Compare And Contrast Reagan And Gorbachev

Many of Reagan’s firmness led the destruction and downfall of the evil empire. In 1991, Reagan aggressive policies toward the Soviet Union was a factor that ended the cold war. In the other hand his opposition said that only the good fortune of sane leadership in Moscow save us all from the nuclear apocalypse. Reagan diplomatic legacy was more that his admires or critics are likely to admit. Reagan did led his country to a victory in the cold war but his great accomplishment came in his second term in office when he abandoned his earlier stance toward the soviet and took a more flexible stance to better the relations with a reformist and leader of the soviet union Mikhail Gorbachev by acting as Gorbachev partner as much as his enemy.

When talking about the cold war, it is easy to pick America's side and say that Ronald Reagan won the war. What most people tend to tend to leave out is the history behind the actual collapse of the soviet Union and the slow erosion that had been happening since world war two. Just because he was around when the union collapsed does not mean he was the main reason behind. In fact, Reagan and Gorbachev were known to be on good terms and they communicated all the time. The cold war wasn’t just caused by the Russians vs Americans.

Most people might say that President Bush and President Reagan are like comparing vinegar and water they are complete opposite good leaders but yet they were not historical figures. Bush said I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save free market system. Those words would never have been said by Regan, as Bush did a massive spending spree in his last weeks of presidency. Bush claims to be the conservative that Reagan was, early on in his career he challenged the GOP, which Regan won in 1980, Bush and other republican challengers thought his conservatism would be rejected by the voters. It is known that Regan’s record in all aspects is inferior to Bush by advancing conservative principles.

I feel this fact is vastly overlooked because the ideological oppositions in the war was a major player in its existence in general. owing to that fact, the Gorbachev administration, who came into power in 1985 began to implement programs to rejuvenate the soviet economy, as it was severely lacking. The Glasnost and Perestroika initiatives opened up incentives for Soviet citizens as well as provided the once shackled eastern bloc and Soviet citizens new freedoms they never previously possessed (The End). Lowered barriers allowed for access to printed materials and the greater opportunity for travel, which in turn brought new understanding to Soviet officials, and helped to establish the “new methods of thinking” that characterized the Gorbachev administration (Détente). Very accurately put, Freedom is very addictive (The End), and not many that experience such a thing are quick to go back to previously restrictive regulations.

While Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy all had the same same Cold War intention of ending communism, their ways of achieving their goal were different.The Cold War was an angry dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union about whether we should spread or contain communism (Ayres 817). According to Edward Ayres in American Anthem: Reconstruction to the Present all three Presidents used some form of Economic Aid, how we help other countries financially; Military Aid, how we help other countries’ militaries; and finally, Military Use, how we utilise our military (Ayres 817).

Reagan foreign policies moved away from Détente to bargain from a position of power, this led to the buildup of the military and the technological advances in weaponry. Programs like Strategic Defense Initiative rendered the use of IBCM ineffective (in theory), the advances in battlefield weaponry, M1 Abrahams, and Tomahawk cruise missiles, evened the odds against the larger Soviets forces and in some cases gave the United States the advantage. Many people give Reagan credit for bringing about the collapse of the Iron Curtain, however the Soviet Union’s economic policies restricted growth and led to a huge amount of discord among the population. The advantage that Reagan had was the Soviets were struggling in Afghanistan and in 1986 the Chernobyl incident which spread radioactive particles over the Western portions of Russia and Eastern Europe. The estimated cost of Chernobyl is 18 Billion rubles (1986) over 200 million in today’s dollars, and led to the evacuation of over 300,000 people in what history will determine the worst nonmilitary nuclear event to date.

Was president Franklin Roosevelt’s Court Packing scheme a plan that consisted of a wish to help end America’s Great Depression or was it a hunger for dictatorial power? Franklin Roosevelt based his election campaign on a New Deal, a series of programs he claimed would help end the Great Depression. While Roosevelt won the election, many of his New Deal bills would not win the approval of the United States Supreme Court. Franklin Roosevelt believed the problem lied not in his bills but in the Supreme Court. He believed the four Conservatives Justices would convince Justice Owen Roberts, who was somewhat neutral, to vote against Roosevelt’s bills.

The Cold War is an interesting war, because it seems to be caused by a mutual disinterest in actual war. The Soviet Union seems to hope for peace to rebuild itself in the wake of World War ||, and the United States also did not seem to want conflict. It seems like every issue that arose during the Cold War was directly in relation to both sides wanting to avoid war. Yet even as both sides try to deter the other, they are actively preparing in case deterrence doesn’t work. Although nobody denies that there were some ‘hot’ conflicts during The Cold War (Ex: The Korean War), it’s fascinating that no direct conflict occurred.

They grouped together, and they were able to be hard, guerilla fighters for communism. The South didn’t want to become a communist country, and the U.S. didn’t want them to either. We continued to help and support the South, but we didn’t directly fight with our troops until later. While John F. Kennedy was president in 1963, the leader of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, was assassinated with his wife and his brother by his own military because he wasn’t the greatest leader. Duong Van Minh was a general that took over when Diem was killed.

History is all about inspiring speeches, gruesome wars, and unexpected events that decide the course of the future. The Cold War is not an example of a war, but a highly important event, considering there was no actual fighting. The Cold War started because the Soviet 's wanted to spread communism, but America was getting in their way to stop it. Three major factors also contributed to the conflict of war, the most obvious one being the U.S. wanted to stop communism, another being both the Soviet Union and the United States were afraid of each other, and finally competition, because everyone needs some good competition. These factors are both reasons why the war started, and "weapons" that were used.