Host, as much as I'd like to respond to this post and point out the correct and incorrect theories regarding your information, i'm not willling to read the enormous amount of text from articles you have posted.
Suffice it to say, in my opinion, that Carter had great domestic policies but was seriously lacking in foreign policy knowledge or execution. This is evidenced by two major things, the iran hostage crisis and the gas shortage issue.
Reagan had great fiscal and foreign policy advisors when it came to the soviet union and defeating communism. The major downside to this is the adaptation of 'deficit spending'. While a great short term boost to the economy to get people and companies spending and investing, in a long term sense you do end up with serious budget deficits that can, and usually will, accelerate in a downward spiral. This is evidenced today by major players from the reagan presidency still in politics today that have the 'deficits don't matter' ideology. It's very important to note that communism in russia was defeated mainly because of the arms race.
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"no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything. You cannot conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him."
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