VinylBoy u kinda do have to try harder!
Concerning the Cold War, well you could check out the documentary on the subject I linked to. That would be a start. However, I'll list a few points (sorry if some are repetitive, but they didn't seem to register the first time 'round. . .)
1) Reagan nearly doubled the defense budget, putting enormous strain on the Soviets to maintain huge defense budgets they could not afford at a time their economy was suffering
2) He sent military aid (most notable Stinger missiles) to the Afghans, turning that war against the Soviets, costing them billions of dollars, thousands of soldiers and severe discontent amongst Soviet citizens that eventually figured out the imminent victory promised by their leaders was not happening
3) He sent money and weapons to oppose just about every soviet satellite or communist-leaning dictatorship in the world, again forcing the Soviets to match him when they couldn't afford to
4) He sent Bill Casey (CIA) to Saudi Arabia and worked out a deal to get Saudis to greatly increase oil production, thus sending the price of oil down well below $20 from $40 or more during the oil crises that helped cause Carter's demise. (Reagan's economic policies that killed high inflation also contributed to the oil price crash). The Soviet Union got most of its hard currency through selling oil so its revenues crashed at the same time it was being pushed so hard to spend more
5) SDI caused panic amongst Soviet leaders as it would render the trillions of dollars invested in their nuclear arsenal worthless and require them to spend hundreds of billions of dollars they did not have to match it. Again, watch the documentary if u want to hear Soviet officials say this
SDI was the one program Gorby always tried to kill in his numerous summits with Reagan
6) Reagan supplied covert aid to Solidarity and Poland and various other dissident groups throughout eastern europe as they gradually gained more confidence in defying the Soviet regime and eventually demanded complete independence. Revolutions do need money, and Reagan was not afraid to supply it.
7) Reagan put enormous pressure on the Soviets that any crackdown on eastern Europe as it had done successfully so many times in the past (as in Hungary for example) would not be tolerated and might even cause war. Hence, no crackdown. Glasnost and Perestroika did not include seeking outright independence, but Gorby was powerless and afraid to stop it.
8) Reagan's strong ideological attacks on communism not only strengthened America's resolve, but encouraged Eastern Europeans like Havel and Walesa to revolt and know they had strong western support (again their words not mine). It also played a key role in the Politburo selecting Gorbachev in the first place to try to respond to Reagan with an appealing vigorous leader of their own.
9) The hugely controversial placement of intermediate range nuclear weapons in western europe in 1983 presented the USSR with an even more united NATO that would not roll over and tolerate violent crackdowns in Poland and elsewhere.
I'm sure I'm missing more points, but those are a few. In summary, you halve Soviet revenue, cause them to lose a war in Afghanistan they were previously winning (losing popular support for the regime at home), make it impossible for them to divert now precious resources to their economy, support all anti-communist guerillas, intellectuals and movements worldwide (but especially Eastern Europe). . . essentially we spent them into the ground and squeezed them from all sides.
As for economic policy. . . no need for strawmen VinylBoy! when did I say economics don't matter to people? But if you insist, Reagan's economic policies led to increasing productivity, lower unemployment, lower inflation, lower interest rates, higher economic growth, the longest peacetime economic expansion in history up to that point.
No wonder he's popular!
