Ronald Reagan and the Nobel Peace Prize

I don't know why I was thinking this - but it popped into my head. Why didn't Reagan win the Nobel Peace Prize?

He was President from 1981-1989. Here are the winners during that period with my comments in italics:

1989 THE 14TH DALAI LAMA (TENZIN GYATSO) , Tibet. Religious and political leader of the Tibetan people. O,k probably well deserved
1988 THE UNITED NATIONS PEACE-KEEPING FORCES New York, NY, U.S.A. This one is a cop-out when you do not want to choose.
1987 OSCAR ARIAS SANCHEZ , Costa Rica, President of Costa Rica, initiator of peace negotiations in Central America. Well deserving of such an award with his peace efforts in Central America.
1986 ELIE WIESEL , U.S.A., Chairman of 'The President's Commission on the Holocaust'. Author, humanitarian. Guess who was President while he was on the commission.
1985 INTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR Boston, MA, U.S.A. These guys possibly deserved it. – However, I believe Reagan actually did more to prevent nuclear war than these guys did.
1984 DESMOND MPILO TUTU , South Africa, Bishop of Johannesburg, former Secretary General South African Council of Churches (S.A.C.C.). for his work against apartheid. He was a deserved recipient.
1983 LECH WALESA , Poland. Founder of Solidarity, campaigner for human rights. He probably could not have even held the marches and protests without the support of the US externally and the build up of American military power under Reagan.
1982 The prize was awarded jointly to: ALVA MYRDAL , former Cabinet Minister, diplomat, delegate to United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament, writer.
ALFONSO GARCÍA ROBLES , diplomat, delegate to the United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament, former Secretary for Foreign Affairs . I believe once again a cop-out when Un gets any of the prizes
1981 OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES Geneva, Switzerland see abaove – same stuff

Another interesting point is that Gorbechev gets the Nobel Peace prize in 1990 for “helping end the cold war.” Now that is a real hoot, since there is no way it would have happened without Reagan. Carter, his predecessor, won the prize mostly for his mid-east peace initiatives (he won it in 2002). As Reagan was giving his inaugural address, 52 U.S. hostages, held by Iran for 444 days were set free. There were no Major conflicts during Reagan’s term that the US was involved in. The most major conflict in the world was the Iran/Iraq war.

Ronald Reagan encouraged Gorbachev to pursue major arms agreements. Gorbachev and Reagan held four meetings between 1985 and 1988: Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, it would lead to reform and the end of Communism. Speaking at the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev: saying, "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (Note: The Berlin Wall was torn down beginning in 1989 and then two years later the Soviet Union collapsed.)





Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at the White House in 1987 which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. Gorbachev was offering major concessions to the U.S. on the levels of conventional forces, nuclear weapons, and policy in Eastern Europe.

Compare that with Barack Obama...

Stay Safe!