[labard1]

"Did Reagan ever have to give meaning to a fratricidal war in which hundreds of thousands of Americans died?"

Nope, Reagan ended one of the world's greatest tyrannies with hardly a shot being fired.

Most nations ended slavery without war. Lincoln was unable to do even that.

[republicanwizard]

Yes, I know. Lincoln and Davis both had their thumbs on the button. The football was never far from Lincoln.

School children practiced in the Civil War hiding under their desks to shield themselves from nuclear dust.

The MAD concept, of course, was born in the Civil War period. Everyone knew that if war started, it could mean the end of mankind.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Nope, Reagan ended one of the world's greatest tyrannies with hardly a shot being fired.

I guess you don't think the war in Korea and in Viet Nam were part of the downfall of Communism, or the capture of the U.S.S. Pueblo, or the numerous shoot downs of U.S. reconnaisance aircraft along the borders of the Soviet Union?

All of that was part and parcel of the fall of the Soviet Union and it sure wasn't bloodless.

Walt