Yet the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, forbidding nuclear testing, has failed to win ratification from the U.S. Senate and lawmakers of some other nations.
Obama got "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repealed, and he won ratification for a nuclear arms limitation treaty from the Senate.
The White House had high hopes of winning ratification before this May's review conference for the Nonproliferation Treaty.
The book is part of a series on "pivotal moments in American history," and none would deny that winning ratification of the Constitution was a big deal.
The treaty, which would bar each side from deploying more than 1,550 strategic warheads or 700 launchers, is perhaps the most tangible foreign policy accomplishment of Mr. Obama's presidency to date, and winning ratification is one of his top priorities.
To meet the Council's requirements, the Russian government has promised to abolish the death penalty, although it has yet to win ratification of this pledge from a reluctant Duma.
Mr. Obama made those overly generous commitments to win ratification of New Start.
Having failed to win ratification of the test-ban treaty, or to negotiate an arms-cutting agreement with Russia, he would like to pull off a deal to limit the missile threat from North Korea.
One is whether the union can win ratification of concessions most analysts say are needed to help revive the industry.
Politically distracted as it is, the Administration should redouble its efforts to win ratification of this important nuclear accord.
Despite pressure from conservative organizations and overwhelmingly negative constituent mail, Mr. Byrd, working with Senator Howard H. Baker Jr., the Republican leader, won ratification of both treaties in 1978 by separate votes of 68 to 32 — the required two-thirds majority of 67, plus a vote to spare.
