Did Ronald Regan destroy the USSR?

Question

Blind folded, with one hand tied behind his back?

ok, Here's my opinion on it.

The Soviet Union died of the terminal cancer of Stalinist communism. Kruchev put a bandaid on it, but Brezhnev pulled it off and picked at the scab. Mikhail Gorbachev was the first leader to attempt to really treat it, but his reforms were too little, too late.

Germans tore down that wall, not Mr R's passionate speach.

adecker31

Best so far. About the Vodka tax. Another important event that was a big contributor was Gorbachev's legalizing the private ownership of photo copying machines. Prior to that buisnesses and individuals that needed copies made had to stand in line a KGB operatied copy centers.

As far as struggling to keep up with Regan’s military buildup as contributing to the fall, the soviets struggled to keep up through out the entire cold war. They would have continued to keep up even without us having wasted all of that money on B1 and B2 bombers. The strategic missile submarine made the long range strategic bomber obsolete by the 1970’s The Russians stopped making them, and converted most of their long range TU95’s to an anti-submarine platform.

"They would have continued to keep up even . . ."

Should read "They would have struggled to keep up even . . ."

Jimmy Carter was reviled by the then flegling noe-con movement for killing the B1. They called hin weak on defence. What the media failed to mention was that he invested a lot of the money saved in submarines.

Answer 1

The Wall Street Journal naming Reagan the 6th best president all-time is kind of like me naming my friend Adam the bestest friend of all time...in other words a little biased (after all - it was their managing editor in the late 70s early 80s who first really popularized supply side/voodoo economics and it is them now still hanging on to the idea that George Bush knows what he's doing). Avoiding the argument about Reagan, it is clear that after the early 1970s the Soviet Union was in steep decline. OPEC's moves did not only hurt the United States - and fighting a war, like in Afghanistan or somewhere, was not exactly cheap - as well, it was failing and became a sinkhole. As well, a growing black market and various ethnic struggles (some deepening as a result of the invasion of Afghanistan or made worse by opposition as homegrown boys were sent there) did nothing to help matters.

Reagan's military policies did draw some quivers from the most hardline and paranoid of the Russian political leaders, but their intelligence was pretty good (to say the least), so while they never quite understood the United States, their military policy was not quite so reactionary as most conservitives make it out to be.

As well, because the Soviets were so, what's the word for it? Imperialistic? Selfish? Is it that simple? They did not endear themselves to supposed allies and they failed miserably to expand economic opportunities for their people, limiting them on ideologic (and worse), bureaucratic issues.

In the end, oddly enough, some observors of the Soviet scene have noted that the straw that broke the camel's back was an increase in vodka taxes which led to a huge movement away from state-produced vodka and toward black market vodka which sucked huge amounts of money out of the Soviet coffers at a time when they needed the money most.

Answer 2

The U.S.S.R. was doomed from its inception. The man in the White House could no more influence it than he could the weather.

There are several reasons for this. The most obvious is the fact that the communist system employed in Russia encouraged the destruction of the competent and brave, emphasized politics and ideology over reality, and promoted barbarity and corruption. Russia's natural resources allowed it to fund the resultant dysfunctional morass for a while, especially with the increased oil prices following the 1973 energy crisis, but it was inevitable that the bottom would fall out. Reagan just happened to be there at the time.

Answer 3

The Soviet Union collapsed from within.
Reagan was instrumental, together with the Pope, Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, et al, with its downfall.
The Soviet's War in Afghanistan was the turning point. The people were disgusted with the lives they led and resented being ruled in a worse fashion than they had had under the Tsars.
The Soviet Sattellite States resented the loss of their National Identities and fought to regain them.
Religious people of all faiths refused to accept atheirsm.
Reagan saw a lot of good things in all of this and used the people's dissatisfaction to his advantage.
I'm not saying he was the greatest President of all time, but he sure wasn't the worst - not even close.
Now they're stuck with Mr. Putin of the KGB - things haven't changed THAT much.

Answer 4

Not completely, but give the man his due. Communism is self-defeating, over time, but a lot of the political problems within the USSR were from trying to keep up militarily, so there's some traction to the position that his aggressive stance and military expansion spent them into ruin. The propensity was already there (for instance, they'd spent a pile of money building Mig25's to shoot down the B70 bomber that we never built), but he sold them the rope with which they hanged themselves.

Answer 5

No he didn’t do it directly. Rather, by emphasizing the western approach to national economies (capitalistic free enterprise), and individual freedoms, pressures increased on the natural faults in the forms of a central demand economy and repression of the individual so that the Soviet Union collapsed a little faster under its own weight. The form of Communistic Socialism as practiced by the Soviet Union can only survive as long as it has other nations and cultures to consume. It creates no wealth and few new ideas. When other nations are kept from coming under its sphere of influence, it is only a matter of time until it fails. It that context Western leaders contributed to its inevitable down fall.

Those who seemingly support the Soviet Union only have to look to their record on pollution. They are easily the worse polluter in the history of the world and that is because they simply trashed what they no longer wanted rather than clean up the mess. It is a sign of their inability to develop resources to clean up their mess.

While I don’t consider President Regan as out best President, he was certainly far from the worse. He understood that one of his primary responsibilities was to protect the nation through a strong military and he was able to reinvigorate the military from the failures of President Carter, however those gains were by and large destroyed by President Clinton.

AIDs is a terrible disease but it is not the role of the federal government to cure it. By and large it is a disease which is promulgated through unsafe sex practices and the unsafe drug practice of sharing needles.

May I suggest that to suggest that assassination of ‘any’ President is a good thing, is a sign of things going wrong in our country. Certainly we can all disagree with any number of politicians and on specific issues, but to resort to (or even suggest it) violence is never acceptable. That is why we have the right to petition for redress of grievances, to lobby specific perspectives on various issues, to run for office. To support, or not support, which ever politicians we choose, to vote.

Answer 6

No, he did not "destroy" the USSR. Rather he, together with others such as the pope, opened up the eyes of their leadership, and by being bold and NOT backing down or showing fear as he dealt with them was able to bring down communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Without a shot being fired, he accomplished what many were unable to begin.

Chow!!

Answer 7

No, not personally.

However, Reagan's military policy did.


Probably the best president in the last 80 years. A Wall Street Journal Poll in 2005 ranked him #6 all time.

Answer 8

no - The War in Afghanistan finished the Soviet Union just as the war in Iraq has finished the USA as a world power.

Answer 9

Yes, he did, although I doubt that he did it intentionally. I don't think he believed he'd be that lucky. He just wanted to tie them down and strain their economy trying to keep up with his military buildup. I don't think Reagan or anyone else realized just how close Russia was to collapse. They were hanging over the abyss, Reagan just gave 'em a good shove!

Answer 10

It collapsed inward.

Reagan wasn't even concious.
He's our second worst president.

Ignored AIDS.
Overexpanded the military.
Complicated middle eastern relations by siding with tyrants.
Played politics in hollywood.
and theatrics in washington.

It's a shame Hinkley was to much of a nutcase to aim.
But I am going around peeing on Reagan's Memorials nationwide, so I'm getting even.