He returned to the Times in 1981. Until 1993, he was in turn its national security correspondent, deputy editorial page editor, editor of the op-ed page, and columnist. The period included his leading role on the Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1986 for a six-part comprehensive series on the Star Wars Strategic Defense Initiative. In 1983, he worked as a producer on the ABC documentary The Crisis Game, which received an Emmy award in 1984.
