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*Originally posted by underthedome: *
Kaleem, I'll give credit to Reagan when the U.S. militarizes space in the coming decades as his Hollywood past help give him a vision of the 'Star Wars' program. The defeat of the Soviet Union goes to Nixon, his interactions with China secured their containment and put a major potential threat right on their boarder forcing them to contend with that as well.
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Come on UTD, stop smoking that stuff. Opening a dialogue with China did not cause the breakup of the USSR. Heck, during the Carter years, the leaders in the Kremlin most assuredly felt that they were on the verge of winning the Cold War as Carter was selling his diminshed expectations and defeatism to the American people.
Reagan's military buildup and the Star Wars program changed the whole dynamic. Whether the Missile Defense Shield would work (and, if so, how soon) was less important than the commitment to pursue it. The Soviets ultimately realized that they could not economically compete to maintain the then existing balance of power.
[EDITED AFTERTHOUGHT: In case you don't remember, it was Reagan who said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!" That demand sounded about as unrealistic as anything I can think of when Reagan made it. Reagan's challenge of the Evil Empire brought it down. Not the ping pong games with China organized by Nixon.]
Sahar02
i think lincoln was the best because of his personal character traits, his achievements, his priorities. He was the one who fought against slavery; a lesser man could not have done it, the confederates( southerners) actually were ready to die fighting in order to keep the blacks as slaves. Lincoln made sure they were taught a lesson. He was a self made man, who used to live in a small hut when he was a child and educated himself with great courage. read his biography sometime, it's interesting.
GALAXY,
i don't think any other US pres has been a match for Lincoln. no one's entire career is totally stainless. Lincoln's acievements are far greater than his dug out misachievements that no one has ever heard of, except of course southerners.
what good have the more modern presidents that are being discussed here been? everyone has had twisted policies. Bush, Bush Jr. (crossed all limits), Clinton, Nixon, JFK, everyone had twisted priorities, biased poilicies. I can't say what Lincoln would have been like had he been in the 20th/21st century, but i do believe for his time he certainly was an exceptional man.
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*Originally posted by Haris Zuberi: *
Sahar02
i think lincoln was the best because of his personal character traits, his achievements, his priorities. He was the one who fought against slavery; a lesser man could not have done it, the confederates( southerners) actually were ready to die fighting in order to keep the blacks as slaves. Lincoln made sure they were taught a lesson. He was a self made man, who used to live in a small hut when he was a child and educated himself with great courage. read his biography sometime, it's interesting.
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yes, but he was a politician and we shouldn't forget that. yes he ended slavery, but there was pressure from the northern industries to do so. it wasn't a purely a romantic fight against the injustices of the south.
