Reagan appointed Matlock to the position of Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of European and Soviet Affairs in the National Security Council (NSC) in order to develop a negotiating strategy to end the arms race [REF].
On November 25, 1983, Soviet leader Yuri Andropov announced the resumption of nuclear missile deployment in the western U.S.S.R., a sign of the increased tension in the relationship [REF].