Gorbachev and Reagan: the capitalist and communist who helped end the Cold War

An unlikely personality pairing found common ground in a shared determination to end the Cold War and bring the world back from the brink of nuclear annihilation, writes David Smith

Former  US president Ronald Reagan, left, and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev don cowboy hats while enjoying a moment at Reagan's Rancho del Cielo north of Santa Barbara, California, in May 1992. Picture: AP

When Michael Reagan attended the 2004 funeral of his father, former US president Ronald Reagan, the man sitting behind him, he recalls, was the last leader of the Soviet Union: Mikhail Gorbachev.

“Mikhail Gorbachev and my wife and I became friends over the years,” Reagan said from Los Angeles on Tuesday after learning of the Russian’s death aged 91.