Richard Nixon and Detente
Richard Nixon
President Nixon hoped to thaw the Cold War and ease relations between the nuclear superpowers. He felt it imperative to lessen the likelihood of nuclear conflict. By his 1968 election victory, the two nations had been bitter rivals for over 20 years. Several flashpoints had threatened the world and led the U.S. to implement a policy of Mutually Assured Destruction. Nixon’s efforts led to arms agreements, a lessening of tensions, and major Soviet concessions.
what was the point of Detente?
Détente was the general reduction in the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and a "thawing" of the Cold War that occurred from the late 1960s until the start of the 1980s. More generally, it may be applied to any international situation where previously hostile nations not involved in an open war "warm up" to each other and threats de-escalate.
Detente
After the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the two superpowers agreed to install a direct hotline between Washington D.C. and Moscow, enabling leaders of both countries to quickly interact with each other in a time of urgency, and reduce the chances that future crises could escalate into an all-out war. The U.S./U.S.S.R. détente was presented as an applied extension of that thinking. The SALT II pact of the late 1970s continued the work off the SALT I talks, ensuring further reduction in arms by the Soviets and by the US. The Helsinki Accords, in which the Soviets promised to grant free elections in Europe, has been called a major concession to ensure peace by the Soviets.