Trust, but verify as a signature phrase by Reagan, who subsequently used it frequently when discussing U.S. relations with the Soviet Union. Using proverbs that the Russians could relate to may have helped relations between the two leaders. After Reagan used the phrase to emphasize "the extensive verification procedures that would enable both sides to monitor compliance with the treaty", at the signing of the INF Treaty, on 8 December 1987, his counterpart General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev responded, "You repeat that at every meeting," to which Reagan answered, "I like it." While Reagan quoted Russian proverbs, Mr. Gorbachev quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson, who
The war to end war The war to end war "The war to end war" (also called "The war to end all wars") was a term for the First World War of 1914–1918. Originally idealistic, it is now used mainly sardonically. During August 1914, immediately after the outbreak of the war, British author and social commentator H. G. Wells published a number of articles in London newspapers that subsequently appeared as a book entitled "The War That Will End War". Wells blamed the Central Powers for the coming of the war and argued that only the defeat of German militarism could bring about an end