oracle
10-06-2002, 05:50 PM
The durable Cold Warrior (http://www.washtimes.com/books/20021006-4284712.htm)
By Lyn Nofziger
In the years immediately following Ronald Reagan's presidency a number of books were published, written for the most part by American liberals, with the primary purpose of disparaging his intellect and ability and belittling his accomplishments. Even Lou Cannon, whose book, "President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime," was the most objective and most in-depth, felt called upon to conclude that "Reagan took his role too lightly. In the end it proved too big for his talents."
In recent years, however, the tide has begun to turn in Mr. Reagan's favor. Books are being published that not only recognize his strengths and accomplishments as president but also destroy the argument pushed by his political enemies that he was, in the words of Clark Clifford, nothing but "an amiable dunce."
Like all his predecessors since World War II, Mr. Reagan as president found himself embroiled in foreign affairs. This meant involvement in the Cold War and dealing with the Soviet Union and the ambitions its leaders had, not only to continue the advance of communism throughout the world but also to supercede the United States as the world's preeminent military power.
In "Reagan's War," Peter Schweizer relates how Mr. Reagan not only foiled those ambitions but also ended President Richard Nixon's twin Soviet policies of detente and Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). Detente was predicated on maintaining an equality of military might between the United States and the Soviet Union. The other, MAD, was based on the belief that neither side would dare start a hot war as long as either side was capable of destroying the other, regardless of who struck first.
In contrast, from the time he became president Mr. Reagan was determined to stop the spread of communism, reestablish the United States as the world's sole superpower and end American dependence on the aptly named MAD. Mr. Schweizer quotes Mr. Reagan's secretary of state, George Shultz, giving the reason why Mr. Reagan opposed MAD. He thought "it was quite simply immoral."
To replace MAD Mr. Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative which, when developed — and Mr. Reagan was confident it could be — would protect the United States from missile attack. "Wouldn't it be better to save lives than to avenge them?" he asked. In Mr. Schweizer's opinion SDI, because the Soviet Union did not have the resources to counter it and Mr. Reagan refused to bargain it away, was the straw that finally broke the Soviets' economic back and led to the crumbling of the "evil empire."
Mr. Schweizer waits until his last chapter to point out a fact that future historians should find especially significant. It is that "No American throughout the history of the Cold War, up until Reagan, had been willing to make rolling back and defeating communism a primary goal."
...
Click here to read more (http://www.washtimes.com/books/20021006-4284712.htm)
By Lyn Nofziger
In the years immediately following Ronald Reagan's presidency a number of books were published, written for the most part by American liberals, with the primary purpose of disparaging his intellect and ability and belittling his accomplishments. Even Lou Cannon, whose book, "President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime," was the most objective and most in-depth, felt called upon to conclude that "Reagan took his role too lightly. In the end it proved too big for his talents."
In recent years, however, the tide has begun to turn in Mr. Reagan's favor. Books are being published that not only recognize his strengths and accomplishments as president but also destroy the argument pushed by his political enemies that he was, in the words of Clark Clifford, nothing but "an amiable dunce."
Like all his predecessors since World War II, Mr. Reagan as president found himself embroiled in foreign affairs. This meant involvement in the Cold War and dealing with the Soviet Union and the ambitions its leaders had, not only to continue the advance of communism throughout the world but also to supercede the United States as the world's preeminent military power.
In "Reagan's War," Peter Schweizer relates how Mr. Reagan not only foiled those ambitions but also ended President Richard Nixon's twin Soviet policies of detente and Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). Detente was predicated on maintaining an equality of military might between the United States and the Soviet Union. The other, MAD, was based on the belief that neither side would dare start a hot war as long as either side was capable of destroying the other, regardless of who struck first.
In contrast, from the time he became president Mr. Reagan was determined to stop the spread of communism, reestablish the United States as the world's sole superpower and end American dependence on the aptly named MAD. Mr. Schweizer quotes Mr. Reagan's secretary of state, George Shultz, giving the reason why Mr. Reagan opposed MAD. He thought "it was quite simply immoral."
To replace MAD Mr. Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative which, when developed — and Mr. Reagan was confident it could be — would protect the United States from missile attack. "Wouldn't it be better to save lives than to avenge them?" he asked. In Mr. Schweizer's opinion SDI, because the Soviet Union did not have the resources to counter it and Mr. Reagan refused to bargain it away, was the straw that finally broke the Soviets' economic back and led to the crumbling of the "evil empire."
Mr. Schweizer waits until his last chapter to point out a fact that future historians should find especially significant. It is that "No American throughout the history of the Cold War, up until Reagan, had been willing to make rolling back and defeating communism a primary goal."
...
Click here to read more (http://www.washtimes.com/books/20021006-4284712.htm)