Kinda sounds like this Reagan Guy everyone’s talking about knew what he was talking about, don’t it?
Reagan was a man of principle...always.
I've been re-reading the section on the Cold War in John O'Sullivan's The President, the Pope and the Prime Minister. It is a bracing antidote to the vapid anti-Reaganism of academics like John Gaddis. Liberally salted with entries from the diaries of high Soviet officials at the time, this book makes clear that Reagan, if anything, is under-appreciated for his vision, skill, and tenacity. He had to defeat not only the USSR, but also the "intellectuals," the Democrats, and the State Department.
Yet, between him, Thatcher, and Pope JP II, Gorbachev didn't have a chance.