Again as with all political threads here the postings are unilateral as hell. RR was an outstanding President, especially if/when contrasted with his successors. The fall of comunism had practically nothing to do with him though - it was stipulated by inner political process within the Eastern block, primarily in the Soviet Union and then - almost automatically by its sattelites. Reagan and Gorbi had 2 meetings - if my memory serves me right - the first one in Iceland failed miserably and only at the dawn of his presidency he made a move that was later on cosiderably expanded by Bush.
He also did a lotsa positive things domestically to move the country out of the Carter's mudwaters, but at the same time he was closely associated with the same number of negativity; suffice it to recall his wide support to fundamentalist groups that thank God faded from political horizon by the early 1990's.
I guess that overall he was undoubdedly a great political figure, not in the least b/c of his charisma and personality, something that at least 2 of his successors lacked completely (seemingly the said lack runs in the family.)
RIP
