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I remember a lot of apocalyptic predictions were made about Ronald Reagan when he first was elected. He was going to start a new world war, he would recklessly
by blisterpeanuts 11y ago
I remember a lot of apocalyptic predictions were made about Ronald Reagan when he first was elected. He was going to start a new world war, he would recklessly use nuclear weapons, there would be massive oppression of human rights, etc. Ironically, however, the Reagan era was a remarkably peaceful time, with tremendous economic growth and very little military action other than the brief intervention in Grenada.
- arethuza 11y ago"He was going to start a new world war" He almost did: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83 However, to his credit he learned from this mistake and decided to take a less confrontational line with the Soviets - a change that he deserves a lot of credit for. Edit: See "Arsenals of Folly" by Richard Rhodes.
- blisterpeanuts 11y agoWikipedia, eh? The deployment of short range nuclear missiles into the European theater was a deliberate strategy to unsettle the Soviets and force them to the negotiating table. And it worked. It also of course sparked youth protests all across western Europe; they were concerned that "warmonger" Reagan was going to use them as the battlefield in his chess game with the Soviets. Pentagon strategists talked of using tactical nukes to destroy Soviet armies. Yes it was scary times, but we won. The Soviets are gone, and the 80s-90s were a period of unparalleled prosperity in the U.S. and much of the world actually.
- earlyriser 11y agoIt's rare that predictions are fulfilled. People have more grey than b&w. However he made lots of errors that had future consequences, not right in his era: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/06/03/ronald-reagan-worst-president-ever http://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/06/03/ronald-reagan-w...