[Vigilanteman]

Yep. I had to look it up. Three Soviet head of state funerals from November 1982 to March 1985: Brezhnev (who took over from Nikita Khrushchev in October 1964), Andropov and the very forgettable Konstantin Chernenko, who lasted 13 months in office to Andropov's 15 months.

In any other U.S. Administration during the Cold War, this wouldn't have caused a ripple since our own leadership ranged from horrible (Carter) to merely mediocre (JFK, Ike, Truman, Nixon). But with Reagan in charge, even the relatively strong Gorby didn't survive.

To this day, the left gives him, not Reagan, credit for ending the Cold War. As if he had a choice.

[Vermont Lt]

I know. Isn’t that true. I recall telling my wife that meeting in NYC where Reagan, Bush, and Gorby met was like when I would get a new boss and the old boss would bring me to lunch to meet the new boss.

The handoff was clearly between Ronnie and George. Gorby was simply being told he did not get the promotion, but he was a valuable player nonetheless. Been there done that.