Jimmy Carter deserves some credit for winning the Cold War

President Jimmy Carter, who had served in the US Navy, was instrumental in countering the Soviet Union and rising extremism in the Middle East.

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• Perceptions of weakness dogged Jimmy Carter's presidency and legacy.
• Carter inherited a struggling economy and a US military adrift after Vietnam.
• But his administration played key parts in countering the Soviets and rising extremism.

When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the man who received the most credit was Ronald Reagan.