May 1, 2023
In this week’s Horns of a Dilemma, Maj. Ben Griffin, the Chief of the Military History Division at West Point, discusses his new book, Reagan's War Stories: A Cold War Presidency. In the book, Ben tells three stories about United States President Ronald Reagan, the President who ushered in the end of the Cold War. The book touches on Reagan’s relationship with many writers and figures from pop culture, including writer Tom Clancy. In part of this episode, Griffin discusses the relationship between the two and how President Reagan saw Clancy’s book, Red Storm Rising, as a credible war game that influenced his negotiations with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev over nuclear weapons. Griffin also touches on how Clancy’s books, including The Hunt for Red October, shaped his own life.