreign threats. 174 Reagan

171 Letter, Ernest Marshall to Michael Deaver, September 3 1982. Folder: NCAA Football
Halftime Address, Box 66, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Research Office, 1981-1989,
Ronald Reagan Library
172 Ibid.
173 Letter, Ernest Marshall to William Sadler, October 6, 1982, Folder: NCAA Football Halftime
Address, Box 66, Speechwriting, White House Office of: Research Office, 1981-1989, Ronald
Reagan Library
174 “Presidential Taping: Salute to Veterans for NCAA Football Halftime November 8, 1982”
Folder: NCAA Football Halftime Address, Box 66, Speechwriting, White House Office of:
Research Office, 1981-1989, Ronald Reagan Library
55
used the opportunity to speak to a captive audience of millions of Americans in

stadiums around the country and to encourage their participation in the tribute,

causing a public showing of their support for the military in a manner still

practiced at nearly every sporting event.

Veterans Day, Armed Forces Day, service academy commencements,

and Medal of Honor occasions are, of course, times when it would be unusual for

the president to do anything but proclaim the virtues of the military. However,

these events were not exceptions to Reagan’s normal rhetoric. The restoration

of morale of service members and the public’s faith in the military pervaded even

speeches unrelated to national defense. At a 1982 fundraiser for Governor

William Clements of Texas, Reagan recognized Master Sergeant Benavidez, the

recipient of the Medal of Honor the previous year, before the governor. 175 The

speech repeated themes of military revitalization under his administration and

emphasized the need for continued work. The prominence Reagan gave to

issues of military revitalization in a speech before donors demonstrates the

crucial importance he placed on it and that he expected it to be of significance to

his political base. This expectation demonstrates how importantly some of public

regarded issues of military morale and readiness.

175Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at a Fundraising Dinner for Governor William P. Clements, Jr., in
Houston, Texas,” June 15, 1982.
56
 The military was not the only organization for which Reagan sought to

restore public regard and build morale. In 1975, the Church Committee began its

investigation of the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation,

and National Security Agency uncovering significant abuses of the law by the

agencies that led to a significant undermining of public opinion. The habitual

excesses of the institutions and their less than stellar record of accomplishment

left many Americans in doubt as to their capacity to perform their proscribed

functions. Similar to the military, the intelligence apparatus suffered from

strongly negative portrayals in popular culture. Movies like All the Presidents

Men (1975) and books like The Bourne Identity (1980) by Robert Ludlum pilloried

the intelligence community and depicted it as willing to do anything to protect

itself, including the assassination of American citizens.

Reagan sought to reverse this trend as well. Speaking outside of CIA

Headquarters at Langley, Virginia, in June of 1982, he asserted that the “days of

such abuses” are past and that he had full confidence in the ability of the agency

to perform its functions in “a way that is lawful, constitutional, and in keeping with

the traditions of our way of life.” 176 Echoing language he used to describe

military service members, he told the CIA employees that it was their “intellect

and integrity” and their “wit and intuition” upon which the “fate of freedom rests

176Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on the Signing of the Intelligence Identity Protection Act,” Langley,
VA June 23, 1982.
57
for millions.”177 The members of the CIA were “heroes of a grim twilight

struggle.”178 Reagan expressed similar sentiments during closed-door remarks

to members of the CIA’s covert action arm. He expressed his own and the

country’s gratitude for their silent service he praised them for their skill and

character as they upheld their country’s freedom.

Reagan also drew parallels in his speech between the treatment received

by the military and the CIA during previous administrations. As with his West

Point commencement speech, Reagan used the opportunity at Langley to

highlight “nearly a decade of neglect and sometime over zealous criticism” the

agency endured.179 Reagan compared the present work at the CIA to that of

Nathan Hale and that of the OSS during World War II. He also took the

opportunity to recommend a book, Piercing of the Reich by Joseph Persico,

which detailed the activities of a younger William Clark, Reagan’s Director of

Central Intelligence.180 Though no works of fiction appear in the speech, there

was a literary contribution to the drafting of the speech. During the crafting of

Reagan’s remarks the White House reached out to famed spy novelist John Le

Carré about his introduction for the Bruce Page book The Philby Conspiracy.181

177 Ibid.
178 Ibid.
179 Ibid.
180 Ibid.
181 Memorandum, Folder: CIA Visit/Bill Signing, Box 48, Speechwriting White House Office Of:
Research Office, 1981-1989, Ronald Reagan Library
58
 Clancy’s characters fit perfectly into the new narrative of competent self-

sacrifice that Reagan attempted to establish with his first-term public statements.

The Americans in Hunt for Red October share above-average intelligence and

virtue. Jack Ryan, the protagonist, sees his service in the Marine Corps cut short

by a helicopter crash. However, after “four years as a stockbroker, betting his

own money on high-risk issues and scoring big,” Ryan became “bored with

making money” and began his career at the CIA.182 Ryan was also a successful

historian, with published and respected books on British naval history. In

addition to incredible professional success, Clancy’s hero also enjoys a strong

marriage to an excellent surgeon, an adoring young daughter, and a toddler,

Jack Ryan Jr. Ryan’s virtue goes without question, and he readily confesses his

CIA affiliation to anyone, be it a US admiral or Soviet sub commander, rather

than risk deception. He also harbors remarkably few career ambitions, has “no

ambition to celebrity” and seeks no recognition for his work.183 Only his physical

appearance is “unremarkable,” though at 6’1” he is taller than average though a

bit out of shape due to “miserable English weather.” 184 Knighted by the Queen of

England for his heroic exploits, which Clancy later revealed in Patriot Games,

Ryan is at ease speaking his mind to British lords, US admirals, and senior policy

182 Clancy, Hunt for Red October, 44.

183 Ibid, 36.
184 Ibid.

59
makers. Only the president is able to overwhelm him. In short, Jack Ryan is an

impossible amalgamation of Reagan’s ideal traits for someone serving his

country to exhibit.

Ryan’s extreme integrity would likely be enough by itself to draw Reagan’s

interest, as the president consistently showed a fondness for heroes that

resembled those found in 1950s westerns. However, Ryan is not the only

character to show such traits. The US naval officers of Hunt are Ryan’s equal in

their status as paragons. Clancy describes Admiral Joshua Painter, the

commander of the aircraft carrier USS Kennedy, as “a gifted tactician and a man

of puritanical integrity.” 185 CIA director Admiral James Greer is able to remain in

the navy “past retirement age…through brute competence.” 186 Clancy compares

Greer’s intellect to legendary Admiral Hymam Rickover, regarded as the father of

the nuclear submarine fleet, but notes that Greer “was a far easier man to work

for.”187 Commander Bart Mancuso, skipper of the submarine that successfully

finds the Red October, is “one of the youngest submarine commanders in the

U.S. Navy” and shows the intelligence to both trust his instincts and listen to his

subordinates.188

185 Ibid, 102.

186 Ibid, 37.
187 Ibid.
188 Ibid, 58.

60
 Even retired naval officers live up to the high standards set by Ryan. Skip

Taylor was a fast rising officer before an accident caused by a drunk driver costs

him a leg. Medically retired, Taylor continues his service as a civilian professor

at the Naval Academy. He also embodies Ryan’s refusal to seek rewards,

turning down an offer to come back onto active service and command a

submarine since doing so would “just be taking someone else’s slot.” 189 Instead,

he settles for a good look at the captured submarine. The only US officer in the

book with a negative trait is Admiral Charles Davenport, the Director of Naval

Intelligence, who is “supposed to be a bastard to work for.” 190 Beyond this

relatively minor flaw, Davenport displays the same competence as the rest of his

brethren.

Equally important is the portrayal of Sonarman Second Class Ronald

Jones, the sole enlisted service member to receive significant attention in the

book. He reflects exactly the higher quality of recruit that Reagan referred to in

his commencement addresses and the Weinberger identified in his memoirs.

Jones dropped out of the California Institute of Technology due to a prank gone

wrong and joined the navy to rehabilitate his name and foster a return to school.

He has an IQ of 158 and listens to classical music in his spare time. Extremely

competent on his equipment, Jones is also capable of making important

189 Ibid, 309.

190 Ibid, 40.
61
decisions and plays the decisive role in identifying and locating the Red October.

Clancy drives home his point about the quality of the enlisted in the American

military by having Soviet officers marvel over Jones’ competence upon meeting

him in the book’s final act.

The FBI also receives positive attention in The Hunt for Red October, as

they are able to expose a Soviet mole on the staff of Senator Donaldson, who

chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Clancy depicts the counter

intelligence efforts of the FBI as exceptional and notes that they had “been onto”

the Senator’s chief of staff “for some time.” 191 The directors of the FBI and CIA

then negotiate with Donaldson promising not to prosecute his aide if the senator

agrees to resign. Donaldson acquiesces when he realizes the potential fallout

the prosecution could bring to his office, and the CIA turns the aide into a double

agent. The extreme competence of the FBI and CIA nets a major intelligence

coup while simultaneously striking a blow against the oversight established in the

wake of the Church Committee.

The characters in Hunt for Red October are unapologetically idealized

archetypes of virtue in service, better suited for a fable than a thriller with

pretensions of realism. The simplistic design did not escape the notice of the

book’s reviewers. The Wall Street Journal reviewer noted that Jack Ryan “is

191 Ibid, 271.

62
simply too good to be true” and that “virtually everyone in the book is a

caricature.”192 Americans are “uniformly intelligent, imaginative, capable, and

disciplined.”193 However, he still gives the book a positive review, calling the

work “great fun.”194 The Los Angeles Times took a more ambivalent view, noting

that despite “cardboard characters,” the work “never sinks.”195 However,

Reagan’s love of the book rested in this simplicity of design that critics

lambasted. Clancy’s work simplified the Cold War into the same sort of easily

digestible and acceptable narrative that Reagan had previously experienced with

Michener. Like Michener, Clancy was able to reach the middlebrow audience of

America and have them bring Reagan’s Cold War fable into their homes to the

benefit of the administration.

Confronting the “Evil Empire”

Reagan set the tone for his first-term dealing with the Soviet Union in his

inaugural address. Speaking for the first time as president, he told the country

that there was no weapon more powerful than “the will and courage of free men

and women.”196 Reagan then noted that this was a weapon that American

“adversaries in the world [did] not have,” in a clear reference to Soviet

192 Alden, “Cold War at 50 Fathoms”

193 Alden, “Cold War at 50 Fathoms”
194 Ibid.
195 Setlowe, “Adrift with Subplots”
196 Ronald Reagan, “Inaugural Address,” Washington DC, January 20, 1981.

63
oppression.197 The tone continued with Reagan’s commencement addresses at

Notre Dame and West Point in May of 1981.

The administration viewed the speeches as opportunities to “articulate a

fresh and coherent national strategy” to “satisfy the curiosity of domestic and

foreign audiences” about Reagan’s intentions. 198 The speeches would also

“swing the President’s full weight behind key ideas” that were “struggling to

penetrate the bureaucracy.” 199 The president needed to draw the contrast of “an

imperial Soviet Union” and an America that respects self-determination and rule

of law. Importantly, the speeches would paint the Soviet system as “hostile to

human rights and economically ruinous.”200

At Notre Dame, Reagan’s intent was to outline the U.S. understanding of

human rights and highlight the important role it needed to play in “the economic

betterment of mankind.” 201 In the speech, Reagan stated that the “West won’t

contain communism, it will transcend communism.” 202 Foreshadowing his

address to the British Parliament one year later, Reagan then went on to argue

that the West will dismiss communism and all it portended as a “bizarre chapter

197 Ibid.
198 Memorandum, Carnes Lord to Richard Allen, April 27, 1981, Folder: “West Point Speech and
Back Up File (1)”, Box 8 Speechwriting, White House Office Of: Research Office, 1981-1989,
Ronald Reagan Library.
199 Ibid.
200 Ibid.
201 Ibid.
202 Ronald Reagan, “Address at Commencement Exercises at the University of Notre Dame,”
South Bend, Indiana, May 17, 1981.
64
in human history” the “last pages” of which were then being written. 203 Reagan

then took advantage of the setting of the country’s most prominent Catholic

school to cast the struggle into religious terms.

Reagan cited William Faulkner’s 1950 Nobel Prize acceptance speech,

where the author spoke about how the human possession of a soul made

humanity immortal and ensured man “would not only endure” but prevail over the

modern world.204 The president’s use of Faulkner’s word immediately after

discussing the West’s ability transcend communism leaves little doubt over what

humanity needed to overcome. Reagan then referenced Pope John Paul II’s

Dives In Misericordia. The November 1980 letter from the Pope speaks out

against both Communism and Liberation Theology. Reagan expanded on John

Paul’s argument that the rhetoric of class struggle was a “distortion of justice.” 205

The president quoted that such systems leave their populations “stripped of

fundamental human rights” in the name of “an alleged justice.”206 In contrast to

this, the American commitment to “a law higher than [its] own” and “belief in a

Supreme Being” left it the stronger nation and the only superpower capable of

offering true freedom. 207

203 Ibid.
204 Ibid.
205 John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia November 30, 1980.
206 Ibid
Reagan Commencement Address at Notre Dame, May 17, 1981.
207 Reagan Commencement Address at Notre Dame, May 17, 1981.

65
 The West Point speech spoke more explicitly about security concerns with

the intent of highlighting the “militaristic imperialism” of the Soviets that then

posed a threat “so grave as to cause all nations to rethink their fundamental

assumptions” about security. 208 Reagan never mentions the Soviet Union by

name in the speech, instead referring to it as a “great society” that was “marching

to a different drumbeat,” threatening a “retreat into the dark ages.” 209 The

president highlighted the compulsory nature of the Soviet system noting, “The

citizens in that society have little more to say about their government than a

prison inmate has to say about the prison administration.” 210 That the Soviet

military used conscripts stood in contrast to the recent US move towards an all-

volunteer force. Reagan’s juxtaposition of the two creates a clear implication that

the United States worthiness stems from the willingness of its population to

defend it freely, a willingness absent from the Soviet Union.

Historians generally overlook the twin commencement addresses of May

1981 when discussing Reagan’s ideological definition of the Cold War. The “evil

empire” speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in 1983 and his

address to the British parliament that promised to leave “Marxism-Leninism on

the ash-heap of history” draw more attention and linger in the public

208 Carnes Lord to Richard Allen, April 27, 1981

209 Reagan, Address at West Point Commencement, May 21, 1981.
210 Ibid.

66
consciousness.211 This is understandable; the more famous speeches had a

directness and drama that earned a higher profile. However, the commencement

addresses at Notre Dame and West Point remain important. They established

the tenor of US-Soviet relations for Reagan’s first term and demonstrate the

continuity of thought and message that dominated the administration from 1981

to 1985. The speeches marked the beginning of what Soviet Ambassador

Anatoly Dobrynin termed “an uncompromising new ideological offensive.” 212

Hunt for Red October fit into the offensive in both content and tone. The

book incorporates the cruelties and inefficiencies that Reagan accused the

Soviet Union of, often with the same language that Reagan used. A pivotal early

scene in the book depicts an aged veteran of World War II working in the

mailroom of the Kremlin. The worker expresses disdain for the politburo and

delays delivery of a letter from Ramius that announces the Red October’s

defection. The mail worker notes he has more than enough time to meet his

quota of deliveries and that in setting the letter aside he is rebelling in some small

measure against his oppressors. He ruefully tells himself “as long as the bosses

pretend to pay us, we will pretend to work,” a variation on one of Reagan’s

favorite jokes about the Soviet Union. 213

211 Reagan, Address to National Association of Evangelicals, March 8, 1983.

Reagan “Address to British Parliament”, London, England June 8, 1982.
212 Dobrynin, In Confidence 477.
213 Clancy, The Hunt for Red October, 18.

67
 The cruelty of the Soviet Union pervades Hunt for Red October.

References to gulags abound. Ramius notes that the living quarters on the

submarine “would shame a gulag jailer,” and even considers allowing the ships

political officer to live just so he can face time in Siberia. 214 Clancy gives the

average Soviet a quiet resignation to the system of cruel imprisonment and

depicts the politburo of favoring it only when a quick execution is impossible.

Ramius is a beneficiary of the extreme violence of the Soviet Union in Lithuania,

as his father led the purges and mass deportations, earning a high rank and

privileged life for his son as a result.

Clancy also uses Ramius to accuse the Soviets of fostering an unfair

system. Due to his Lithuanian origins, Ramius cannot become an admiral

despite being the most capable Soviet submarine operator by a large margin.

The death of Ramius’ wife furthers the impression of unfairness and inefficiency.

She dies after an operation because the surgeon arrived drunk, botching the

procedure, and creating an infection. However, there is no medicine available to

stave off the infection, as factory workers placed distilled water into the vials in

order to meet unreasonable quotas imposed by the central government.

However, no one faces punishment for the death. The surgeon is the son of a

214 Ibid, 8.
68
high ranking official and thus immune and there is no way to trace the fake

medicine back to its origin due to the inefficient and overly bureaucratic system.

The faults of the Soviet Union that Clancy highlights in the book are

common talking points of the Reagan administration. However, it is Ramius’

epiphany that leads to his defection that most strongly appealed to Reagan and

mirrored his belief in the inevitability of western victory in the Cold War. Religion

leads Ramius away from communism. Ramius’ grandmother secretly baptized

him as a Catholic and read him bible stories as a young child. This helped lead

him to “commit the gravest sin in the Communist pantheon;” becoming “individual

in his thinking.”215 Ramius buries his religion by the time he reaches

adolescence, but standing at his wife’s grave, he realizes the true impact of his

society’s atheism. The system “robbed him of a means to assuage his grief with

prayer” and stole “the hope—if only an illusion—of ever seeing [his wife]

again.”216 The Soviet regime robbed Ramius of his humanity by stripping away

his religion, and Ramius turns back to his faith in order to reclaim himself.

Ramius’ realization that freedom and humanity spring from a higher power

echoes the real-life turn from communism of Whitaker Chambers, chronicled in

Witness. However, the differing nature of the real life and fictional moments of

faith are telling. Chamber’s epiphany came from the existence of new life in the

215 Ibid, 26
216 Ibid, 33.
69
form of his daughter and the opportunity afforded her by a free society. Ramius’

awakening comes from the death of all he loves and his recognition that the

Soviet state smothered what was decent and free. Ramius’ decision to defect to

the United States becomes a journey from a society of death to one of life.

The Best Weapons

Technology is an important theme in The Hunt for Red October.

Throughout the novel Clancy shows the superiority of American systems to their

Soviet counterparts. A key sequence in the novel occurs amid escalating

tensions as the Soviet fleet moves west to search for the Red October. After a

Soviet fighter fires on an American one injuring the weapons officer in the plane,

the U.S. responds in a way that establishes its superiority but deescalates the

situation. A flight of A-10 Warthogs launched from the U.S. flies undetected to

the Soviet fleet, jammed the radars of the Soviet flagship and then surrounded it

with magnesium flares. The message was that if the US “were serious [the

Soviets] would all be dead now.” 217 The Soviet admiral then recognizes that his

fleet is in a potentially compromised position and changes its operations to

demonstrate less aggression.

An earlier sequence in the book depicts a Soviet pilot envious at the ability

of F-15s to outmaneuver and out range his own plane. The pilot also expresses

217 Clancy, The Hunt for Red October, 211.

70
anger at “his own intelligence officer for telling him he could sneak up” on the

Americans, who obviously have vastly superior radar and air traffic management

capabilities.218 Weapons systems are not the only advantage the Americans

have. Computers also play an important role; Skip Tyler’s use of a Cray-2

supercomputer allows for independent verification of Jones’ ability to track the

Red October. The Cray is “one hell of a machine,” able to produce “over two

hundred pages of data” in just under twelve minutes. 219 The U.S. not only has

better weapons but it can also process more information than the Soviets can

providing a decisive advantage to them in the event of armed conflict.

The Red October’s nearly silent propulsion drive threatens to undermine

the U.S. advantage in technology. This the navy not only needs to track the sub,

but also to find a way to keep it after the defection of Ramius becomes public. At

the end of the novel, with the submarine safe in Norfolk there is already “a select

group of engineers and technicians” on board inspecting the boat. 220 The

urgency in examining the submarine to learn its secrets, demonstrates the fear of

the implications of allowing the Soviets technical superiority in any realm could

have. The Cardinal of the Kremlin, Clancy’s fourth book, opens with the scuttling

of the submarine, after the US learned everything it could from the vessel. Ryan,

218 Ibid, 176.

219 Ibid, 145.
220 Ibid, 387.

71
observing the boat before it sinks notes “there couldn’t be much left of her” and

that the examination of the Red October left a series of welding scars making the

boat looking like “Frankenstein’s monster.”221 With secrets revealed, the navy

sends the submarine to the depths, lest the Soviets realize the Americans still

had it.

Modernizing the military was a critical component of Reagan’s strategy of

“peace through strength.” NSDD-32 noted that the U.S. needed to close a gap

“between strategy and capabilities,” and that to do this the country needed “to

undertake a sustained and balanced force development program.” 222 It also laid

out a blueprint for achieving this; the US would improve readiness, upgrade

command and control, increase sustainability and mobility, and modernize the

force.223 In his commencement address at the Air Force Academy in 1984,

Reagan spoke on the importance of technology in war. He reflected on the

sense that the forces of Napoleon and Caesar moved at similar rates, and

“neither army worried about air cover.”224 Yet in the 52 years between Reagan’s

own graduation from Eureka College and the graduation of the cadets he

addressed technology went “from open cockpits to lunar landings, from space

221 Tom Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin (New York: Putnam Books, 1988), 18.
222 NSDD-32
223 Ibid.
224 Ronald Reagan, “Address at Commencement Exercises at the United States Air Force
Academy,” Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 30, 1984.
72
fiction to space shuttles.”225 A graph depicting the change in technology would

depict the present era as a line that “would leap vertically off the page.” 226

Staying on the leading edge of this line was critical, as to Reagan “technology,

plus freedom, equal[ed] opportunity and progress.”227

In his address at the Naval Academy the next year, Reagan highlighted

the progress made on modernizing the force. He noted the navy took delivery of

twenty-five new ships the previous year, and that the Ticonderoga, the “first

Aegis equipped guided-missile cruiser” was emblematic of the new “advanced

weapons systems and sophisticated equipment” beginning to debut in the

military.228 Reagan also referenced the growing role of “Poseidon and Trident

submarines,” in deterring nuclear war. 229 The type of submarines he mentions,

better known as Los Angeles and Ohio class submarines, were more advanced

than their Soviet counterparts and both programs greatly expanded under

Reagan.

As Reagan read The Hunt for Red October in December of 1984, he was

increasingly confident that the gap between strategies and capabilities that

NSDD-32 spoke of was rapidly closing. A look ahead at foreign policy conducted

225 Ibid.
226 Ibid.
227 Ibid.
228 Ronald Reagan, “Address at Commencement Exercises at the United States Naval
Academy,” May 22, 1985.
229 Ibid.

73
by the National Security Council in advance of Reagan’s second term noted,

“America’s strength has been revitalized.”230 The study highlights the “improved

U.S. military strength” from the success of first term programs as essential to the

restoration.231 The Clancy novel helped reinforce this view in Reagan’s mind. It

presented his first term accomplishments as a story, and showed a Cold War

environment gradually becoming more favorable to the United States. The two

powers in the book have a rough parity in terms of strength, but the US is clearly

gaining ground in the fields of technology and its stronger system of government

allows it to react faster than the communist behemoth. Clancy put the

president’s view of the geo-political situation into a narrative that grabbed

Reagan’s attention and added to his belief that he was following the correct

course. The Hunt for Red October served as a fitting marker of the end of

Reagan’s first term. The next two years would see the advantage in the Cold

War shift dramatically, as the U.S. and NATO, caught and then overtook Soviet

military power in short order. Clancy’s second novel, Red Storm Rising, captured

these trends and served a similarly important purpose in confirming Reagan’s

beliefs about military power, nuclear war, and the Russian people.

230 Memorandum, “U.S. Foreign Policy a Look Ahead” May 18, 1984, Folder: Foreign Policy
Background for President’s Trip to Europe-Notebook (1 of 2), RAC Box 8, NSC Executive
Secretariat: Trip File, Ronald Reagan Library.
231 Ibid.

74
 Chapter 3

Weathering the Storm: Peace through Strength

As Air Force One traveled east towards Reykjavik, Ronald Reagan

moved to the back cabin to socialize with his staff and to help the flight pass

faster. Although the upcoming summit hung over the conversation, Reagan

focused less on arms control than on the host country itself. He retold a story

about an astronaut who told that the moon was a more hospitable location than

the training grounds used to simulate it near the American airbase at Keflavik,

Iceland.232 Reagan also spoke at length about the book he had just read, the

recently released Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy. In the weeks leading up to

the summit, Reagan read the book, terming it “research,” as one of the key plot

lines centers on Iceland and its strategic importance to NATO.233 Though many

took the remark as a joke, like most of Reagan’s jokes and stories it contained

elements of truth. The plotlines of Red Storm Rising near-perfectly encapsulated

232 Ken Adelman, Regan at Reykjavik: Forty-Eight Hours that Ended the Cold War (New York:
Broadside Books, 2014), 12.
233 Lou Canon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1991), 294.
75
the way Reagan viewed the Cold War and captured both how and why he

believed the United States would prevail.

Red Storm Rising is about a notional Third World War, begun by the

Soviets after a terror attack cripples their energy industry. As Clancy promised

during his visit to the Oval Office, “the good guys” win, though that by itself is not

what appealed to Reagan. 234 The appeal of Red Storm Rising to Reagan came

from the fact that its four major plotlines matched Reagan’s vision of what a

major war with the Soviets would look like, both in conduct and results. The plot

follows the war in central Europe, convoy operations in the north Atlantic, the

Soviet conquest of Iceland, and political deliberations in Moscow.

The book begins with a terrorist attack on the primary Soviet fuel refinery

in western Siberia. The destruction of the facility creates a potential economic

crisis, which threatens to collapse the Soviet economy unless the Soviets are

able to control new sources of oil. The politburo sets its sights on Iran but

realizes the Soviet Union need to “eliminate NATO as a political and military

force” to prevent interference with their efforts to conquer Persian oil fields. 235

Viewing NATO as “divided and soft,” the Soviets believe a quick strike into West

Germany will fracture the alliance permanently and give them free rein in

234 Tom Clancy to Susan Richards March 8, 1985. Accessed online at

http://piedtype.com/2013/10/06/tom-clancy-boy-writer-part-4/
235 Tom Clancy, Red Storm Rising, (New York: Putnam and Sons, 1986), 32

76
southwest Asia.236 The Soviets then embark on an aggressive course to prepare

their armed forces over a four-month period and stage another terrorist attack in

the Kremlin itself, which leaves several children dead. This attack becomes the

casus belli and the Soviets invade.

In the early days of the war, the Soviets enjoy tremendous success,

pushing into West Germany and successfully seizing Iceland in a surprise

amphibious assault. The narrative then centers on the U.S. and NATO efforts to

stave off further advances and reinforce Europe. On the continent, NATO forces

blunt the advance due to technical and doctrinal superiority and the ability of its

generals and planners to shift strategies on their own volition. The stalemate that

follows is not sustainable for NATO, however, and the need for resupply makes

the convoy activity in the North Atlantic critical to the ultimate strategic success of

the allies.

The Soviet capture of Iceland is critical in this regard, as it expands the

operational range of Soviet aircraft and creates a significant hole in the air

support available to NATO convoys. The Soviets use this advantage to cripple

an American aircraft carrier, casting further doubt on the ability of the U.S. to

resupply Europe. Ultimately, NATO is able to reestablish air superiority and

control the Atlantic due to its ability to gather and share intelligence across the

236 Ibid, 34.

77
alliance and conduct efficient, perfectly timed strikes against Soviet air assets.

The success of the convoys in resupplying NATO in Europe effectively destroys

the possibility of a conventional victory for the Soviet Union and sets the stage for

a coup in Moscow, which ends the war.

The broad scope of the book and use of multiple protagonists allowed

Clancy and his co-author Larry Bond to examine what modern warfare would

look like and present their readers with a near exhaustive look at the strengths

and weaknesses of both sides. In particular, the book offers strong commentary

on the role of technology, the value of alliances, the character of U.S. service

members, and the importance of political openness and flexibility. Finally, and

crucially for its appeal to Reagan, Red Storm Rising is a World War III scenario in

which the United States wins without engaging in a nuclear exchange with the

Soviet Union.

Problems with the Bomb

Nuclear weapons are not entirely absent from Red Storm Rising. As the

book approaches its climax and it becomes clear to the Soviets that they cannot

win conventionally, hardliners in the politburo attempt to bring about the use of

nuclear weapons. This initiative ultimately results in a coup, placing a more

moderate leader in charge and ending the war. Clancy and Bond constructed

their narrative intentionally to demonstrate that only the “truly mad” would

78
advocate the use of nuclear weapons. 237 Anti-nuclear sentiments are nearly

universal throughout the book between both American and Soviet leaders. Early

in the book Mikhail Sergetov, a member of the Politburo, laments the money

spent on “unproductive holes” with the ability to “kill the West ten times over.” 238

Even when the war is desperate, Alekseyev, the commander of Soviet forces,

views the secretary general as “crazy” and “mad” for suggesting the possibility of

using tactical nuclear strikes.239 It is also notable that U.S. planners never a

discuss employing nuclear weapons, even though the weapons in Europe were

ostensibly there to mitigate the Soviet advantage in conventional forces. This is

because the technical advantage of NATO forces served the same purpose,

allowing for a non-nuclear balancing of forces.

The abhorrence of nuclear weapons present in Red Storm Rising is a

mirror to Reagan’s own view of the weapons. Reagan reacted strongly to the

bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. The sense that

the weapons would bring about an apocalypse led him to support both the

immediate abolition of nuclear weapons and the internationalization of atomic

energy.240 Reagan planned to read Norman Corwin’s anti-nuclear poem “Set

237 Larry Bond, interview by author, tape recording, Springfield, Virginia, October 20, 2014. Red
Storm Rising, 625.
238 Red Storm Rising 28.
239 Ibid, 628.
240 Paul Lettow, Ronald Reagan and his Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, (New York:
Random House, 2005), 4.
79
Your Clock to U-235” at a public rally in 1945 until Warner Brothers Studios

intervened and prevented his attendance.241 As he became more politically

active, Reagan maintained his criticism of the role of nuclear weapons in policy.

While conducting his shadow campaign for the Republican nomination in 1968,

he compared mutually assured destruction to “two westerners standing in a

saloon aiming their guns to each other’s head – permanently.”242 Such a

situation limited policy options and forced accommodations to what Reagan

viewed as a toxic geopolitical standoff.

Reagan did not moderate his skepticism about nuclear weapons after

assuming the presidency. In a December 1981 meeting with representatives

from the Vatican, Reagan referred to nuclear weapons as “the last epidemic of

mankind.”243 Speaking to U.S. troops in on a 1983 visit to Camp Liberty near the

demilitarized zone in South Korea, he argued “a nuclear war cannot be won and

must never be fought” and then promised to “continue to pursue one of the most

extensive arms control programs in history.” 244 His viewing of The Day After, a

made-for-TV movie about the effect of a nuclear war on a small Kansas town, a

month before this speech served to strengthen his resolve “to see there is never

241 Ibid.
242 Ibid, 23.
243 Henry Nau, Conservative Internationalism: Armed Diplomacy Under Jefferson, Polk, Truman,
and Reagan, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 178.
244 Ronald Reagan, “Remarks to American Troops at Camp Liberty Bell,” (Speech, Seoul, Korea,
November 13, 1983)
80
a nuclear war.”245 Reagan’s dismissal of the concept of mutually assured

destruction and unwillingness to accept that the only way to be safe from attack

was to be vulnerable to it, led him to make the Strategic Defense Initiative a

centerpiece of his security policy.246 The willingness to share the technological

breakthroughs of the program with the Soviets harkens back to his early desire

for the internationalization of atomic energy and speaks to his universal disdain

for nuclear weapons.

Historians often paint a different picture of Reagan’s stance on nuclear

weapons, with the most prevalent view arguing that Reagan experienced an

epiphany in the latter half of his first term, which led to his anti-nuclear crusade.

James Mann notes in The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan that Reagan gave voters

no notion that he favored abolition during his 1976 and 1980 campaigns. 247

Instead, Reagan utilized harsh rhetoric about the Soviet Union, casting the Cold

War into Manichean terms. This heightened tensions and appeared to make

nuclear war more likely. A March 1982 poll reflects this sentiment, as forty-five

percent of respondents answered that a nuclear war was more likely, while only

eighteen percent felt the threat had decreased. 248

245 Ronald Reagan The Reagan Diaries edited by Douglas Brinkley (New York: Harper Collins,
2009), 273
246 Lettow, 23.
247 Mann, 40.
248 Mary Thornton, “45% in Poll say Chance of Nuclear War on the Rise,” The Washington Post
March, 24 1982.
81
 Reagan’s defense policy during his first term also seems to contradict any

notion that he sought to eliminate nuclear weapons. Strategic forces received a

significant increase in funding, as Reagan sought to modernize all three legs of

the U.S. nuclear triad: ballistic missiles, bombers, and submarines. The

administration launched five-point program to design a new Peacekeeper

intercontinental ballistic missile, re-launch the B-1 bomber program, modernize

the existing bomber force, improve the Trident missile launched by submarines,

and develop a more robust command and control system. 249 Reagan also

endorsed a program to produce over 17,000 additional nuclear weapons by

1987, a significant increase over existing plans. 250 The result of the program was

that by 1985, U.S. nuclear forces were more lethal and technically advanced that

at any previous point in U.S. history. The focus on strategic modernization in

Reagan’s first term presents a strong contrast to the focus on arms reduction in

his second, which produces the tantalizing narrative of Reagan’s sudden reversal

that dominates the current historiography.

However, the shift in tone is less stark when viewed through the context of

Reagan’s vision of how to achieve peace. Reagan viewed military strength as

essential to establishing peace, and identified establishing a “sound East-West

249 Briefing Book, “Selected National Security Issues” December 1985, Folder: Selected National
Security Issues December 1985 [Copy 1], RAC Box 9, NSC Executive Secretariat: Trip File,
Ronald Reagan Library.
250 Judith Miller, “Reagan Endorses Rise in Atomic Warheads by 380 Over Carter Goal,” The
Washington Post, March 22, 1982.
82
military balance” as “absolutely essential” to peace. 251 When he assumed office,

Reagan and his national security advisors perceived a stark gap between the

capabilities of the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which enabled the Soviets to

pursue aggressive policies. NSDD-32 takes the “loss of U.S. strategic

superiority” and the “overwhelming growth of Soviet conventional forces

capabilities” as givens, indicative of a critical imbalance in strength.252 Reagan

blamed détente for the emergence of the disparity, and felt continuation of the

policy would only weaken the U.S. and ensure continued Soviet gains. In one

1978 radio address, he stated that détente is “what a farmer has with his turkey,

before Thanksgiving.”253 The only way peace with the Soviets was achievable

would be to demonstrate an equal resolve and strength. This necessitated the

creation of parity between the military capabilities of both states before entering

into serious negotiations.

With regard to nuclear weapons, this meant that Reagan had to oversee

an increase in U.S. strategic capability before attempting meaningful arms

reductions. In his 1982 address at the commencement of Eureka College,

Reagan identified the “growing instability of the nuclear balance” as the “main

251 Ronald Reagan, “Address at Commencement Exercises at Eureka College,” (speech, Eureka,
Illinois, May 9, 1982).
252 National Security Decision Directive Number 32, available at
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/Scanned%20NSDDS/NSDD32.pdf
253 Mann, 23.

83
threat to peace posed by nuclear weapons today.”254 Just three months before

Regan responded to calls for a nuclear freeze by agreeing that it was a good

idea, but only after the U.S. achieved parity with the Soviet Union. 255 In the press

conference acknowledging his support for a future freeze Reagan went further,

stating his “goal [was] to reduce nuclear weapons dramatically” and responding

to a press question about the potential of winning a nuclear conflict by stating,

“Everybody would be a loser if there is a nuclear war.”256 These comments

came a full year and half before Reagan’s supposed conversion and indicate

greater continuity in his anti-nuclear views than is commonly acknowledged.

Reagan’s strong anti-nuclear stance put him at odds with many of the

leading voices in foreign policy and the Pentagon. Reagan would lament in his

memoirs that many in the Pentagon still “claimed a nuclear war was winnable.” 257

Following the near-breakthrough at Reykjavik, the Joint Chiefs approached

Reagan and argued against continuing to pursue the elimination of nuclear

weapons entirely. The Chiefs were unanimous in their view that the existing

conventional deterrent force was inadequate and in their insistence that bringing

it up to par would require an investment of “tens of billions of dollars” over a

254 “Address at the Commencement Exercises of Eureka College.”

255 Jack Nelson, “Reagan Urges Nuclear Freeze: But Only After U.S. Catches up with Russia,”
Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1982.
256 Ronald Reagan, “The President’s News Conference,” (Press Conference, Washington D.C.,
March 31, 1982).
257 Mann, 42.

84
period of at least a decade. 258 General John Wickham, the Army Chief of Staff,

expressed significant reservations about the willingness of NATO allies to

participate to the extent an all-conventional deterrent would require. 259 John

Poindexter, Reagan’s National Security Advisor, reversed his earlier support for

the Reykjavik proposal to eliminate all offensive nuclear weapons shortly after

returning. He wrote to Reagan that eliminating all offensive ballistic missiles

would return the U.S. to a situation similar to “that which [it] faced in the 1950s”

leaving only a “chance” of stopping a conventional assault, rather than the strong

deterrence the current arsenal represented.260

Others from the right lined up to attack Reagan’s stance. Former

president Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote an op-

ed for The National Review arguing that the proposed deal would reopen the

“gap in deterrence of conventional attack” due to the inability of the U.S. to

sufficient conventional power to match that of the Soviets.261 Brent Scowcroft,

the national security advisor to President Ford, also expressed deep reservations

about the proposed deal, asserting that it might lead to “absolute disaster.” 262

258 Transcript, “JCS Meeting with the President,” December 19, 1986, folder JCS Response-
NSDD 250, 12/19/1986 (1 of 4), RAC Box 12, Robert Linhard Files, Ronald Reagan Library.
259 Ibid.
260 Memorandum, John Poindexter to Ronald Reagan, “Why We Can’t Commit to Eliminating All
Nuclear Weapons within 10 Years,” October 16, 1986, RAC Box 3, Alton Keel Files, Ronald
Reagan Library.
261 Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, “A Real Peace” The National Review, May 22, 1987, 34
262 Mann, 47

85
Scowcroft had also discussed the potential of winning a nuclear war with Tom

Clancy at a White House luncheon in March of 1985, where the two “differed a

bit” about whether a “controlled nuclear war” was possible. 263 Decades later,

when Kissinger also publicly advocated for the abolition of nuclear weapons

Scowcroft remained a sceptic, instead arguing nations should expend energy to

reduce the likelihood of the weapons use.264 Not all the opposition came from

the right. In the same issue of The National Review, Chairman of the House

Armed Services Committee Les Aspin, who would later be secretary of defense

under Bill Clinton, argued that it would take another ten divisions in Europe to

make the Reykjavik framework feasible.265 Opposition extended beyond the

United States, as NATO allies expressed genuine concern about what a non-

nuclear U.S. would mean for their security. U.S. Information Agency Director

Charles Wick wrote Poindexter immediately following the conference to say that

European stations were “amazed” at the sweeping nature of the proposals and

that Europe feared the United States might be “strategically decoupled from

Europe.”266 The sweeping proposals at Reykjavik brought swift and uniform

263 Clancy to Richards, March 8, 1985.

264 Bartholomew Sparraow, The Strategist: Brent Scowcroft and the Call of National Security,
(New York: Public Affairs, 2015), 550.
265 George Will, “…Another Ten Divisions…” The National Review, May 22, 1987.
266 Memorandum, Charles Wick to John Poindexter, “SDI and INF Dominate Revitalized Strategic
Debate in post-Reykjavik Europe,” October 17, 1986, folder Post-Iceland (3 of 4), RAC Box 2,
Alton Keel Files, Ronald Reagan Library.
86
criticism; the United States could not afford to eliminate its nuclear weapons

because without them, there was little hope of repelling a Soviet ground invasion.

Reagan expected the criticism the Reykjavik proposal elicited and tried to

turn it to his advantage during the negotiations. As Reagan pleaded with

Gorbachev to relent on SDI, Reagan stated that the “most out-spoken critics of

the Soviet Union over the years, the so-called right-wing, and esteemed

journalists” would react strongly against the ten-year framework to eliminate

nuclear weapons.267 Reagan said the critics “were kicking his brains out” for

considering the elimination of ballistic missiles, a problem Gorbachev did not

have since he threw his critics in jail. 268 Gorbachev wryly noted that if Reagan

believed that he should check recent articles about Gorbachev in Pravda and

refused to relent.269 Though Reagan’s appeal fell upon deaf ears, it

demonstrates how well Reagan grasped the likely response to the sweeping

proposals. Despite the expected outcry, Reagan was willing to move forward

and engage in a difficult political battle to ratify an agreement to eliminate

offensive ballistic missiles because he viewed the strategic situation in Europe

differently from his critics. Reagan felt that by the fall of 1986, the conventional

267 “Memorandum of Conversation,” October 12 1986, FO006-11, WHORM : Subject File, Ronald
Reagan Library.
268 Ibid
269 Ibid

87
forces of the United States and its allies were more than a match for their Soviet

counterparts, making the ballistic missiles an unnecessary evil.

Reagan said as much to Nixon in an April 1987 meeting at the White

House, arguing that the United States and NATO together had “enormous

superiority over the Soviet Union.” 270 For Reagan, this superiority came from the

fact that both the combined gross domestic product and combined population of

the West were greater those that of the Soviets. Reaching the point where

Reagan had sufficient confidence in the conventional capacities of both the U.S.

and its allies was the work of his first term.

As Reagan embarked on his reelection campaign, his administration

began to trumpet the revitalization of the United States as a powerful global

actor. While this is the norm in the public statements of a president seeking

another term, the narrative’s presence in internal policy documents and insider

discussions is particularly notable. A May 1984 National Security Council study

of foreign policy priorities in the second term argued that Reagan’s actions over

the previous four years had “greatly enhanced” both American military strength

and the confidence of U.S. allies in the resolve and capacity of America to

“protect the rights of free men and women everywhere.” 271 A December 1985

270Mann, 54.
271Memorandum, “U.S. Foreign Policy a Look Ahead” May 18, 1984, Folder: Foreign Policy
Background for President’s Trip to Europe-Notebook (1 of 2), RAC Box 8, NSC Executive
Secretariat: Trip File, Ronald Reagan Library.
88
NSC review of selected national security issues began by lauding the

administration’s record over the previous five years as “one of progress and

accomplishment.”272 It went on to argue that the “refurbishment of [U.S.]

deterrent capability and strengthening of [U.S.] alliances” prevented Soviet

aggressing despite Moscow’s “frequent saber-rattling and truculence.” 273 The

document also cited significant improvements in NATO’s conventional defenses,

highlighting the “better use of emerging technologies” as crucial to the effort. 274

Crucially the document also engaged with the question of how to “maintain [U.S.]

ability to deter attacks” despite the movement towards “lower levels of nuclear

forces.”275 In this area, the NSC determined the explicit objective of the U.S.

should be to rely on an “increasing contribution” from “primarily non-nuclear

systems.”276

Deus Ex Machina

Developing the “non-nuclear systems” needed to wean the U.S. from

nuclear deterrence was a major initiative of the first term of Reagan’s presidency.

The administration began construction of thirty-four new combat ships, acquired

nearly four thousand new and state of the art M-1 Abrams tanks, and expanded

support for new infantry fighting vehicles resulting in the Army’s Bradley Fighting

272 “Selected National Security Issues,” December 1985.

273 Ibid
274 Ibid.
275 Ibid.
276 Ibid.

89
Vehicle and the Marines Light Armored Amphibious Vehicle. 277 Additionally, the

administration sought to expand aerial capabilities. During Reagan’s first term,

the Apache attack helicopter, Blackhawk support helicopter, and F-117 stealth

fighter entered into service. 278 Other investments in new armaments and

communication systems meant that the U.S. military in 1986 was a more lethal

and precise force than when Reagan assumed office. The NSC review cited

each member of the JCS and all the Unified and Specified Commanders in Chief

as stating that “by every measure of common sense” conventional military forces

were more ready for combat than in 1980. 279 This assessment by the major

military commanders and his national security staff left Reagan with a strong

sense that the U.S. military was now strong enough to forego offensive nuclear

weapons, a sense that Red Storm Rising reinforced immediately before

Reykjavik.

Clancy’s books often place technology in a starring role, and Red Storm

Rising is no exception. The new and in-development technology advanced by

the Reagan administration plays a critical role in the narrative. Though still a

classified program at the time of publication, the F-117 stealth fighter appears as

the F-19a in a chapter titled “The Frisbees of Dreamland.”280 The fighters wreak

277 “Selected National Security Issues,” December 1985.

278 Ibid
279 Ibid.
280 Red Storm Rising, 162.

90
havoc on Soviet supply lines and radar sites throughout the novel, leading to

serious logistics problems and establishing near-complete U.S. control of the

skies in the early days of the war. The Abrams tank is almost entirely

responsible for establishing a stalemate in Germany, despite the significant

difference in the size of available forces between the Soviets and the West.

During a critical exchange in the early days of fighting, a Soviet armored

regiment faces a depleted U.S. tank company reinforced by a company of

dismounted infantry. The resulting battle goes poorly for the Soviets due to

effective integration of the U.S. tank with A-10 Warthogs, costing them nearly a

third of their strength. 281 A conversation between Soviet commanders makes it

clear that this is not an atypical battle. The implication of this is that the better

weapons of the U.S. and its allies allowed them to destroy Soviet units at a ratio

that approached ten to one, enough to nullify the feared Soviet advantage in

conventional forces.

The allied forces are also able to synchronize their activities in a superior

way to the Soviets thanks to the EWCS platform, which provided a highly

accurate view of the battlefield. The result of this advantage is that NATO makes

efficient use of its forces, an essential consideration when outnumbered.

Friendly aircraft strike exactly when the Soviets mass, in one instance allowing

281 Red Storm Rising, 324

91
just four aircraft to destroy a battalion of Soviet artillery. The Soviets are able to

achieve a major breakthrough only when they dedicate all their available fighter

aircraft to force the allied radar aircraft off station, providing a brief window to

organize their attack.282 The superior battlefield picture and technical ability to

identify the location of transmissions also allows NATO to target command

elements of the Soviet army to devastating effect. Clancy and Bond incorporated

the precise targeting of enemy leadership into Red Storm Rising, an emerging

doctrine at the time. 283 Throughout the book, Soviet leaders alternate between

awe and frustration about the capabilities of NATO forces, recognizing that they

played a decisive role in the conflict.

The Value of Friends

The United States alone does not win Clancy’s fictionalized Third World

War. Though the United States plays the largest role, the contributions of NATO

are crucial. NATO is able to secure its convoys by destroying a majority of the

Soviet bombers that had previously heavily damaged a U.S. aircraft carrier. U.S.

submarines deliver the deathblow, but this result comes only after a coalition that

involves Britain and Norway tracks the bomber to their airbases. 284 Similarly, a

joint British-U.S. effort retakes Iceland, as British SAS are the first forces to

282 Ibid.
283 Larry Bond Interview.
284 Red Storm Rising, 478.

92
return to the island and link up with the American squad that had eluded

capture.285 Clancy consciously drew a stark contrast when depicting the

relationship of Warsaw Pact nations, painting a confrontational, unproductive

relationship.286 As the Soviets plan their initial advance into West Germany, East

Germany understandably forbids the planned use of chemical weapons after

reading a report detailing the likelihood that the chemicals would drift east back

across the border.287 Politburo members would later lament that they were not

able to use the weapons even though the “political cost” was “too great.” 288

Additionally, there are few references to Warsaw Pact nations taking part in the

fighting, and the Soviets bear nearly the entire burden of the war themselves.

Clancy’s depiction of a strong NATO and uncertain Warsaw Pact fit in precisely

with Reagan’s worldview.

Rehabilitating transatlantic ties was another early goal of the Reagan

administration. The briefing paper Reagan received from the NSC for his 1984

trip overseas highlighted that while the situation was better than in 1980, the

danger of “political and economic retrenchment” in Western Europe remained

high and that the U.S. needed to combat “Europessmism” by pursuing policies to

restore European political war to support U.S. Cold War policies. 289 It further

285 Ibid, 491.

286 Larry Bond Interview
287 Ibid, 82.
288 Ibid, 627
289 “U.S. Foreign Policy a Look Ahead”

93
argued that “maintaining and strengthening the Atlantic Alliance [was] key to

world prosperity and peace.”290 Just eighteen months later, the NSC review of

key security issues argued that relations with European allies were “on a stronger

and steadier course.”291 It argued that the personal efforts by Reagan to build

relationships with European leaders, the increase of military support to the

continent, and increased economic outreach played significant roles in creating a

better outlook for the alliance. 292 The report also noted some of the immediate

dividends of the improved relationships, citing the renewal of basing rights in

Spain, Portugal and Greece, agreements to restrict the trade of militarily valuable

technologies with the Soviet Union, and increased allied outlays in defense

spending as proof.293

There was also significant doubt within the administration about the

strength of the Warsaw Pact and the extent to which Moscow could count on its

client states in the event of war. In his book Reagan and Gorbachev, Jack

Matlock, part of the National Security Council from 1983 until Reagan appointed

him Ambassador to Moscow in 1987, recalls asking a military officer providing a

security briefing where the Soviets would place Warsaw Pact nation units within

290 Ibid.
291 “Selected National Security Issues,” December 1985
292 Ibid.
293 Ibid.

94
their military formations. 294 The implication was that the Soviets could not count

on their loyalty and would have to choose whether betrayal would come on their

flank or from their rear. Reagan’s doubt as to the support of Warsaw Pact

nations for Soviet military efforts meant that calculating the military strength was

not as simple as adding together the numbers available and instead required

active consideration of exactly how hard the satellites would fight. These

considerations only further muddied the perceived Soviet conventional

advantage.

Identity Problems

A final important part of the appeal of Red Storm Rising to Reagan was in

Clancy’s portrayal of the difference between the Soviet system and the Russian

people. Reagan detested the Soviet system but believed that the Russian

people were victims of it rather that diehard loyalists and enemies of the U.S. He

reflected this publicly in his January 1984 address to the nation, which included

the story of a Russian and American couple meeting. Reagan includes in the

speech a reference to his “openly expressed” distaste for the Soviet System but

in Reagan’s story, the Russian couple, Anya and Ivan, and the American couple,

Jim and Sally, would not discuss the “differences between their respective

294
Jack Matlock, Superpower Illusions: How Myths and Flase Ideologies Led America Astray and
How to Return to Reality, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010)
95
governments” but rather would “touch on their ambitions and hobbies.” 295 The

story served to humanize the Russian people and place them in stark contrast to

their government. Reagan concluded the speech by saying that if “the Soviet

Government wants peace, then there will be peace,” demonstrating clearly whom

he believed to be the aggressor in the Cold War.296

Matlock, who helped edit the Ivan and Anya speech, shared Reagan’s

view of the split between people and system and sought to build upon this

inclination of the president after joining the NSC. 297 Matlock worked within

government and brought in academics and writers from outside of Washington to

provide a more complete view of the Russian people. Suzanne Massie was one

of the writers Matlock brought in, and her book Land of the Firebird: The Beauty

of Old Russia spoke strongly to Reagan. Much like with Red Storm Rising he

read it immediately prior to a major summit, this time in Geneva in 1985, and

viewed it as preparation for his talks with Gorbachev.298 Massie viewed the

Russian people in a very positive light and would speak to Reagan often about

them, even occasionally serving as a backchannel for communication with

Moscow. 299 A key difference between Reagan’s treatment of Clancy and

295 Ronald Reagan, “Address to the Nation and Other Countries on United States-Soviet
Relations,” (Speech, Washington D.C., Janaury 16, 1984)
296 “Address to the Nation and Other Countries on United States-Soviet Relations”
297 Jack Matlock Interview
298 Mann, 64.
299 Ibid, 64.

96
Massie is that while he saw Massie far more often and over a longer period, he

did not publically endorse her books as he did with Hunt for Red October. This

implies that he viewed Massie as a teacher and Clancy as a messenger.

Clancy shared Reagan and Massie’s distinction between the Soviet

system and the Russian people, and he wrote Red Storm Rising partly to reflect

this.300 While some scenes depict Soviet callousness and cruelty, such as

widespread execution of officers and the planned use of chemical and nuclear

weapons, these practices come across as functions of the communist system

rather than an indictment of the individual. There is a notable exception to this

aspect of the book, which comes when Soviet paratroopers brutally gang rape a

pregnant Icelandic woman before she is rescued by an American officer, who

proceeds to extra judiciously execute the perpetrators. However, Clancy did not

intend those actions to reflect upon the Russian people but rather to reflect the

way the Soviet system treats those it forcibly subjugates. The Soviet

protagonists, Sergetov and Alexseyev, both frequently express revulsion with the

cruelty and inflexibility of their government’s ways and eventually seize an

opportunity to reform it.

Equally important to this sense are the pieces of Russian culture that

Clancy chooses to include in the narrative. Just prior to the start of hostilities,

300 Larry Bond Interview.

97
Commander Robert Toland, an American intelligence analyst, notes the showing

of Battleship Potemkin on Soviet television. He notes that the Moscow State

Symphony and Chorus redid the audio, but that despite this there are over twenty

uses of the words Russia or Russian, something he thought the Soviets were

“trying to get away from.” 301 The passing reference raises the question of identity

within the Soviet Union and points to a divergence between Soviet and Russian

identities.

Clancy reinforces this point at the end of the novel with the meeting

between Alexseyev and General Robinson, the Supreme Allied Commander of

European Forces (SACEUR). Alexseyev is surprised to learn that Robinson

speaks Russian, and Robinson explains it away by talking of his love for the

plays of Anton Chekov.302 Chekov’s plays often evoke questions of Russian

identity. In particular, Chekov’s final play “The Cherry Orchard,” first performed

in 1904, depicts strong conflict between traditional Russian values and the notion

of Marxist modernity. The play often seems prescient in depicting the struggle

over the future and the ultimate usurpation of traditional norms and values. 303

George Kennan, the noted American strategist and author of the “Long

Telegram,” also took a large part of his understanding of Russia from the works

301 Red Storm Rising, 88.

302 Ibid, 647.
303 Anton Chekov, “The Cherry Orchard” in Plays translated by Elisaveta Fen (London: Penguin,
1954).
98
of Chekov, even going as far as to identify a part of him as a “Chekovian self”

which was “much more genuine than [his] American one.” 304 Robinson follows

up his admission of passion for Chekov’s plays by stating that after it inspired him

to learn the language he went on to “read a good deal of Russian literature.” 305

Again the emphasis is on Russian, rather than Soviet culture, highlighting the

divide between the two identities.

The combination of anti-nuclear sentiment, military triumph through

reliance on alliances and technology, and a sense that it is the system and not

the people that are the problem gave Red Storm Rising significant appeal to

Reagan. That Reagan read the 642-page novel within two months of its release

speaks to this appeal. So too does the fact that Reagan not only spoke publicly

about it, but also initiated conversations about it, despite his normal reluctance to

discuss his reading. In many ways, Red Storm Rising was a fictionalized version

of the administration’s own classified view of foreign relations; in particular, it

almost perfectly embodies the central tenets of the NSC review of national

security issues conducted in December of 1985. As such, it was the perfect

vehicle to build popular support for the administration’s defense outlook.

However, for Red Storm Rising to fill this role it meant that it could not rely overly

304 George Kennan, The Kennan Diaries edited by Frank Costigliola (New York: W. W. Norton
and Co, 2014), 374.
305 Red Storm Rising, 647

99
heavily on suspension of disbelief. An overly fanciful story has dubious value

from a policy standpoint, as critics could easily dismiss its arguments.

Rolling the Dice

Realism is an area where the Clancy novels excelled. Although they often

made use of unconventional tactics, Clancy invested significant effort to make

sure they were at least within the bounds of reality. Red Storm Rising’s use of

the container ship Julius Fucik provides a good example of this. In the book, the

Soviets use the ship as a clandestine transport for an airborne regiment and its

equipment and then use it to conduct an amphibious assault, which succeeds in

capturing Iceland.306 There are few, if any, actual war plans that call for the use

of commercial shipping to stage assaults. However, the Julius Fucik was an

actual container ship used by Soviet shipping, allowing Clancy and Bond to use

its real specifications to determine that it was possible for the ship to transport

the regiment and all of its equipment and have enough space to stage

operations.307 The Hunt for Red October contained a similar unconventional

tactic, when the Red October finally escapes the Konovalov, its Alfa-class

pursuer, by ramming it. Submarines generally do not seek to collide with one

another; however, Clancy recognized that, based on the physical specifications

of each submarine, the Red October would survive the encounter, leaving the

306 Red Storm Rising, 177.

307 Larry Bond Interview.
100
Konovalov in no condition to pursue. Clancy’s use of seemingly farfetched

scenarios largely came about from the demands of the plot, but the attention to

ensuring the solution fell within the bounds of reality and prevented outright

rejection of the book by educated readers.

Clancy’s research into technical specifications lent his books a great

degree of authority. Reagan noted the accuracy in his White House meeting with

Clancy, asking the author how he achieved it. Clancy demurred in his answer,

instead telling the president that the characters were the hard part. 308 While this

is likely true, Clancy did devote significant time to researching and fact checking

technical details. As part of the research for Red Storm Rising, Clancy and Bond

traveled to Vienna to talk internal Soviet politics with Arkady Shevchenko, who

defected to the U.S. while serving as the UN undersecretary general. 309 Clancy

had previously called Shevchenko’s book Breaking with Moscow “pure dynamite”

for the way it described the Soviet system, and its influence on Clancy’s work is

evident.310 The authors also went to Norfolk to discuss joint operations with

NATO personnel stationed there, providing more authenticity to the way the allies

interacted in the novel. Trips to military installations allowed the authors to

observe fighter scramble procedures and the operation of M1 tanks, and Clancy

308 Clancy to Susan Richards, March 8, 1985.

309 Larry Bond interview
310 Clancy to Susan Richards, March 8, 1985.

101
received a ride on a submarine.311 All of this contributed to the realism of the

language used by soldiers and the way the novel depicts the weapons systems.

While the research trips and interviews contributed greatly to the realism

of Red Storm Rising, the most important contributor was war-gaming. The novel

is rooted in a war game conducted by the Center for Naval Analysis, a federally

funded research and development center tied to the Navy. Larry Bond worked

on the war-game, which analyzed how the U.S. would resupply Europe in the

event of Soviet invasion. He mentioned it to Clancy, who then proposed that the

two work together on a book about it.312 The book transformed the central

findings of the war game into a narrative digestible by all. 313 Although the book’s

scope far exceeds that of the war game, the scenario it describes intentionally

brought the supply issue and the naval war to the fore of the narrative.314

The CNA war game was not the only one to have significant influence on

the book. While still in the Navy, Larry Bond disliked the official, classified game

used by the service, as in addition to design problems the secrecy of the game

limited its utility. He designed a game called Harpoon as an alternative and

ultimately marketed it through Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Dave

Arneson’s Adventure Games. Clancy purchased a copy as he researched Hunt

311 Ibid.
312 Larry Bond Interview
313 Peter Perla, interview by author, notes, October 23, 2014, Arlington, Virginia. Perla still works
with the CNA and is referred to there as the “Peyton Manning of war gaming.”
314 Larry Bond Interview.

102
for Red October and wrote a laudatory letter to Bond, which was the start of their

relationship.315 Harpoon did more than introduce the co-authors and became a

method for validating the scenarios used in Red Storm Rising. Most prominently,

Clancy and Bond used it to fact check the chapter titled “The Dance of the

Vampires,” in which Soviet bombers heavily damage an aircraft carrier, and the

air battle over Keflavik.316

The purpose of war gaming is not to identify what will happen but rather

what could, allowing for games to serve as important analytical tools for military

and civilian planners. In addition, as Peter Perla, a longtime CNA war gamer,

notes, war games can have a “greater emotional impact” on participants than a

simple discussion about a plan. 317 This is because individual decisions

determine success or failure, forcing personal investment in the scenario. The

resulting lessons then last longer because of the emotional tie. A novel can have

a similar impact, since, if well done, it can force the reader to emotionally identify

with the protagonist and form a more memorable connection to a given policy or

situation. The realism of the account was central to the books influence.

Reagan reading the book before Reykjavik is deeply significant. Clancy’s

portrayal of the ability of NATO to successfully wage a limited World War III and

315 Ibid
316 Ibid.
317 Peter Perla Interview.

103
win reinforced the president’s belief that nuclear weapons were unnecessary and

far too dangerous to have a place in modern statecraft. The book is not why

Reagan and Gorbachev nearly agreed to eliminate nuclear weapons at the

conference, but it did provide Reagan with additional evidence that doing so

would not undermine the American strategic position.

104
 Chapter 4

Techno Thriller Rising: Clancy in the Wider World

In November of 2000, Tom Clancy guest starred on the television show

The Simpsons. He appears at a panel for authors entitled “The Future of

Reading,” along with fellow writers Amy Tan and Maya Angelou. During a

question and answer phase Lenny, a drinking buddy of the main character,

admits to being a “techno thriller junkie” and asks if rain makes the B-2 bomber

more detectable.318 As Clancy begins his answer, Lenny interrupts, admitting he

intended the question for Angelou. A chagrined Clancy hands the microphone to

the poet, who responds, “The ebony fighter awakens, dabbled with the beads of

a dewy morn. It is a Mach 5 child, forever bound to suckle at the shriveled breast

of Congress.”319 The gag assumes a certain degree of knowledge about the

writers involved. It is telling that the show’s writers viewed Clancy’s background

and work as essentially common knowledge in order to create a joke based on

subverting expectations.

By the late 1990s, Clancy became one of the most prominent voices on

the military within the United States. In addition to his fiction, he co-wrote books

318 “Insane Clown Poppy,” The Simpsons Fox, November 12, 2000
319 Ibid.
105
with generals on tactics and strategy, wrote technical heavy descriptions of

aircraft carriers and submarines, and licensed his name to two franchised novel

series, Net Force and Power Plays. Combined with a series of movies and

growing expansion into video games, it would be nearly impossible for an

American adult to not have at least a vague familiarity with Clancy and the

content of his work by the dawn of the new millennium. For many Americans, he

introduced the newest military hardware and provided hints as to its capabilities

and employment. Clancy’s role became exactly what Reagan and Weinberger

hoped it would be after reading Hunt for Red October and his continued

prominence long after the Reagan administration left office helped ensure the

survival of many core elements of its policy.

Weinberger and Clancy

Clancy had no more ardent acolyte within the Reagan administration than

Caspar Weinberger, Reagan’s long time Secretary of Defense. Following his,

service in World War II, which included time on General MacArthur’s staff,

Weinberger ventured into California politics, winning election to the California

assembly for the first time in 1952. As he rose in the Republican Party in the

state, he took on a side job as a book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle.

He took up writing not for financial gain, as he was largely financial independent

thanks to his success both as a politician and as lawyer, but rather because of

the formative role reading played in his life.

106
 In his memoir, Fighting for Peace, Weinberger recalls that he was

fortunate to have access to a large number of books in his family’s library and

that he was a “rapid and avid reader.”320 In particular, Winston Churchill’s The

World Crisis had a tremendous impact on the young Weinberger, helping to

make him a lifelong anglophile. He even attempted to join the Royal Air Force in

1940, though poor depth perception prevented his recruitment. He did carry a

copy of Churchill’s book with him throughout the war, rereading it multiple

times.321 Weinberger credits Churchill for creating in him an understanding of

peacetime readiness and the importance of public discourse in building and

maintaining morale.322 These themes would come to define his tenure as

Secretary of Defense. It is likely that Weinberger took significant pride when he

received word that Churchill read Weinberger’s positive review of A History of the

English Speaking People’s and that the publisher opted to use a blurb from his

review to advertise the book.323 Churchill remained a hero to Weinberger

throughout his life, and upon his nomination to Secretary of Defense attempted to

320 Weinberger, Fighting for Peace 18.

321 Ibid.
322 Ibid, 20-21.
323 R.T. Bond to William Hogan, May 2 1956, Folder “Book Reviews 1948-1959,” Box 891, The
Papers of Caspar Weinberger, The Library of Congress
“All This and Chruchill Too,” Folder: “Book Reviews 1948-1959,” Box 891, The Papers of Caspar
Weinberger, The Library of Congress
107
borrow the National Portrait Gallery’s painting of the British leader for display in

his office.324

Reading helped form Weinberger’s political identity as well. As a

teenager, he came to believe that reading newspapers was an inadequate way to

engage with political discussions. To remedy this, he wrote his Congressman

and soon began receiving the Congressional Record and read it regularly,

including sections containing speeches inserted to extend the record but actually

delivered.325 His engagement in such a borderline masochistic behavior from a

young age demonstrates how much value he placed on the written word.

Weinberger’s career as a book reviewer lasted from 1948 until he joined

Reagan in Sacramento in 1966. The bulk of the time was with the San Francisco

Chronicle, where his reviews would appear on a weekly basis. At times

Weinberger would also fill in for his editor Joseph Jackson, who had a syndicated

column that also ran in the Los Angeles Times. Weinberger generally reviewed

books on military history, politics, and British history, unsurprisingly given his

interests. He also showed a fondness for biographies, to the extent that his

former editor William Hogan reached out to him to provide a review of The Rise

of Theodore Roosevelt in 1979.326 After Edmund Morris became Regan’s official

324 Kay Liesz to Caspar Weinberger, July 17, 1981, Box 599, The Papers of Caspar Weinberger,
The Library of Congress.
325 Weinberger, 3.
326 William Hogan to Caspar Weinberger, January 23, 1979, , Folder “Book Reviews 1948-1959,”
Box 891, The Papers of Caspar Weinberger, The Library of Congress.
108
biographer, Weinberger sent a copy of his earlier review to the author,

expressing his deep admiration for the work.327

As Secretary of Defense, Weinberger continued his voluminous reading.

He was a participant in a history book of the month program, and routinely

ordered multiple books at a time through the program. 328 His interests largely

remained centered on British History and World War II. He also avidly read

newspapers and demonstrated a keen interest in ensuring the administration’s

positive portrayal within them. Weinberger wrote an angry response to the

editors of The Washington Post after a David Broder column accused the

administration of subverting the Constitution.329 He also engaged in less lofty

discourse that had broader appeal when he responded to Ann Landers in her

column. Landers previously published a letter critical of waste and overspending

in the Pentagon, prompting the secretary to lament to her that he wished people

would focus more attention “to the remedial steps” the Pentagon recently

employed to cut waste. 330 While on the surface it seems silly for the sitting

Secretary of Defense to engage with a syndicated advice columnist, the letter

327 Caspar Weinberger to Edmund Morris, November 24, 1987, Part III Box 43, The Papers of
Caspar Weinberger, The Library of Congress.
328 Book Order Form, April 15, 1985, Box 596, The Papers of Caspar Weinberger, The Library of
Congress
329 Caspar Weinberger to The Editor of the Washington Post, June 24, 1983, Box 596, The
Papers of Caspar Weinberger, The Library of Congress
330 Ann Landers, “Wife’s Sickness Doesn’t End Vows,” October 22, 1984, Box 600, The Papers
of Caspar Weinberger, The Library of Congress
109
represented a way to extend the administrations message to a broader

demographic and continue to shape public opinion in non-conventional ways.

Weinberger viewed fiction as a way to shape public opinion positively and

took extra efforts to work with authors he favored. In 1984, he agreed to work

with Allen Drury, author of Advise and Consent, on a book about the Pentagon.

Weinberger knew Drury work from his days as a book reviewer, and provided

favorable reviews of Advise and Consent and A Senate Journal.331 Drury

reached out to Weinberger in January of 1984 about meeting to discuss his new

book idea, saying he knew that Weinberger “would want to know what [Drury]

had in mind” for the project.332 He closed the letter praising the work done by the

administration to date. Weinberger agreed and his secretary set up a meeting

with Drury to discuss the book.333 The meeting went well, and Weinberger then

agreed to allow Drury to shadow him and arranged for a building pass to the

Pentagon to allow the author to conduct further research. 334 The resulting novel,

Pentagon, attempted to demonstrate the dangers of bureaucracy and waste but

failed to overcome dismal reviews to have any significant popular impact.

331 William Hogan, “Clark Kerr Speaks on the University,” The San Francisco Chronicle, October
30, 1963.
332 Allen Drury to Caspar Weinberger, January 5, 1984, Box 600, The Papers of Caspar
Weinberger, The Library of Congress.
333 Caspar Weinberger to Allen Drury, date unknown, Box 600, The Papers of Caspar
Weinberger, The Library of Congress
334 Caspar Weinberger to Allen Drury, April 24, 1984, Box 600, The Papers of Caspar
Weinberger, The Library of Congress.
110
However, Weinberger’s active involvement in the project demonstrated his faith

that Drury, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and a conservative who Weinberger

knew and respected, could influence public opinion to assist him in reforming the

Pentagon.

Weinberger took the opportunity to return to his role as book reviewer

when the Time Literary Supplement reached out to him to review a work of fiction

that deserved “to be better known.” 335 His secretary then passed him a copy of

Hunt for Red October and recommended he review it, noting that she had “it on

good authority that our big boss across the river thoroughly enjoyed” it and that

Reagan was “almost singlehandedly responsible for its zoom to the top of the

Best Sellers list.”336 Weinberger took his secretary’s advice and provided the

Time Literary Supplement with a glowing review that The Wall Street Journal also

published. In the review, Weinberger praised the “vast and accurate” technical

detail and argued that it contained “many lessons” for “those who want to keep

the peace.”337

Weinberger did not review Clancy’s second book, Red Storm Rising,

though he does make favorable mention of it in his later writings. 338 Other

335 Jeremy Treglown to Caspar Weinberger, August 9, 1985, Box 596, The Papers of Caspar
Weinberger, The Library of Congress.
336 Kay Liesz to Caspar Weinberger, August 14, 1985, Box 596, The Papers of Caspar
Weinberger, The Library of Congress.
337 Caspar Weinberger, “Caspar Weinberger,” Times Literary Supplement October 18, 1985.
338 Caspar Weinberger, “Patriot Games,” The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 1987.

111
reviewers, however, made note of the book’s focus on Weinberger’s influence in

the Pentagon. The New York Times review of the book notes that “there is

particularly good news” in it “for Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.” 339 The

good news is that “American technology works” and the review then provides a

litany of current Pentagon programs that succeed in Clancy’s World War III.

Even the title of the review “Virtuous Men and Perfect Weapons,” suggests that

the book embraces the programs and objectives of the Weinberger Pentagon.

Clancy’s third book, Patriot Games, also appealed to Weinberger, and he

again took the time to review the book for The Wall Street Journal. He noted that

the book depicts technological capabilities “up to the limit of declassified

information” and that “authenticity, and hence believability” are the hallmark of

Clancy’s work.340 Putnam, Clancy’s publisher, used a portion of the review

Weinberger’s blurb that the book reached “a high pitch of excitement” on the

cover of future editions, lending the appearance of official sanction to the work.

Weinberger likely intended this as readers of Patriot Games would be imbibing

the most closely held policy beliefs of the soon to depart cabinet member.

The most telling book review Weinberger authored while Secretary of

Defense is his 1986 review of Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Supremacy. He

339 Robert Lekachman, “Virtuous Men and Perfect Weapons,” The New York Times, July 27,
1986.
340 Weinberger, “Patriot Games”

112
actually reached out to The Wall Street Journal before the book’s publication and

requested the opportunity to review it. 341 This implies a level of foreknowledge

about the themes of the book, and given the negative nature of Weinberger’s

review the existence of antipathy towards The Bourne Identity, the first book in

the series. The review is among the harshest that Weinberger produced in his

career. Weinberger criticized the “weak characterization” and complained that

too many of the characters in the book are “one-dimensional.”342 The criticism of

wooden characters was particularly ironic, given Weinberger’s effusive praise for

Clancy’s characters. The general critical consensus around Clancy’s work

accuses the author of the same bland characterization that Weinberger ascribes

to Ludlum. Weinberger revealed the true source of his irritation with Ludlum’s

characters later in the review. He noted, “The required LeCarre syndrome” has

“full reign,” and complained that Ludlum took extra effort to show “those on our

side are also guilty of several violations of good conduct.” 343 It was the

suggestion that American agents were anything less than Clancy’s paragons of

virtue that offended Weinberger.

341 Claudia Rosett to Caspar Weinberger, February 18, 1986, Part III: Box 43, The Papers of
Caspar Weinberger, The Library of Congress.
342 Caspar Weinberger, “The Bourne Supremacy,” The Wall Street Journal, The Caspar
Weinberger Papers, The Library of Congress.
343 Weinberger, “Bourne Supremacy”

113
 The sole positive that he found in the work was that the character of Marie

was able to draw Bourne back “to necessary government service.” 344 In addition,

Weinberger noted, in what is an immense understatement, that some characters

demonstrate “reasonably skilled espionage talents.” 345 However, despite the

“considerable compulsive fascination” Ludlum creates and the author’s

impressive “narrative skill to keep one turning the pages,” Weinberger petulantly

noted that the Bourne Supremacy was “a book that one can put down [emphasis

Weinberger’s].”346 He concluded the review by seeking an answer for Ludlum’s

popularity. What Weinberger most feared about the book was that people would

read it and “may really think this [was] the way the government’s business [was]

done.”347 The sentiment reveals that Weinberger’s true concern with the book

was that it may undermine the positive shifts in popular attitudes towards the

government and he thus felt compelled to attack the book with a review that

stretched the reader’s credulity in the reviewer’s impartiality.

Weinberger’s emphasis on the importance of fiction in political discourse

continued after he left office. Angered by the defense policy pursued by the

Clinton Administration, Weinberger sought to warn the American people about

the consequences of the deterioration of American strength the policy

344 Ibid.
345 Ibid.
346 Ibid.
347 Ibid

114
engendered. Writing to Margaret Thatcher asking her to write the forward to his

forthcoming book, he noted the project came about because the U.S. let its

“defense stagnate.”348 Interestingly, Weinberger choose to convey his warning

through a series of “fictional war games” rather than a standard policy centric

book. He argues in the introduction that fiction was often better at “exposing

threats as well as exposing our own limitations.” 349 The vignettes that follow are

a throwback to the Reagan administration for the way they advocate for missile

defense, advanced military technology, and ensuring the quality and training of

members of the military.

The pre-publication publicity effort for The Next War reveals that the roles

of Clancy and Weinberger reversed in the decade after the publication of Patriot

Games. Weinberger now turned to Clancy for a blurb praising the former

defense secretary’s fiction. Peter Schweizer, the book’s coauthor, noted that

they had saved “the entire back of the dust jacket” for Clancy’s comments. 350

The authors saved a significant amount of space despite already having

comments from Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, and Gen. Jack Vessey in

hand that proved more substantial that what Clancy ultimately supplied. Despite

348 Caspar Weinberger to Margaret Thatcher, June 25, 1996, Part III: Box 41, The Caspar
Weinberger Papers, The Library of Congress.
349 Caspar Weinberger and Peter Schweizer, The Next War (Washington DC: Regnery
Publishing, 1996), xxiv.
350 Peter Schweizer to Tom Clancy, August 20, 1996, Part III: Box 41, The Caspar Weinberger
Papers, The Library of Congress.
115
this, Clancy’s comments still received the most prominent placement on the

cover. This is because for many Americans, particularly ones likely to purchase

a book by Weinberger, Clancy was now the leading voice on defense issues.

Clancy and the Pentagon

Caspar Weinberger was not the only fan of Tom Clancy working on the

south side of the Potomac. Uniformed service members eagerly embraced

Clancy’s work and were an important driver of Hunt for Red October’s early

sales. Military support for the novel buttressed its credibility and authenticity,

which benefitted both Clancy and the armed forces. The Pentagon supported

Clancy’s novels for the same reasons that Reagan and Weinberger did, they built

support for the military and cast investments in new weapons and technology in a

positive light.

The Navy was among the earliest supporters of Clancy’s work and actively

sought to legitimize his efforts. In February of 1985, they invited Clancy to the

Pentagon for a lunch to discuss the book. Prior to the meal, Vice Admiral Nils

Thurman, the deputy Chief Naval Officer for Submarine Warfare, with a large

plaque and the intersecting brass dolphins of a submariner. 351 In his letter

thanking Reagan for the White House invitation, Clancy counted his honorary

induction as a submariner as one of the three most meaningful events that came

351 Clancy to Richards, March 8, 1985.

116
from writing the book.352 Six admirals attended the lunch that followed,

demonstrating the amount of support for the novel in the upper reaches of the

Navy. In addition, the told Clancy that every officer attending the Prospective

Command Course, the course that trained all future submarine captains, would

receive a copy of his book.353

Red Storm Rising also received a warm official reception from the Navy.

That it was a fictionalization of a Department of the Navy sponsored war game

likely contributed, along with the essential role that the Navy plays in winning the

fictional World War III. The Naval War College included the book in its

curriculum shortly after its publication, which further blurred the line between

work of fiction and government document. The syllabus for “Ops-Session 2”

refers to Red Storm Rising as a war game, and asserts that it is a “very true to

life story.” It also lauds the books portrayal of “coordination between services as

well as allies,” use of technology, and the politics involved in beginning and

ending wars.354 The stated objectives for the case study included introduction of

“officers to various maritime, national, and alliance strategies,” to demonstrate

the importance of “joint and combined operations,” and to “evaluate military

decisions.” The audience for the coursework consisted primarily of senior

352 Clancy to Reagan.

353 Clancy to Richards, February 5, 1985.
354 “OPS Session 2—Red Storm Rising: A Case Study,” U.S. Naval War College, Personal
Papers of Larry Bond.
117
officers in both the U.S. and allied navies with the potential to command large

ships and advance to the highest ranks of their respective services.

The Navy worked with Clancy prior to the publication of Red Storm Rising.

He and his co-author Larry Bond were able to interact with the staff of the

Supreme Allied Command Atlantic (SACLANT) in Norfolk, Virginia, as research

for the book. Clancy recounts his interactions with the SACLANT director of

public affairs as a real pleasure, and Bond recalls that the trip significantly

contributed to the accuracy of the book.355 In particular, Clancy enjoyed the

opportunity to work with British officers, who seemed to talk tactics more and

talked “a little more freely” in general than their American counterparts did. 356

The favorable reception from British officers also showed the growing

international support for Clancy’s writing, particularly within Britain and other

NATO members.

The full magnitude of the Navy’s support for Clancy becomes apparent in

the debate over the 1990 National Defense Authorization Act. Appearing before

a subcommittee of the House Armed Service Committee, Vice Admiral Daniel

Cooper, the assistant-CNO for Undersea Warfare faced a question about a

recent Clancy article that stated that the British provided superior training for their

355 Clancy to Richards, February 5, 1985

Author Interview with Larry Bond.
356 Clancy to Richards, February 5, 1985

118
submariners than the Americans. The questioner, Representative Norman

Sisisky, noted that Clancy had “a big following as a big naval expert” and wanted

to provide the admiral an opportunity to rebut the author. 357 Cooper

understandably disagreed with Clancy’s article, and mentioned that he had been

waiting for an opportunity to correct the record. However, even in criticizing the

author, Cooper also sought to praise him. He stated, “There is nobody I like

more than Tom Clancy,” and called him a “fine individual” and a “real patriot.”358

Cooper went further, arguing that because he “love[s] Tom Clancy” and the

author did “a lot for the submarine force” it was particularly discouraging to see

such criticism.359 During Cooper’s response, Representative Duncan Hunter

interjected that Clancy helped “the Navy immensely,” and drew rapid agreement

from the admiral. 360

Even as he argued against the issues that Clancy raised, Cooper sought

to show the criticism as the result of differing interpretations and opinions rather

than a lack of expertise. Cooper differed with Clancy on the amount of

conservatism that the Navy encouraged in its submarine commanders.

However, he framed his remarks in a way that did not directly refute Clancy.

357 “Hearings on National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1990—H.R. 2461 and
Oversight of Previously Authorized Programs,” (Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1990), 333.
358 Ibid.
359 Ibid, 335.
360 Ibid, 333.

119
Instead, Cooper focused on the intense training that submarine officers received

and argued that the “strict process” led to the selection of the “smartest people”

that he could “possibly find.” 361 The indirect engagement of Clancy’s critiques left

the author’s expertise intact on the public record and avoided damage to an

asset that the Navy viewed as important to its public affairs battle.

Clancy’s friends in the military extended beyond the Navy, and he could

count on having access to flag officers in any of the services. He struck up a

particularly close relationship with General Colin Powell. The two meet at a 1988

awards ceremony in Nashville while Powell was serving as Reagan’s National

Security Advisor. Powell remembered that the two “hit it off right away” since

Clancy was “deeply involved in military affairs” and Powell was “a soldier.” 362

The two stayed in touch over the years, and Powell introduced Clancy to his

second wife, Alexandra Llewellyn, who was also Powell’s cousin. Upon Clancy’s

death, Powell noted that he had lost a “dear friend.”

The friendship also had professional benefits. Clancy credits Powell in the

acknowledgements of Clear and Present Danger for giving him the idea for the

novel.363 The idea stemmed from conversations between the two “about the

work the military was doing in South America to cut the flow of drugs.” 364 At the

361 Ibid, 334.

362 Eliza Gray, “Colin Powell Remembers Tom Clancy,” Time, October 2, 2103.
363 Tom Clancy, Clear and Present Danger, New York: Putnam, 1989.
364 Gray, “Colin Powell Remembers Tom Clancy

120
time of the conversation, Powell was still serving as National Security Advisor

and would have significant knowledge of anti-drug efforts and a desire to build

favorable opinion about the military operations in order to rehabilitate the NSA

after Iran-Contra and maintain public support for military operations in South and

Latin America.

Clancy on the Hill

Clancy books quickly became favored props and rhetorical devices for

Congressmen pressing for increased military spending. Shortly after the release

of Red Storm Rising, Senator Dan Quayle held a copy aloft, rhetorically his

colleagues if they had read the book. If they had, he continued, then they would

realize that ““ASAT technology is what wins the war.” 365 Congressman Walter

Jones of North Carolina made similar use of the novel as he introduced a bill to

expand the Merchant Marine. He noted the key role of shipping in the book, and

argued that its portrayal of the importance of the Merchant Marine had “more

impact than all the charts and graphs [Congress] could put together.” 366

Clancy’s fiction also impressed Newt Gingrich. Just a week after the

release of Red Storm Rising, he held it up in a floor debate as the “best single

365 Walter Hixson, “Red Storm Rising: Tom Clancy Novels and the Cult of National Security,”
Diplomatic History, Volume 17, Issue 4, October 1993.
366 Walter Jones, “Introduction of a Bill to Amend the Merchant Marine Act, 1936,” Congressional
Record, December 19, 1987, 36671.
121
illustration of how a major conflict would work in the real world.” 367 He then went

on to quote from length from the book and used it as the centerpiece of his

argument for more investment in anti-satellite technology. He felt that the book

showed that “opposition to anti-satellite technology may well be the most

irrational position on the left this week.”368 Gingrich was not just using Clancy’s

work for publicity or an attempt to tie himself to a popular piece of culture. Soon

after publication, Gingrich invited Clancy and Bond to lunch at the Capitol, and

the co-authors engaged in a series of informal discussions with Congressmen

about defense policy. 369 When answering a question from then-Congressman

Dick Cheney about the capabilities of the Russian Navy, Larry Bond was

surprised to discover the future Secretary of Defense and Vice President was

studiously taking notes. 370 Interactions like this were common, nearly impossible

to trace, and can play a large but unacknowledged role in shaping how people

view the world.

Congressional representatives made use of more than just Clancy’s

fiction. Articles written by the author frequently appeared in congressional

debate, and members took every opportunity to reference Clancy’s work and

insert it into the record. The exchange between Admiral Cooper and

367 Newt Gingrich, “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987,” Congressional
Record August 13, 1986, 21173.
368 Ibid.
369 Larry Bond Interview.
370 Ibid.

122
Representatives Sisisky and Hunter explored previously in this chapter

demonstrated the care with which they handled disagreements with the author,

as all three professed their respect for Clancy’s expertise and all he had done for

the Navy. Conservative hawks in particular embraced Clancy and sang his

praises from the floor.

Senator Jesse Helms, a prominent conservative who played a significant

role in Reagan’s election, referred to a letter that Clancy wrote him while

speaking against a proposal to share research and development of new weapons

with Japan. Helms noted that he had the “privilege to attend the Army-Navy

game” with the author and found him a “thoughtful and reflective man” who

understood “the importance of U.S. leadership in technology.” 371 Helms then

quoted a letter Clancy wrote to the Business and Industrial Council that not only

spoke out against the proposed technology sharing, but also questioned how the

U.S. could “refer to Japan as an ally.” He argued that an “alliance is an

exchange of services and interests” and that Japan was not doing its part. Thus,

if wanted “some good fighter planes” then they should “purchase the planes, for

cash, just as [Clancy] purchased Nikon cameras and Sony electronics.”372 After

371 Jesse Helms, ”Disapproving the Export of Technology to Co-Develop or Co-Produce the FSX
Aircraft with Japan,” Congressional Record- Senate, May 16, 1989, 9220
372 Ibid.

123
inserting the letter into the record, Helms noted that he had nothing to add to it

and that it reflected the sentiments of the American people.

Use of Clancy was not limited to Republicans, however. Representative

Thomas Downey, a Democrat from New York, spoke after Gingrich in the debate

on anti-satellite technology. Referring to the previous marks, he noted they were

“a remarkable argument, based on fiction” in favor of the technology. 373 Downey

admitted that he was not sure if this was a case of “life imitating art or fiction

imitating reality,” but in either case he was sure that “there was no clearer

example” of how “arms control has enhanced U.S. security than in the ASAT

program.”374 However, Downey disagreed with the contention that the program

needed more funding, arguing that the present Soviet capability was a "model-T

compared to the ASAT that [the US] could deploy.” 375 The implication of

Downey’s statement is that he accepted Clancy’s portrayal as realistic and as

proof that it required no further investment.

Robert Dornan, a Republican representative from California, entered the

debate on the side of Gingrich. He began with a reference to Homer’s The

Odyssey implying that ASAT would serve as Ulysses’ wooden stake that he used

373 Thomas Downey, “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987,” Congressional
Record August 13, 1986, 21174.
374 Ibid
375 Ibid.

124
to blind Polyphemus and protect his men.376 Dornan then returned to the

example of convoy security that Gingrich used to argue for more investment in

the technology. Although he did not directly reference Clancy, he accepted the

original metaphor and then expanded upon it with a literary reference of his own.

Dornan also made direct use of Clancy on the floor of the House. In a

statement supporting the Strategic Defense Initiative, he included a recent Wall

Street Journal article written by Clancy.377 The article equates opponents of SDI

with Luddites and criticizes a recent Office of Technology Assessment report that

argued that the technology would never work. Dornan stated that this was “the

best analogy” he had heard on the issue, and enjoined his colleagues to “read

Mr. Clancy’s commentary and contemplate his analysis.” 378 The frequent

reference to Clancy within the halls of Congress shows the benefit of the

narrative structure that the author used. It made questions of technology more

accessible and understandable and as a result found itself at the center of

debates about U.S. defense spending.

Clancy and the Public

Though commonly hailed as the first “techno-thriller,” Hunt for Red

October was not the first of its kind. Instead, British General Sir John Hackett’s

376 Robert Dornan, “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987,” Congressional
Record August 13, 1986, 21174.
377 Robert Dornan, “OTA-The Home of Modern Day Luddites,” Congressional Record April 28,
1988, 9484.
378 Ibid.

125
The Third World War: August 1985 is the first modern example of the genre.

Published in 1978, the book is remarkably similar to Red Storm Rising. As the

title suggests it depicts a World War III scenario, and as in Clancy’s war game

naval power plays a decisive role in ensuring the survival of Western Europe and

the victory of NATO. The book also ends with a coup in Moscow against

hardliners; however, in Hackett’s book this takes place after a limited nuclear

exchange that sees the Soviets destroy Birmingham and NATO destroy Minsk.

Hackett wrote the book with an express political purpose, as a retired general he

and his co-authors, a group of similarly retired flag officers, felt that the

conventional deterrent in Western Europe was insufficient to deter Soviet

aggression. The concluding chapter of the book notes that “if the crisis of 1985

had occurred in 1977” it would be “scarcely conceivable the Soviet plan…could

have failed.”379

The early draft of the book actually had the Soviets winning easily due to

the continued “damage of the locust years” of the 1970s.380 However, after

consulting with colleagues still on active service Hackett realized such a narrative

would “cause more harm than good.” 381 He then changed the state of world

379 John Hackett, The Third World War: August 1985, (New York: MacMillan, 1978)
380 Ibid, 138.
381 Stephen Webbe, “World War III: A Novel Warning,” The Christian Science Monitor, August 7,
1980.
126
powers that underlined the novel to depict a rushed rearmament beginning in

1978. The crash program proves just enough to fend off the Soviet assault.

The Third World War became a bestseller in paperback form, debuting on

The New York Times list in the ninth position on June 1, 1980. 382 Berkley Books

published the paperback version, and its success likely influenced their decision

to buy the rights to Clancy’s first book prior to its publication. Universal also

purchased the movie rights, though a film never made its way into production. 383

The book also received attention in the Soviet Union, where newspapers

accused Hackett of allowing the use of his name on what was in reality a report

authored by NATO.384 Like Hunt for Red October, The Third World War found its

way into the hands of world leaders. British Prime Minister James Callaghan

read the book and felt it important enough to share with President Jimmy Carter,

who also reportedly enjoyed it.385 Hackett’s book also served as an inspiration to

and influence on Clancy’s writing. Larry Bond recalls discussing the book with

Clancy as they worked on Red Storm Rising and Clancy quotes Hackett before

the prologue of Clear and Present Danger.386

However, Hackett did not find the same lasting success that Clancy did.

Despite credentials and access that outstripped Clancy and the use of a similar

382 “Paperback Best Sellers: Trade,” The New York Times, June 1, 1980.
383 Webbe, “World War III: A Novel Warning”
384 Ibid.
385 Ibid.
386 Larry Bond interview with Author, October 20, 2014. Clear and Present Danger.

127
message, The Third World War would be his only bestselling thriller. A sequel

released in 1982 flopped critically and commercially, and Hackett shifted from

writing novels to writing history. There are many reasons why Clancy found

more lasting success as the writer of thrillers than Hackett. Most importantly,

Clancy’s narrative skills are much better. The Third World War lacks central

characters, routinely incorporates military reports, and uses enough jargon to

make the book somewhat inaccessible. Reviewers of The Third World War: The

Untold Story, the 1982 sequel, also noted numerous inaccuracies in the use of

weapons systems and noted that the “rush of events” made much of Hackett’s

work anachronistic.387 The harsh criticism of American tactics and organization

likely did not help its reception, nor did the criticism of the number of women in

the US military. In just four years, Hackett allowed his work to become a relic,

something that Clancy avidly worked to avoid. The Third World also did not

receive the same level of official support that Hunt for Red October did. Hackett

did not receive invitations to White House events, there were no prominent

officials positively reviewing it, and Carter’s endorsement came from hearsay

rather than the explicit and enthusiastic way that Reagan endorsed Clancy.

What the success of Hackett’s book does show, is that by 1980 the

American public welcomed the shift in the portrayal of national security in culture

387 Fred Haynes, “War Games Superpowers Play,” The Washington Post, October 24, 1982.
128
that Reagan was advocating. Deborah Grosvenor, the editor of Hunt for Red

October, argues that the books success is due in large part to its timing. 388 Had

Clancy submitted the book in mid-1970s or mid-1990s she believes that it would

not have exploded into the public consciousness in the way that it did. The “new

spirit” that Reagan referred to in his West Point address did exist, and it had a

profound impact on the cultural portrayal of the Cold War.389

In 1985 as Hunt for Red October ascended the best seller’s list, two

Sylvester Stallone films demonstrated a resurgent nationalism as they dominated

at the box office. Only Back to the Future would out gross Rambo: First Blood

Part II and Rocky IV in 1985, and both movies would earn more than 125 million

at the box office.390 Both the Rambo and Rocky movies feature the titular hero

prevailing over a Soviet villain (Ivan Drago in Rocky and Lt. Col. Podovsky in

Rambo) as a way of reasserting American superiority in the Cold War. In 1986,

the trend in cinema continued as Top Gun ruled the box office earning over 175

million during its theatrical run.391 It would be fair to view Top Gun as a two-hour

long recruitment video for the Navy, and it certainly demonstrates the Clancy

themes of superior people and weapons as the way to defeat communist

aggression.

388 Deborah Grosvenor interview with author, November 11, 2014.

389 Reagan, Address at Commencement Exercises of the United States Military Academy,” May
21, 1981.
390 “1985 Domestic Grosses,” boxofficemojo.com
391 “1986 Domestic Grosses,” boxofficemojo.com

129
 The trend towards positive portrayal of US foreign policy and military

operations was not universal. In addition to Top Gun, 1986 also saw the release

of the Oliver Stone directed Platoon, which won Best Picture and grossed over

130 million at the box office. The movie portrays an amoral, mission-less military

in Vietnam, and evokes the movies that the first draft of Reagan’s West Point

speech criticized. Graphic novels also offered a counterpoint to the jingoism and

militarism of the Reagan administration. The 1986-87 comic run of Watchmen by

Alan Moore imagines a Nixon administration that stretches into the 1980s and

shows streets riddled with crime and domestic problems that the White House

ignores as it provokes the Soviet Union. Throughout the series, the famed

“Doomsday Clock” of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists ticks closer to zero,

causing the stories villain to fabricate an alien threat and destroy major cities

across the globe to force the two sides to come to peace. 392 Frank Miller’s 1986

Dark Knight Returns features Ronald Reagan miscalculating the importance of

Corto Maltese, a stand in for Grenada, to the Soviets, prompting a nuclear

exchange. Reagan appears on television glad in a full protective suit and

laments that the Soviets are “bad losers” as he enters his bunker. 393 Superman

prevents the missile from destroying American forces on the island, and Miller

uses the next page of panels to demonstrate the horrifying effects of a nuclear

392 Alan Moore, Watchmen, (New York: DC Comics, 1987)

393 Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns (New York: DC Comics, 1986)
130
detonation on the representative of truth, justice, and the American Way.

Although not culturally insignificant, movies like Platoon and graphic novels like

Watchmen and Dark Knight Rises did not reflect the mainstream in the same way

that movies like Rambo, Rocky, and Top Gun did.

What set Clancy’s work apart from popular movies like the Rambo and

Rocky series and cult classics like Red Dawn was the realism of the books. The

planes used in Top Gun did not actually exist, but everything in Red Storm Rising

was real. Thus, his books served to both entertain and educate. Clancy’s books

did this in large numbers, and it would be difficult for someone to escape

consuming some aspect of Clancy’s work during the 1980s. The success of the

hardcover version of Hunt for Red October led Berkley Books to order a first print

run of 800,000 copies and would ultimately sell over three million copies of the

book.394 Red Storm Rising was an immediate commercial success, debuting on

the New York Times bestseller list at number two, behind Danielle Steele’s

Wanderlust.395 By the end of the month, it ascended to the top spot and sold

over a half million copies. 396 Despite its release late in the year, Red Storm

Rising would rank second on year-end bestseller lists, trailing only Stephen

King’s It.397

394 Clancy to Richards, March 5, 1985

395 “Best Sellers,” New York Times, August 3, 1986.
396 “Best Sellers” New York Times, August 24, 1986. Edwin McDowell, “Author of ‘Hunt for Red
October’ stirs up a ‘Red Storm’” The New York Times August 12, 1986
397 “The Books of the Century” http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~immer/books1980s

131
 Red Storm Rising also began a four-year period that saw a new Clancy

book finish either first or second in total sales for the year. 398 Clancy slowed his

pace in the 1990s, only releasing a new book every other year. Of these books,

only 1994’s Without Remorse failed to win one of the top two spots, as it finished

fourth in sale for the year.399 The first movie based on a Clancy book, Hunt for

Red October, was an immediate commercial success finishing as the sixth

highest grossing movie of 1990.400 Movie adaptations of Patriot Games and

Clear and Present Danger came out in 1992 and 1994, with Harrison Ford

replacing Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan and earned two hundred million between

them, finishing fourteenth and seventh at the box office. 401 Clancy also

expanded into video games in the late 1980s. There were three separate

adaptations of Hunt for Red October, and Sid Meier, best known for the

Civilization games, created a game based on Red Storm Rising for Micropose.402

The video games allowed for further interaction with Clancy’s world and provided

increased familiarization with the military technology they depict.

The onslaught of media turned Clancy into perhaps the most visible or

recognized expert on military technology to the average American. The

Maryland insurance agent became the celebrity commentator, with the ability to

398 Ibid.
399 “The Books of the Century” http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~immer/books1990s
400 “1990 Domestic Grosses,” boxofficemojo.com
401 “1992 Domestic Grosses,” boxofficemojo.com. “1994 Domestic Grosses,” boxofficemojo.com.
402 Larry Bond interview with author, October 20, 2014

132
make complex technology and tactics accessible. His presence facilitated the

ongoing movement towards the embrace of the military and its weapons and

provided an alternate way for millions to imbibe Reagan’s defense policy.

133
 Conclusion: Cultural Legacies

In the final chapter of Culture and Imperialism, Edward Said takes aim at

the 1991 war with Iraq. While his characterization of the conflict as part of a

“cultural war against Arabs” rings hollow, he does identify a crucial change of

American cultural perception of its own power. 403 He criticizes the administration

of George H.W. Bush for portraying the war “as a painless Nintendo exercise”

and for propagating the “image of Americans as virtuous, clean warriors.” 404

Popular culture embraced these images. The war crossed into the cultural

realm, as companies marketed the war with t-shirts, patriotic commercials, and

even trading cards.405 The short period of hostilities, small number of American

casualties, and prominent public gratitude of Kuwait reinforced the cultural

themes that Reagan introduced during his presidency. American technical

superiority changed the conflict from a war into “a turkey-shoot.”406 Images of

miles of flaming wreckage of Iraqi tanks and trucks attested to the reemergence

403 Said, 301

404 Ibid.
405 McAlister, 241. As a 7 year old, I was very proud of my complete collection of Pro Set Desert
Storm Trading Cards.
406 Rick Atkinson and William Claiborne, “Allies Surround Republican Guard, Say Crippled Iraqis
Are Near Defeat,” The Washington Post, February 27, 1991.
134
of American military power, and created a sense that interventions could be

clean, quick, and decisive.

The media portrayed American service members, from Colin Powell as

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs down to privates in the field, as representatives of

the best America had to offer. Melani McAlister notes in Epic Encounters, that

the media identified the military as “a microcosm of the US population… drawn

from small towns and communities around the nation.” The military represented

the “diversity of the United States.”407 Such language mirrors Reagan’s answer

to the query of Michener’s Admiral Tarrant who marveling at the sacrifice of his

command asks, “Where did we get such men?” 408 Reagan responded as he

presented the Medal of Honor to Master Sergeant Roy Benevidez that, “We find

them where we've always found them, in our villages and towns, on our city

streets, in our shops, and on our farms.”409 The combination of military success

and public support of Desert Storm marked the culmination of the policies started

while Reagan was in the White House. The war was a Tom Clancy novel come

to life.

The relationship between Ronald Reagan, the American Public, and Tom

Clancy’s novels shows the importance of popular culture in shaping the

407 McAlister, 250

408 James Michener, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, (New York: Fawcett Books, 1953), 126.
409 Reagan, “Remarks on Presenting the Medal of Honor to Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez,”
Arlington, Virginia February 27, 1981.
135
discussion and acceptance of policy. The books provided a compelling and

memorable narrative to their readers, and then served as a mental touchstone for

them as they considered the policy of the Reagan administration. Though

Clancy took significant inspiration from Reagan’s strategy, the exchange was not

one way. Clancy’s ability to turn Reagan’s strategic thinking into a relatable and

realistic narrative reinforced Reagan’s confidence in his policy, even as aspects

of it faced withering criticism from both ends of the political spectrum.

Additionally, the prominence Clancy achieved in popular culture demonstrated to

Reagan that his efforts to change American mentalities from the defeatist

attitudes prevalent in the 1970s to a triumphal narrative were also working. It is

difficult to imagine Clancy achieving the same level of readership and acclaim if

The Hunt for Red October came out in 1974 or 1994 instead of in 1984. The

success he found is due in large part to the administration’s efforts to shape

popular narratives about American strength, the military, and the Cold War. At its

most powerful, the interactions between political leaders, the public, and

contributors to popular culture become a mutually reinforcing cycle. Each

shapes the ideas and actions of the others and helps set the conditions for

durable strategy.

136
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