Was Reagan simply a monkey in a suit?

Were the "successes" of his presidency simply events which occurred around him about which he had no control? Example, the fall of communism. Wasn't communism under pressure before Reagan took office? Wasn't the economic problem of the day, inflation, caused by America getting off the gold standard under Nixon? Jimmy Carter put Paul Volcker in charge of the Fed in 1979. Wasn't it Volcker's tightening of the money supply that eased inflation in the 80's rather than anything Reagan did?