REAGAN CITED FOR SOVIET FALL; ADVISER SAYS EX-PRESIDENT LAID FOUNDATION.Byline: Angela Randazzo Daily News Staff Writer The U.S. librarian of Congress The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. Librarians of Congress
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs on Thursday about the former president's key contributions to the fall of the Soviet Union. Librarian of Congress James Billington said many historians have failed to credit the former president with the central role that he believes Reagan played. More than anyone else, Reagan helped create the international preconditions, Billington said. Reagan created an international atmosphere of change, he said. ``Reagan broke with the ritualized elite behavior of the past summits and upped the ante with his Strategic Defense Initiative Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), U.S. government program responsible for research and development of a space-based system to defend the nation from attack by strategic ballistic missiles (see guided missile). ,'' he said. ``He changed the global chess match with Russia into American poker.'' More than 250 people, including former first lady Nancy Reagan and former Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that and his wife, Gayle, attended the lecture, the first in the 1999 Reagan Forum series. The talk coincided with the library's exhibit on Russian history under the czars, ``Regal Splendor: Treasures of the House of Faberge.'' Billington toured the exhibit with the former first lady. Billington, who served as an adviser to President Reagan during the historic 1988 Moscow summit, described the fall of the Soviet Union as a rejection of a repressive ideology. He credits Reagan with creating the atmosphere for peaceful transition. Billington also praised the former first lady for behind-the-scenes diplomacy. ``Mrs. Reagan is a heroine who brought both style and substance to the Reagan White House,'' he said. Reagan appointed Billington librarian of Congress in 1987. Billington previously was the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and he is a former professor of history at Princeton University Princeton University, at Princeton, N.J.; coeducational; chartered 1746, opened 1747, rechartered 1748, called the College of New Jersey until 1896. Schools and Research Facilities . He hosted a PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, documentary series, ``The Face of Russia.'' Billington was a fan of Reagan's storytelling Storytelling Aesop semi-legendary fabulist of ancient Greece. [Gk. Lit.: Harvey, 10] Münchäusen Baron traveler grossly embellishes his experiences. [Ger. Lit. . The president sometimes tested his stories before he told them to Soviet officials. The stories of the heartland were one way Reagan broke the ice with adversaries and put a human face on the world events confronting the two superpowers, Billington said. ``His stories were upbeat, about high ideals, human nature in general and the American experience American Experience (sometimes abbreviated AmEx) is a television program airing on the PBS network in the United States. The program airs documentaries about important or interesting events and people in American history, many of which have won impressive in particular,'' said Billington. ``They were a wonderful kind of quiet patriotism.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos PHOTO (1) Former Gov. Pete Wilson and his wife, Gayle, right, sit with Nancy Reagan at a lecture Thursday in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . (2 -- ran in Simi ediiton only) Librarian of Congress James Billington lectures Thursday in Simi Valley about President Reagan's role in the fall of the Soviet Union. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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