More importantly, it led President Reagan to engage the Soviets in a defense-spending war he knew they could not win. When they realized they couldn't win, the Cold War ended more abruptly than even the always-optimistic president probably expected.
Like all the truly great presidents, Ronald Reagan had a vision of what Americans wanted and needed in a commander in chief. He understood how to get them to feel good about their country and its role in the world. It's hard to see that in the rolling and tumbling of daily life in politics, but years later – now – it's readily apparent.
How far did President Reagan move the political goalposts? When President George W. Bush took office in 2001, he proposed tax cuts to jumpstart the slowing economy. The debate in Washington wasn't over whether tax cuts would help the economy. All sides accepted that premise. The argument was over numbers.
Same with welfare reform. Thanks to President Reagan, we no longer argue over whether welfare recipients should work or perform public service in exchange for government assistance. We argue over how much they should be required to work.
Missile defense, which opponents derided as a Hollywood fantasy when President Reagan proposed it, is now the law of the land, having passed by a veto-proof majority.
Time may be catching up with President Reagan. He's past 90 now, afflicted with Alzheimer's and unable to remember the critical role he played in making America great again.
But time definitely has caught up with his critics, and history has been far more kind to President Reagan than to their predictions about his policies. This is obvious to most Americans. And that's why CBS' mean-spirited mini-series never saw the light of network television.