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Interpreting the Gipper
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| Beschloss Photo Courtesy of The Newshour with Jim Lehrer |
Following the death of former President Ronald Reagan in June, presidential historian and author Michael Beschloss (MBA 1980) was frequently quoted in the media on his assessment of Reagan’s legacy. History’s verdict on Reagan, Beschloss wrote in Newsweek (June 14, 2004), will hinge more than anything else on one question: “How much credit does he deserve for the fact that the Cold War ended far earlier than almost anyone suspected — and on terms that Americans had fantasized about for 45 years?”
Reagan’s first-term efforts to escalate U.S.-Soviet competition forced the Soviet Politburo to install a reformer, Mikhail Gorbachev, rather than a hard-liner, Beschloss asserted. Then that same escalation caused Gorbachev to feel pressure “to make arms deals and improve negotiations with the West, which contributed to the unraveling of his empire.”
Beschloss was also on hand at the White House in June when President George W. Bush (MBA 1975) hosted Bill and Hillary Clinton at the unveiling of the Clintons’ official portraits. As the former President spoke, Beschloss’s cell phone very publicly went off, a particular pet peeve of the incumbent President. Explained the sheepish historian, “I’m afraid I’m so 19th century. I pressed the button to turn it off when I went into the room and accidentally turned it on instead” (Washington Post, June 16, 2004).
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