Political strategist Dick Morris, who worked closely with the Clinton and Trump administrations in the White House through the years, believes that world history will be very kind to former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, who passed away Tuesday at age 91.
"[Gorbachev's] passing is God's way of telling us that we have to rededicate ourselves to his accomplishment, which was the freeing of Eastern Europe," Morris told Newsmax Tuesday evening, while appearing on "Prime News" with host Jenn Pellegrino.
During his time as the Soviet Union leader — as general secretary and president (1985-91) — Gorbachev transformed his country from a communist state to one that brought democracy and freedom to the Russian people.
Morris stated that Gorbachev also played a prominent role in bringing democracy to Europe, and ending the Cold War between the United States and the Soviets.
"Until [Gorbachev] came to power, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, and Poland all experienced revolutions of communist aggression," said Morris, whose book on former President Donald Trump, entitled "The Return," currently ranks No. 1 on The New York Times' bestseller list.
But instead of wielding communist-style influence with those nations — or as Morris puts it, "letting the tanks roll in" — he said Gorbachev had the patience to let these vital European countries work through its respective problems, while pursuing the paths to a democratic society.
"And God bless him for that," says Morris. "And let's remember [Gorbachev] to the end of this century," along with the previous one.
On Tuesday night, a special Newsmax Flashback looked back at a groundbreaking one-on-one interview with Gorbachev in 2010 — in anticipation of the February 2011 date posthumously marking the 100th birthday of former President Ronald Reagan.
For his interview with Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy, Gorbachev — then retired from politics — recalled how he and President Reagan produced two major accomplishments from their nuclear disarmament summits in the 1980s.
The most important breakthrough, according to Gorbachev: "A nuclear war cannot be won and can never be fought."
And then, neither country would seek "military superiority" over the other.
"I think that we're not yet there; nuclear weapons still exist," Gorbachev said then, noting the two powers were working on abolishing all nuclear weapons.
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