Ronald Reagan was president of the United States.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty . Signed in Washington , D.C. by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on 8 December 1987 , the treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on 27 May 1988 and came into force on 1 June 1988 . Ronald Reagan . He transitioned Cold War policy from détente to rollback , by escalating an arms race with the USSR while engaging in talks with Gorbachev , which culminated in the INF Treaty , shrinking both countries ' nuclear arsenals .