Alzheimer's robbed Ronald Reagan of his memory. Now Republican neoconservatives are trying to steal his foreign policy legacy. A de facto peacenik who was horrified by the prospect of needless war, Reagan likely would have been appalled by the aggressive posturing of most of the Republicans currently seeking the White House.
Ronald Reagan took office at a dangerous time. The Cold War raged and Reagan sacrificed much of his political capital to increase U.S. military outlays. But he used the new capabilities created almost not at all.
Reagan's mantra was "peace through strength." Peace was the end, strength the means. He focused his attention on the Soviet Union and its advanced outposts, especially in the Western Hemisphere. Restraining the hegemonic threat posed by an aggressive, ideological Soviet Union led to Reagan's tough policy. Still, Reagan avoided military confrontation with Moscow. Indeed, he routinely employed what neocons today deride as "appeasement."