$34 million per hour was spent on the military under President Ronald Reagan [1911-2004] to bring down the Soviet Empire, and win the Cold War.
Build up to build down.
"It is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of history.... [It is] the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people."
- in a 1982 speech to Britain's Parliament
Examples of covert action:
1. Solidarity. If Poland was free, all of Eastern Europe would follow.
2. Nicaragua. The CIA backed Contras attempted to overthrow Daniel Ortega's Sandinistas.
Debt as a percentage of GDP under U.S. Presidents since Truman here.
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan died peacefully at his home in California. He was 93, the longest lived president in history.
