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Was Ronald Reagan really the reason the US won the Cold War?

T

Tominator

Diamond Member
The History Channel special "Reagan: A Legacy Remembered"

According to Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev:
.... without Reagan, the march of freedom wouldn't have liberated the Russian people. The Russians chose the left's favorite dictator to run the USSR because Reagan scared the borscht out of them. They thought he was some dangerous cowboy who had his finger on the button and was just waiting for someone to say, "Draw!"
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Please watch the whole special as Gorbachev's comments really tell the story. It is informative and if you were living during that time, quite an eye opener as history gets blurred over time! Not to mentioned rewritten way too often...

Live and learn!
 
I think Gorbachev is being humble. He was the most liberal Soviet leader ever. It wasnt a conincedence that he was the last.
 
Well...after the limp-wristed fiasco of the Carter administration, I wouldn't doubt that Reagan made the Russians sit up and take notice a bit.
 
No, more like the Soviet economy collapsed and they couldn't afford to keep up with the U.S. on millitary build up.

But, of course Reagan did a lot of military spending while in office so he did contribute the Cold War's end.
 
But, of course Reagan did a lot of military spending while in office so he did contribute the Cold War's end.
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Right, it is safe to say that Reagan contributed, but not to give him all the credit nor even most of the credit. The left's beloved Kennedy despised Red Commies as much as any red-blooded American and probably did more than Reagan.
 
This seems like the one appropriate time for one of those annoying "In Soviet Russia..." comments....

In Soviet Russia, BORSCHT scares the REAGAN out of YOU!
 
Reagan was a special person. His actions were a large part of the reason that the Soviet Union collapsed when it did. There's no question that Gorbachev would never have become the General Secretary without Reagan's policy and personality. However, there were more people involved in the fall than simply Reagan. Margaret Thatcher. Lech Walesa. Vaclav Havel. Even Pope John Paul II. However, Reagan was the strongest reason for our victory at the time. It's a pity that Reagan wasn't as smart as Thatcher, or we may have reaped some more benefits from his ideals (no, I'm not advocating Thatcher's vehement anti-homosexuality, but rather her slashing of government spending and taxes). We would then be, "that shining city on the hill."
 
The USSR would have collapsed with or without him. It would have taken longer (perhaps much longer), but it would have happened anyway.

Anyway, its good that he mananged to end it quickly.
 
Originally posted by: MartyTheManiak
The USSR would have collapsed with or without him. It would have taken longer (perhaps much longer), but it would have happened anyway.

Anyway, its good that he mananged to end it quickly.
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maybe it would have happened, or maybe it would have staggered along drunkenly for centuries without any external pressure. the slowdown of their economic system was a necessary condition of the collapse but its not sufficient to explain it. nor is the rise of gorbachev. you need reagan willing to show how far behind the sovs were, you needed gorby willing to try just about anything to try to catch up, and you needed yeltsin on his own personal quest for power to assert that russia was breaking away from the soviet union.
 
Well...after the limp-wristed fiasco of the Carter administration, I wouldn't doubt that Reagan made the Russians sit up and take notice a bit.

Remember Carter's domestic situation was further exacerbated by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan of Dec. 1979, although this was the intended effect of a U.S. covert destabilization of Afghanistan, as admitted since by Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski. The idea was to get the Soviets into their own "Vietnam," and it worked. In the next decade, the U.S. would covertly funnel four to six billion dollars (matched dollar for dollar by the Saudis) into the Afghanistan jihad, organizing the effort under the Zia heroin-money dictatorship in Pakistan and assembling an "international" of Islamist mercenaries like Osama Binladin: the "Afghan Arabs."

And I digress.
 
Originally posted by: Hamburgerpimp
Well...after the limp-wristed fiasco of the Carter administration, I wouldn't doubt that Reagan made the Russians sit up and take notice a bit.

Remember Carter's domestic situation was further exacerbated by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan of Dec. 1979, although this was the intended effect of a U.S. covert destabilization of Afghanistan, as admitted since by Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski. The idea was to get the Soviets into their own "Vietnam," and it worked. In the next decade, the U.S. would covertly funnel four to six billion dollars (matched dollar for dollar by the Saudis) into the Afghanistan jihad, organizing the effort under the Zia heroin-money dictatorship in Pakistan and assembling an "international" of Islamist mercenaries like Osama Binladin: the "Afghan Arabs."

And I digress.
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The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was just a drop in the bucket of Carter's political problems. He was politically dead with or without the Soviet invasion (especially after Reagan asked Americans, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?").
 
Are you better off than you were four years ago

Yeah, Carter was doomed half way through his tenure. But, I'm one of the few who remember those last days. Watching the television everyday after coming home from 3rd Grade. Didn't Carter have Cancer? I swear they wacked him and replaced him with a genetic clone.
 
Originally posted by: Hamburgerpimp
Are you better off than you were four years ago

Yeah, Carter was doomed half way through his tenure. But, I'm one of the few who remember those last days. Watching the television everyday after coming home from 3rd Grade. Didn't Carter have Cancer? I swear they wacked him and replaced him with a genetic clone.
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Lots of people survive cancer. I wasn't born until 1985, so my opinions on this are all based upon my analysis of history. Judging by Reagan's mandate and his electrifying communion with the American people, it's really a shame that he didn't have the genius to capitalize on his libertarian rhetoric and ideology.

 
Judging by Reagan's mandate and his electrifying communion with the American people, it's really a shame that he didn't have the genius to capitalize on his libertarian rhetoric and ideology.

Perhaps he was too preoccupied with his VP trying to kill him.
 
Originally posted by: Hamburgerpimp
Judging by Reagan's mandate and his electrifying communion with the American people, it's really a shame that he didn't have the genius to capitalize on his libertarian rhetoric and ideology.

Perhaps he was too preoccupied with his VP trying to kill him.
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But of course, this didn't mysteriously stop him from slashing income taxes, increasing defense spending, bankrolling numerous anti-communist insurgents world-wide, stumping for the end of the Soviet Empire and the Berlin Wall, START, etc. Just because George H.W. Bush was in Texas when Reagan was shot doesn't mean he was trying to kill him. These conspiracy theories make more sense for the Kennedy assassination than the attempted assassination of Reagan.

 
The USSR began to crack many years earlier......under Nixon actually.

The reasons and events leading up to the demise of the USSR are numerous and complex.....and have quite little to do with Reagan.
 
Originally posted by: Hamburgerpimp
Judging by Reagan's mandate and his electrifying communion with the American people, it's really a shame that he didn't have the genius to capitalize on his libertarian rhetoric and ideology.

Perhaps he was too preoccupied with his VP trying to kill him.
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And that post is where Hamburgerpimp loses any remaining credibility on this board.
 
Originally posted by: Ferocious
The USSR began to crack many years earlier......under Nixon actually.

The reasons and events leading up to the demise of the USSR are numerous and complex.....and have quite little to do with Reagan.
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again, necessary but not sufficient to explain the outcome.
 
Take it from someone who was born in USSR in 1972, and wacthed the once mighty empire fold like a deck of cards. Those of you that say Reagan should take credit for the Evile Empire's demise are right; his foreign policies openly challenged America's biggest foe and prevailed in the end. Those of you that say Soviet Union began to collapse before Reagan took office are also right; beginning of the end took place when the Cold War began. Soviet War machine was unable to keep up with the Western alliance; by 1980's almost 90% of Soviet economy was geared towards supporting its bloated military force, which kept growing out of proportion. Arms race was way too much to handle for the Soviets, they were in over their heads. Unable to keep up technologically, they soon realized that reverse engineering alone will not help them to stay on the cutting edge of the military technology. Last but not least, the reason Soviet military force proved itself ineffective during conflicts like Afghanistan, later inner conflicts like civil wars in Armenia and Azerbaijan; simply put, Soviet soldiers were demoralized and unwilling to fight for their country.
 
Originally posted by: Daovonnaex
Originally posted by: Hamburgerpimp
Are you better off than you were four years ago

Yeah, Carter was doomed half way through his tenure. But, I'm one of the few who remember those last days. Watching the television everyday after coming home from 3rd Grade. Didn't Carter have Cancer? I swear they wacked him and replaced him with a genetic clone.
Click to expand...
Lots of people survive cancer. I wasn't born until 1985, so my opinions on this are all based upon my analysis of history. Judging by Reagan's mandate and his electrifying communion with the American people, it's really a shame that he didn't have the genius to capitalize on his libertarian rhetoric and ideology.
Click to expand...


You seem to think that Reagan didn't try when in fact he did but you have to realize that the President isn't a Dictator. He wanted to reform Social Security back then but he didn't have the votes in Congress and he knew it. Even today most politicians stay away from talking about privatizing Social Security, it's still the third rail. He did lower income taxes by a huge margin though.
 
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