John Deutch served as Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from 1977-1980, and on a number of presidential commissions in the 1980s. In the interview he discusses the problems facing intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) modernization during the Reagan Administration. He explains the impossibility of finding a perfect nuclear basing system in the U.S. political environment of the time, and the subsequent recommendations of the Scowcroft Commission of 1983, of which he was a member. The Commissions task, Deutch says, was to identify a modernization program acceptable to all political factions, and he discusses the reasons why the MX was a key part of its recommendation. The Reagan administrations Star Wars proposal, he recalls, horrified Commission members who were not consulted beforehand. He describes the Commissions systematic approach to conferring with members of Congress, and particularly its work with junior congressional liaisons, including Norman Dicks, Les Aspin, and Al Gore. He explains Congress eventual acceptance of placing MX missiles in Minuteman silos, arguing that the original promise of complete survivability was oversold. He advocates an arms control approach that limits warheads rather than launchers. He strongly recommends the use of small ICBMs in hard mobile launchers, as the most survivable and effective option.
