The Nation - News from May 20, 1988

President Reagan said that a quotation fabricated in his name by former White House spokesman Larry Speakes was very close to something he recalls telling Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Reagan, who previously has said that he had not been aware of the statements Speakes concocted, told foreign broadcasters that “actually, I have to say he was not too far wrong with some of the things that were said at (his and Gorbachev’s) earlier summit meetings.” In his book, “Speaking Out,” Speakes said that, during Reagan’s first meeting with Gorbachev, in Geneva in November, 1985, he quoted Reagan as telling Gorbachev privately that “there is much that divides us, but I believe the world breathes easier because we are talking here together.” The President said: “I remember that the general secretary and I, together in a room one-on-one, remarked about the uniqueness of our situation, and that very possibly, between us, war and peace for the world could be decided depending on what we did . . . .”