From the Reagan Diaries:
Tuesday, July 14 [1981]
We are still meeting & stewing about East-West trade and now we must take on the problem of what to do or if to do something to help the Polish people. Their economy is going bust. Here is the 1st major break in the Red dike — Poland’s disenchantment with Soviet Communism. Can we afford to let Poland collapse? But in the state of our present economy can we afford to help in a meaningful way? We can’t alone but if our NATO allies could really unite we could handle it.
–Ronald Reagan