Reagan and Bush: The War Presidents

If you believe that Ronald Reagan was responsible for ending the Cold War, then you've got to believe that Richard Nixon was responsible for putting a man on the moon. A more accurate rendition of history would, of course, reflect that each was simply the occupant of the Oval Office when history was made thanks to initiatives set in motion by Harry Truman and Jack Kennedy.

Yet the fact that the Cold War ended during the time span of the Reagan administration has led a vocal minority of conservatives to claim that Reagan himself was the supreme architect of Soviet defeat.

Disturbingly twisted parallels can be drawn between the Ronald Reagan/Cold War and the George W. Bush/War on Terror couplings:

Unlike most U.S. presidents--but like George W. Bush--Ronald Reagan entered the White House with no background in national security or foreign policy.

Like George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan's qualifications were open to ridicule.

Unlike his Cold War predecessors--but like George W. Bush--Ronald Reagan showed little interest in mastering the intellectual side of foreign affairs.

Like George W. Bush, rather than achieving an acquaintance with U.S. policy from reasoned study, Reagan's knowledge was firmly based in personal experience.

And, perhaps most ominously, the fact is that the Soviet Union was not defeated militarily, but rather by the U.S. willingness to simply out-spend its enemy--apparently like George W. Bush's War on Terror.

Ronald Reagan Memorial