Reagan 's Role During The Demise Of The Soviet Union

Reagan believed that Eat-West relations would improve if he could make the Soviet Union share his fear of a nuclear doomsday. Surprisingly Reagan's rhetoric did not stop negotiations. By his second term, Reagan had opened an East-West dialogue of a scope and intensity not seen since the era of détente under Nixon (Kissinger 769). This time however, Reagan had the public support that Nixon had so desperately needed and wanted.

Ronald Reagan expresses his views by saying, “For the first time in history, the language of ‘arms control’ was replaced by ‘arms reduction’”. President Reagan goes on to declare that the complete elimination of nuclear missiles took conventional wisdom, patience, determination, and commitment. Reagan was thankful for the treaty, and he believed that this treaty would create a working relationship between the Soviets and the United States. He wanted this relationship to take on other urgent issues such as, strategic offensive nuclear weapons, the balance of conventional forces in Europe, the destructive regional conflicts of the world, and the respect for the human and natural rights granted by God to all people. Similarly, General Secretary Gorbachev’s opinion of the treaty was equivalent to Reagan’s. He claimed, “We can be proud of planting this sapling, which may one day grow into a tree of peace.” Gorbachev felt that this treaty was the birth of a relationship between the US and Soviet Union. He thought that they had reached a breakthrough in the Cold War. The General Secretary also states, “...move together toward a nuclear-free world, which holds out for our children and grandchildren and for their children and grandchildren the promise of a fulfilling and

President Ronald Reagan, the man who is accredited with ended the forty six year cold war was elected on Nov. 4, 1980. Reagan won his election with fifty percent of the popular vote over former President Jimmy Carter who had forty one percent. While Reagan as a president is praised for such successes as strengthening the national defense, stimulating growth in the U.S. economically, and as mentioned before he is considered the President who ended the Cold War. President Reagan had achieved many things by the end of his administration, but just as he had many successes his presidency was plagued with shortcomings and a handful of what could be considered flat out failures. The purpose of this writing is to establish and identify the ‘cons’ or failures of the Reagan administration, and provide a brief description of each different aspect of the administration.

Yet by the end of his second term, Ronald Reagan has decided to change his view on the Evil Empire and to have a fresh start. President Reagan has never supported communism, he was even the leader who was leading the anti-communist movement worldwide. From the beginning of his presidency, Reagan had an enormous distrust on the Soviet Union. In 1983, in one of his famous presidential speeches, he denounced the Soviet Union as an ‘evil empire’, in fact ‘the focus of evil in the modern world’. After long term of unpleasant relations two great powers have decided to move forward with the current days issues like

ending of the cold war. It has been said that President Ronald Reagan ended the

There was no doubt that the most controversial and dangerous branch of people in the world was the Soviet Union. Coming to fame after World War II, the USSR was a state that ruled with communism and tyranny, and was a threat to the United States. Reagan wanted to end this association as quickly as he could. Known as the greatest achievement of his career, President Reagan ended the Cold War, and brought an end to communism.

The United States during the mid to late 70’s was in a constant state of alert; millions of citizens waiting for the piercing sounds of the air raid sirens to slice through the night air. America was in need of a leader, someone who could unify a divided country and save it from crushing economic failure. One man saw his need and stood up to the task, his name is President Ronald Reagan. Reagan rose to power as President during one of the most critical periods in not only American history, but also, World history: The arms standoff of the cold war. His actions as a unifier in the homeland and as a diplomat in foreign halls changed the way Americans and citizens of the world lived their lives.

There was no doubt that the most controversial and dangerous branch of people in the world was the Soviet Union. Coming to fame after World War II, the USSR was a state that ruled with communism and tyranny, and was a threat to the United States. Reagan wanted to end this association as quickly as he could. Known as the greatest achievement of his career, President Reagan ended the Cold War, and brought an end to communism.

President Reagan’s many actions helped to end the Cold War. He communicated with Gorbachev. When there is communication through the two leaders there is mutual respect. They drafted up the INF treaty. This shows that they are willing to work together try to create peace between the two countries. In a New York Times article called A President Who Listened it said, “his second term as president emphasized a different set of goals. I think he understood that it is the peacemakers, above all who earn a place in history.”

[And] by the time Jimmy Carter professed to have learned more about the Soviet Union than he had ever known before, Reagan and his fellow conservatives in both parties had laid the intellectual foundation for the military buildup of the 1980s.” At this critical juncture, the United States was in a desperate need of a strong, non-compromising president that could not only restore the United States’ image, power, and prestige, but also take the fight to the Soviets, instead of remaining in Carter’s visage as subservient. In January, 1981 the United States chose such a president as Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. Reagan would embark on a three-prong strategy over the course of his two terms, spanning the next eight years. His plan would consist of initially restoring the United States’ military power, and then constructing and using his Strategic Defensive Initiative (SDI) strategy as a fulcrum, by which would enable him to be finally in a bargaining position with the Soviets via rapprochement. These three components (military buildup, SDI, and rapprochement) were interconnected, and it is with such mobility, flexibility, and vision – in addition to a slight amount of assistance from the Soviet Union’s president, Mikhail Gorbachev – that allowed Ronald Reagan to ultimately bring an end to, and thus win, the Cold

However, before we get carried on talking about the Policys during Reagans president years and the cold war let’s talk about the way he felt towards the Soviet

Years after the Cold War, the president that was in office during its last years had passed away. Ronald Reagan, the outstanding leader, had the touched the lives of many family, friends, and American people. Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Great Britain, gave a eulogy to those people about Reagan’s personality conveying the accomplishments of the Cold War.

In the time that the Soviet Union existed, having a strong military power was an obligation. As the United States was trying to build its military power, the Soviet Union was doing the same. Both the Soviet Union and the United States put money into their military so that It would be very strong. In the 1970s and 1980s the Soviet Union were thought to be one of the most solid political units in the world, but in all reality, the Soviet Union weren’t what they seemed to be. There were many economic problems for the Soviet Stalinist system, such as the lack of acknowledgement for working well and getting the job done.

Reagan saw the Soviets at the heart of every international dispute, from revolution in Central America to international terrorism in the Middle East. To thwart the Soviets, Reagan called for the largest and most expensive peacetime military buildup in American history (reaganfoundation).

The 1980’s were a dynamic time in the life cycle of the Cold War. The early portion of this decade, which saw massive shifts in the administrations of the United States and Soviet Union, maintained an atmosphere of suspicion, wariness, and skepticism. This theme of uncertainty and caution was the logical product of decades of both American and Soviet duplicity, confrontation, and militarization. Yet, despite this mistrust between the polar Cold War belligerents, and contrary to the early rhetoric of the Reagan administration, the United States and Soviet Union modified their perceptions of each other’s intentions following 1985’s Reykjavik Summit, which, despite producing no tangible results, established common desire for arms reduction and a conclusion of the Cold War. This warming of relations, however, increased at a gradual rate and encountered significant hurdles as the two nations attempted to limit the potential for thermonuclear war. Ultimately, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev’s “dialogue of the eyes” transitioned from one administration to the next, while also weathering significant domestic pressures as the United Soviet Socialist Republic disintegrated.