A negotiator of the nuclear age
Gerard C. Smith was an American lawyer and nuclear-policy specialist who treated arms control and nonproliferation as problems of statecraft. As the U.S. lead negotiator at SALT I, he organized the practical work of limitation talks amid competing nuclear strategies, later recording their tensions and judgments in Doubletalk. He continued to oppose measures he believed would undermine the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, making his career a study in both managing and questioning the arms race.
Career Timeline
- 1935Graduated from Yale College
- 1938Graduated from Yale Law School; practiced law in New York
- 1942–1945Procurement officer, U.S. Department of the Navy
- 1950–1954Special assistant to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
- 1954–1961State Department special assistant for atomic energy and Director of Policy Planning
- 1969–1973Director of ACDA and chief U.S. negotiator at SALT I
- 1977–1980Special presidential representative for nonproliferation
- 1981Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom