Ambassador Graham is the former Acting Director of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) under President Clinton, and the Special Representative of President Clinton for Arms Control, Non-proliferation and Disarmament, a position in which he took the lead role in the negotiating the 1995 permanent extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Ambassador Graham served as general counsel of ACDA during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush.
Topics discussed in this interview include: Graham's early years, including his family's involvement in politics, the shaping of his political perspective, and his early work in law and government; the attempt, in 1993, to eliminate the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA); the Reagan-era struggle over the Anti-Ballistic Missiles treaty, as brought about by work done on the Strategic Defense Initiative; Graham's memories of being denounced by political foes with a vested interest against his work; the ultimate dissolution of ACDA in 1999 and the role played by Sen. Jesse Helms in ushering in the agency's demise; Graham's participation in the Republicans for Obama group; a lengthy remembrance of the negotiations that led to the signing and ratification of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in the early 1990s; Graham's memories of the collapse of the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe, including his personal experience of observing the departure of Communist ministers from Prague; ACDA's work in defending the nuclear test ban moratorium, including a pivotal decision related to Chinese nuclear testing ambitions; and advice that Graham would offer to those hoping to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
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