Last Leader of Soviet 'Evil Empire' Mikhail Gorbachev Dies at 91

Spencer Brown / Townhall Tipsheet

 

Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, died on Tuesday at the age of 91. According to a hospital in Moscow, Gorbachev had been suffering from a "serious and long illness" before his passing. According to AP, his death was confirmed by other Russian outlets including Tass, RIA Novosti and Interfax.

Gorbachev's time leading the Soviet Union was marked by his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, pursue summits with the free world via President Ronald Reagan, and the ultimate dissolution of the USSR. His policies of perestroika and glasnost were welcomed by the outside world with hope that some liberalization would come along with his leadership. Those policies, along with more openness, shook the "Evil Empire" enough to speed up and bring about its demise as freedom triumphed over Gorbachev's Soviet communism.

Of the Cold War meetings between Gorbachev and Reagan, one of the most consequential was their October 1986 summit in...Read more and see tweets here.