Originally Posted by rubber soul

Reagan was using rhetoric like the Soviets being the Evil Empire so people were a little sensitive when the comment was leaked. We were still very much in the Cold War then so it didn't take much for the public to get into a panic. You can compare it into the hysteria after 9/11 for a comparison (albeit not a perfect one; 9/11 was of course scarier). Fortunately, Reagan was still President when Gorbachev became Soviet Premier and he proved he could also be a peacemaker. We can only hope something will click in Trump that maybe people will like him betteri f he did the same, but somehow I doubt it.