Tensions between the countries calmed when President Richard Nixon took office. Nixon looked to use diplomacy instead of the U.S. military to solve the issues between the countries. This approach led to the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), which was a first step in reducing the nuclear arsenal. Even with Nixon’s efforts, the tensions later rose again with President Ronald Reagan taking office. Reagan’s policies led to more conflict in Central America.
Tensions began to ease once again when Mikhail Gorbachev took office in 1985. With his new policies, Russia looked toward a new relationship of political openness with the rest of the world. In November 1989, the Berlin Wall was destroyed, and the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, ending the Cold War.