Changes

SALT I limited the United States and Soviet Union to their 1972 levels of intercontinental ballistic missiles.  In 1975, the two nations signed another arms reduction agreement known as the Helsinki Accords, and this was joined by 35 other nations.  The American presidency had changed from Nixon to Ford by 1975, but in practice the Administration was still being run by Henry Kissinger and his view of world government and relations.  Conservatives criticized both treaties as merely hurting the United States, noting that there was no way to enforce the treaty against the Soviet Union.

SALT I limited the United States and Soviet Union to their 1972 levels of intercontinental ballistic missiles.  In 1975, the two nations signed another arms reduction agreement known as the Helsinki Accords, and this was joined by 35 other nations.  The American presidency had changed from Nixon to Ford by 1975, but in practice the Administration was still being run by Henry Kissinger and his view of world government and relations.  Conservatives criticized both treaties as merely hurting the United States, noting that there was no way to enforce the treaty against the Soviet Union.

President Jimmy Carter continued the trend by signing SALT II in 1979, which would have provided for further reductions.  In a victory for conservatives, the U.S. Senate refused to ratify that treaty.  At one point, President Carter told the American people that his 12-year-old daughter was upset about the growing problem of nuclear proliferation, by which many other nations such as India and Pakistan acquired atomic bombs.  This reliance by Carter on the words of his 12-year-old daughter, like much of his presidency, seemed ridiculous to many Americans.

President Jimmy Carter continued the trend by signing SALT II in 1979, which would have provided for further reductions.  In a victory for conservatives, the U.S. Senate refused to ratify that treaty.  At one point, President Carter told the American people that his 12-year-old daughter was upset about the growing problem of nuclear proliferation, by which many other nations such as India and Pakistan acquired atomic bombs.  This over-reliance by Carter on the atypical preoccupation of his young daughter seemed ridiculous to many Americans, as much of Carter’s presidency did.

=== F. SDI ===

=== F. SDI ===