President George H. W. Bush shows appreciation to Jeane Kirkpatrick for her assistance in the preparations for the historic Malta Summit

This original photograph shows President George H. W. Bush and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev shaking hands during the Malta Summit, held December 2–3, 1989. The summit was the first face-to-face meeting between President Bush and General Secretary Gorbachev, taking place just weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall and amid the rapid collapse of Communist regimes across Eastern Europe.

The Malta Summit is widely regarded as a symbolic end to the Cold War—the most consequential U.S.–Soviet encounter since the Yalta Conference of 1945.

In the image, Bush is seated beside Secretary of State James A. Baker III, while Gorbachev sits next to Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.

Ronald Reagan selected Jeane Kirkpatrick as his foreign policy adviser during his 1980 presidential campaign. Under President Reagan, she became the first woman to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, holding the post from 1981 to 1985 and serving as a key member of his national security team.

Kirkpatrick later served as a prominent foreign policy adviser to President George H. W. Bush and was consulted during his preparations for the Malta Summit.

The photograph is inscribed and signed by President Bush:

“To Jeane Kirkpatrick, thanks for your sound advice as I got ready for this one. — George Bush”