WASHINGTON -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, who lost to George H.W. Bush in the 1988 presidential election, says his former political foe's greatest legacy was his efforts to help end the Cold War.

Dukakis told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the two men strongly disagreed on domestic policy. But he credits Bush with successfully negotiating with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Bush died Friday night at age 94.

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Dukakis also praised Bush for working with other countries and the United Nations in the first Gulf War, calling him wise and thoughtful in international affairs.

Dukakis blames himself for his election loss, saying he failed to respond aggressively to a Bush campaign ad featuring a convicted killer named Willie Horton who raped a woman and stabbed her partner while out of prison on a Massachusetts furlough program.