Brought the Cold War to an End

Between 1985 and 1988, Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev participated in four summit meetings. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), which they both signed in 1987, removed nuclear and conventional missiles; more than 2,000 warheads were destroyed as a result. This agreement lowered tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union and helped put an end to the Cold War which is the major accomplishments of Ronald Reagan.

When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed leadership in the USSR, Ronald Reagan changed his approach to the Soviets from one of "peace through strength" to one that combined firmness and certainty. Between 1985 and 1988, the two presidents participated in four summit meetings. Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) during the third summit in December 1987. All short- and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles were rendered obsolete by the INF Treaty. It led to the destruction of 2,692 such weapons.

Reagan's stern but fair approach to dealing with the Soviet Union was crucial in bringing about the peaceful end of the Cold War. Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power and Eastern Europeans' rejection of communist governments are two more significant causes. It should be highlighted that Reagan would not have been able to bring an end to the Cold War without these crucial elements. The Berlin Wall was opened in November 1989, ten months after Reagan left office. At the Malta Summit on December 3, 1989, the Cold War was unofficially declared to be finished, and on December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union fell.