Exploring the Best Freedom Money Can Buy: The Transformation of Reagan’s Party into Putin’s Party

A guest essay featured on The Mary Sue by journalist and screenwriter Andrea Chalupa highlights her graphic novel In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones, illustrated by Ivan Rodriguez and published by Oni Press.

During a social gathering, a doctor, noticing my grandfather’s trembling hands, mistakenly thought he had Parkinson’s and tried to offer assistance. This physician specialized in Parkinson’s and was keen to share his insights. However, my grandfather, with a playful grin and his limited English alongside Ukrainian fluency, cleverly corrected him: “Not Parkinson’s. KGB.”

This succinct exchange encapsulates the remarkable life of my grandfather—a life that coincided with the events Orwell depicted in Animal Farm. He experienced the tumult of the Russian Revolution on his farm in Donbas, Ukraine, barely escaped the horrors of Stalin’s famines known as the Holodomor, and suffered extreme torture during the Great Terror as a young father. After moving to the United States post-World War II, he actively participated in the anti-Soviet movement, fervently supporting Ronald Reagan, much like many immigrants from Eastern Europe. I often ponder what my grandfather, who inspired both the film Mr. Jones and its graphic novel adaptation, would think of the current state of Reagan’s Republican Party.

On June 8, 1982, in a pivotal moment during his presidency, Ronald Reagan delivered an influential speech to the British Parliament. He broke with the prevailing beliefs of the time, publicly questioning the legitimacy of the Soviet regime and emphasizing the need to bolster democracy around the globe to safeguard the Free World. He boldly predicted that the Soviet Union would end up on the “ash heap of history” —a phrase he crafted himself. More than forty years after that address, which galvanized America’s allies and unsettled the elders in Moscow, Reagan’s Republican Party has similarly fallen to the “ash heap of history,” now overrun by a pro-Russian faction that attempted a violent coup against our democracy on January 6, alongside promoting Project 2025, a sprawling 900-page agenda to transform America into a dictatorship.

What led to the metamorphosis of the Party of Reagan into the Party of Putin? This transition was seemingly inevitable, driven by Reagan’s own policies, which are often ignored or misrepresented by a media landscape populated by former Republicans lamenting their party’s downfall. Instead of recognizing the Reagan administration’s role in this shift, Reagan is often idolized as a heroic figure, a beacon amidst rising authoritarianism. Yet, the ideological foundation of the Reagan Revolution—nurtured by a toxic culture of “greed is good,” the dismantling of government regulations, and assaults on voting rights and social welfare—empowered the Kremlin to infiltrate our democracy through our laws. Investigative journalist Craig Unger, known for his bestsellers House of Trump, House of Putin and American Kompromat, expressed on my podcast Gaslit Nation, “The real scandal lies in what is legal and what can be done legally. The Russians have seized on this in significant ways.”

After the Soviet Union’s predicted collapse, a multitude of Americans, including private consultants and opportunists, rushed to Moscow and St. Petersburg to assist in crafting a new capitalist democracy and to celebrate the downfall of their foe. The shock doctrine of privatization took hold, leading to a brutal competition for control of former state-owned enterprises and resources. The chaotic 1990s in Russia, following communism’s fall, were marked by extreme poverty and instability, a period often referred to as “the car bomb 1990s.” It was a time when fierce struggles for industry control resulted in real casualties. This era fostered the Russian oligarchy and organized crime—entities closely tied to the Kremlin and its security agencies, which were previously known as the KGB. When asked who triumphed in the Cold War, historian Timothy Snyder succinctly noted, “Oligarchy won the Cold War.”

A friend of mine, who migrated from Texas to seek fortune in 1990s Moscow, once asked me to read his thinly disguised autobiographical novel recounting his exploits. His narrative mirrored several others: a young man from the West, driven by lust, entangled with impoverished, yet alluring women while achieving wealth through a nightclub catering to the burgeoning elite. I questioned him regarding the assertions made by Matt Taibbi and Mark Ames about their controversial book on Moscow, The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia, insisting it was satire rather than a factual recounting. He stated, “Those guys were just posing as intellectual rebels in Russia, indulging in gross behavior. It reeked of misogyny and racism, with an imperial mindset.” This epitomized Reagan’s vision of freedom where Gordon Gekko’s motto “Greed is Good” and stories like that of the Wolf of Wall Street paved the way for Russia’s oligarchs and their opulent lifestyle: the most expensive freedom money could procure.

This indulgent lifestyle starkly contrasts with the evangelical coalition that initially propelled Reagan into office. Reagan delivered some of his most impactful speeches to evangelical supporters. One notable address was on March 8, 1983, when he declared the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire” to the National Association of Evangelicals, capturing their attention. In 1980, Reagan secured his first presidential term thanks to a unified evangelical electorate, defeating President Jimmy Carter, a devout evangelical Christian. The evangelical community rallied behind Reagan because they believed he would champion their agenda of “traditional” family values, limit reproductive rights, and uphold a white patriarchal society in opposition to civil rights, women’s liberation, and LGBTQ+ equality efforts. Reagan’s victory taught evangelicals the potency of collective voting power, transforming sermons into tangible legislative action.

Evangelicals found common ground with Reagan in his ideological battle against the non-believing Soviet regime. Their churches engaged in missions across countries occupied by the Soviets and even formed connections with members of the Russian Orthodox Church, many of whom were covert KGB operatives spying on their congregations and various dignitaries, despite appearing as oppressed religious figures. The Kremlin observed Reagan’s administration closely, particularly his evangelical base, taking note of their fervor and religious zeal. When Putin rose as Yeltsin’s successor, carefully selected by the state security apparatus, he transformed from an atheist KGB operative to a professed man of faith.

The resurgence of Russia, akin to a phoenix from the ashes of history, has closely mirrored the identity of the Reagan Revolution. “In greed we trust” has become a guiding principle, while “traditional” family values are upheld within a society that marginalizes immigrants and LGBTQ+ individuals. The domestic agendas of the Republican Party and the Kremlin have grown strikingly similar. A Russian acquaintance once described their state television as a trippy version of “Fox News.” By emulating the visions Republicans have for America, our historical adversary has undermined us, taking advantage of the permissive environment fostered by Reagan’s pro-market approaches. Consequently, Russians continue to suffer from persistent poverty, while Americans grapple with the enduring ramifications of the Reagan era’s policies, characterized by stark income inequality and corporate tax incentives favoring the wealthy at the expense of the wider population.

What we are witnessing today in America transcends a typical election. We are observing the oligarchization of our nation, a process initiated during Reagan’s presidency that may be fully realized under Donald Trump’s influence, the inevitable culmination of the greed and hedonism birthed in the Reagan era.

Andrea Chalupa, a journalist, author, and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, serves as the host and producer of the Webby Award-winning podcast Gaslit Nation, where she fervently addresses the global threat of fascism. She is the producer and writer of the film Mr. Jones, directed by three-time Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland and featuring James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, and Peter Sarsgaard. Her literary works encompass graphic novels such as In the Shadow of Stalin and Dictatorship: It’s Easier Than You Think.

Check out an excerpt from In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones, available at bookstores on September 4.