Reply #15: Seriously, he did something--he aided Gorby, who sheparded

[Inland]

the SU and Eastern bloc into the dustbin of history quietly instead of a transition whereby the SU hangs on for another thirty years, followed by a big boom and civil war.

The righties like to argue that it was Reagan's bellicose rhetoric and huge defense spending that did it, and in truth, it was making nice with Gorby that helped. Everything else was at best an expensive waste that alienated the world (sound familar?) or counterproductive.