Was Reagan Wrong?

Question

I have often admired Reagan for his craziness.
He went to great lengths to build up a nuclear arsenal to match what the Russians did.
He knew there was no sense in it and he prevailed.
I say we give everybody a nuclear weapon.
Make all arms available to everyone, regardless of maturity level.
No more laws and ethics against weapons of Mass destruction.

Hey, I am advocating it for everybody.
To deny it to you would be unethical and I would not want to deny you any right to own a nuclear weapon.

MAD. Mutually Assured Destruction!

Answer 1

Yes, he was wrong and a crook.

Answer 2

What you are mssing is that not only did the Soviets already have nuclear weapons when Reagan took office- they had more nuclear weapons than we did. Reagan simply increased the arsenal to show the Soviets we meant business and then used diplomacy in order to get them to give up their arsenal. I would say the Iraqi regional talks are the beginning of President Bush showing the second side to his application of the wildly successful "peace through strength" strategy. Maybe if Bill Clinton had used that once in a while we would not have been in Iraq and Afganistan.

Answer 3

It is true that Reagan's massive arms build-up brought the Soviet Union to economic collapse; however, scholars agree that it would have collapsed anyway and that Reagan only speeded up the process by about ten minutes or so. It might have been more moral if all of that money had been spent on more fruitful things rather than just thrown into the nosecones of ICBMs.

Answer 4

Reagan was an actor and could deliver his lines just as they were written for him and with pizazz.
He alone did not cause the downfall of the Soviet Union as most neocons like to claim. I suppose that he'll go down in History as a good president but actually he had a very good supporting staff that allowed him to nap everyday while they worked.

Answer 5

Reagan was right. You are wrong.