It was a cold and wintry day in November of 1974 when delegations from the U.S. and Soviet Union met near Vladivostok to hammer out an arms control agreement. Earlier that year, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had traveled to Moscow to lay the groundwork for discussions.
For the negotiations, President Gerald Ford led the Americans, while General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev led the Soviets. Meetings between the two leaders got off to a jovial start aboard a train and then adjourned to a village just outside Vladivostok.
Soon the two sides were coming to an agreement to limit each country to 2,400 ballistic missiles and 1,320 strategic missile launchers. Negotiations went on past midnight on the first day and took up the morning of the second. After a symbolic signing ceremony, there was a tour of Vladivostok. Then, upon parting, Ford gifted Brezhnev with the wolfskin coat that Ford had been wearing during the visit.
Learn more in the Gale McGee papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.