Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Trump Presidency -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (69399)	5/2/2018 12:28:15 PM
From: i-node	Respond to of 359019

I don't think we can ever know with certainty. But I do think Reagan is due credit for recognizing, a priori, the opportunity then acting on it. Reagan thought the policy of MAD was insane. How could a nation be secure while depending on the claim that the other guy knows not to push the button first, leaving you with the option of ending the world? Made no sense at all to him. The reason SDI was so appealing to him at that instant was that Teller was telling him, "Yes, it is possible to create a missile shield" and Reagan had the gumption to recognize exponential increases in technology do occur. Its final form didn't matter; only that it could potentially provide defense against missiles. I credit Reagan with "winning" based mostly on his vision but also, on his walking out of the negotiation over SDI. They already knew he was to be taken seriously based on the PATCO strike (this has been argued, but Reagan's (and TR's) biographer, Edmund Morris, was told directly by some of the Russian leaders involved the firing of PATCO was a key moment in establishing Reagan's bona fides). This debate will continue for years, but I think the history written 100 years after the events will clearly find Reagan was the strong catalyst that brought the end of the Cold War to be. I would love to be around for it but fear I'm not going to make it ;)