Do you know of people who were under pressure to make a very net-negative decision and did not do so? If yes, please let me know! Petrov Day is around the corner, and I’d like to generate some examples of people who, like Petrov and Vasili Arkhipov, made decisions that should be celebrated.
From the Forum Wiki entry about Stanislav Petrov:
On 26 September 1983, Petrov defied Soviet military protocol and classified reports by an early-warning system of an incoming missile strike from the United States as a false alarm. Because of this decision, which likely avoided a large-scale nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States, Petrov is often referred to as "the man who saved the world." His decision to report the incident as a false alarm has been described as "the most important decision of all time."
You can read more about the incident in the Vox article on the subject.

I’m looking forward to learning about more people and incidents like this.
Not quite as dramatic as a commander disobeying military orders, but a similar category includes basically all "could-be dictators" who could've assumed absolute control and used it for selfish ends, but instead worked to create a better society and then willingly relinquished power at the end of their terms. These people might not have been under external pressure to continue ruling, but they probably resisted strong personal temptation and the pressure of their supporters/allies:
Thank you for all these details! It's true, I was only aware of the general outlines of Spain's transition to democracy. I guess it is more correct to say that I am inspired by the /abstract fantasy/ of inheriting the reins to an oppressive government and then turning everything around in a virtuous and altruistic way, rather than by the messy real-world character flaws that feature in the actual histories of Deng Xaoping, Juan Carlos, Mikhail Gorbechav, etc.