Old Cold War Foes Rekindle a Firm Friendship : Diplomacy: Reagan proclaims former adversary Gorbachev ‘a great man’ and presents him with award during California visit.

He used to run the “evil empire.” But on Monday, Mikhail S. Gorbachev was feted and cheered and hugged and honored by his old superpower rival, Ronald Reagan, who proclaimed the ex-Communist Party chief a “great man” and “a friend”--and gave him a solid gold “freedom award” for good measure.

It was a somewhat surreal scene that unfolded beneath a blazing midday sun at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library here, one rich with historical footnotes and ironies that Reagan himself observed.

“Who would have thought,” the former President remarked to the 500 wealthy Reagan boosters on hand for the occasion, “that he and I would be here together, sharing the triumphs of freedom?”

Who indeed.

But there they were, Reagan and Gorbachev, onetime Cold War foes rekindling a curiously warm friendship spawned during the thaw of the late 1980s. Reagan called the moment one he had “looked forward to for a long, long time.” Gorbachev defined it as “very emotional.”

Even the crowd--which ranged from politicos, such as former Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III to such capitalist titans as Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall--seemed enraptured.

“It’s truly historic,” said Doris Heller, a retired I. Magnin executive and friend of Nancy Reagan. “Imagine, Gorbachev, a communist, getting this freedom medal from the (former) President of the United States. Amazing!”

The festivities at the hilltop library occupied day three of Gorbachev’s first visit to the United States since he resigned as president of an unraveling Soviet Union last year. The two-week coast-to-coast tour is designed to raise money for Gorbachev’s Moscow-based think-tank, which aims to promote democracy in the former Soviet Union. His wife, Raisa, and their daughter, Irina, are traveling with him.

On Sunday, the Reagans hosted the Gorbachevs at their Santa Barbara ranch, where the chummy couples chatted about travel and real estate, ate lunch and donned Stetsons for a back-country drive in an open-air Jeep. The touring Russians then enjoyed a private dinner hosted by Arco Chairman Lodwrick Cook.

Monday’s festivities--which took place in the library’s oak-studded courtyard--treated the Gorbachevs to music by an Air Force Band, songs from an elementary school choir and a $5,000-a-plate lunch that featured chilled pear and red pepper soup, poached salmon with dill sauce and a 1989 California Chardonnay.

Gorbachev also joined Reagan in providing the event’s well-heeled guests with the photo opportunity of their lifetime, posing with each for a snapshot in front of the library’s three-ton chunk of the Berlin Wall.

A string orchestra led by conductor Murray Korda--who has played for six presidents and 27 heads of state--serenaded the gathering with Russian folk songs.

“This is about as exciting as when I played for the King and Queen of Tonga at his palace,” Korda said. “It’s definitely way up there.”

Gov. Pete Wilson opened the program, praising Reagan and Gorbachev for “bringing a remarkable and peaceful conclusion” to the Cold War.

Reagan took the podium next, delivering a highly personal, 19-minute speech that traced the evolution of his relationship with his old adversary. In one anecdote, Reagan, 81, recalled his apprehension before the two statesmen’s first meeting in 1985.

“As we shook hands,” Reagan said, “we took each other’s measure . . . I had an immediate sense that while he would be no pushover, we could . . . do business together.”

Seven historic years later, Reagan on Monday called Gorbachev “a man whose shining legacy will live forever, a man of great energy and principle and strength.”

He then draped a gold medallion on a purple ribbon around Gorbachev’s neck, making the ex-Soviet leader the first recipient of an annual Reagan Library award honoring those who have “made significant contributions to freedom around the world.”

Beaming and nodding at the crowd, Gorbachev, 61, stepped to the microphone and gave his address, invoking Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U.S. Constitution in a rousing endorsement for “the ideals of freedom, peace, democracy, human rights and justice.”

Gorbachev made no mention of the violence engulfing Los Angeles since the verdicts in the Rodney G. King case last week, but Reagan did. The former President said: “Our hearts and prayers go out to those who have lost their lives, for their friends and families, and for justice and peace.”

At least one of the guests--Simi Valley Councilwoman Judy Mikels--was glad that talk of the ugly episode stopped there. Mikels, like other civic leaders here, are fed up with the stain the King-related riots have left on their community.

“We’ve gotten a bum rap,” said Mikels, noting that she welcomed the blush of “positive news” the Gorbachev visit would generate.

While the guests seemed dazzled by Gorbachev and his wife, a few dozen John Birch Society members protested the visit, waving American flags and signs that read, “Send Gorby to the Gulag” and “Gorby is a Bad Man.”

Mark Walsh, the demonstrators’ leader, said the society was “shocked that Reagan would be having a social event with this man, this communist criminal.”

It is unlikely, however, that Gorbachev saw the hostile group. He and Raisa flew in by helicopter from Santa Barbara.