To: i-node who wrote (388314 ) 6/3/2008 9:53:12 PM From: tejek Read Replies (1) | Respond to The Soviet Union fell because it was badly mismanaged. Reagan had nothing more or less to do with it than every other president from WW II on. The truth, of course, is that Reagan defeated the Soviets on multiple levels, and the speech was just one aspect of it. But the speech shouldn't be discounted; it was a very bold statement that a Bill Clinton could not have conceivably made and in fact, only a president of real stature could have done made it. Reagan was the greatest president of our lifetime because he had the vision, the self-confidence, and the commitment to end Soviet aggression and to do something about nuclear proliferation, which was, after all the Left's biggest issue in the late 80s. Reagan's most important contribution, however, was to show that peace is accomplished one way only -- through strength. You don't get peace through appeasing your enemies.
