Ronald Reagan -- What's with the Fascination?

[Christan]

All I know is, pre-Reagan, the cost of things were steady, and a single person could live alone fairly easily. Post-Reagan, the cost of living has increased a hell of a lot faster than wages have. I find the Reagan Worship among Republicans to be rather incomprehensible.

pretty much this...the minimum wage if taken from the 60's and accounted for from inflation should be around 20-25 an hour now...
i hear you on that completely.

[Alvito]

Charisma and speaking well really pushed a lot of it. Listen to people speak that were around him he was magnetic in many ways much like Clinton in the 90's or JFK in the 60's. In politics if you can make people like you even when they don't like some or all of your opinions you will go very far. He also had a ton of backing early thanks to his days naming communist during the McCarthy trials.

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He fixed all the mistakes from the last presidents since Kennedy
He convinced Russia that we had a space launching missle system
He ended the cold war
He was down to earth

That is a big part of each presidents term. Undoing the mess from the last guy. Every president since Adams has been facing this.

[Rukentuts]

He ended the cold war

No he didn't. Not even close.

The USSR ended it on their own.

[Spikeydeath]

Oh and lemme add, he sucked domestically he was good on the foreign side
I as an independent can applaud it

[SirRobin]

Well at this point "what difference does it make?" Hillary would've fed nothing but her own ego. Same views as Obama and just as weak. What has she accomplished in her career? Pretty much jack crap. Just as weak as Obama's "Present" voting streak.

I don't agree, and we may very well find out in 2016.

[lizon]

Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Reagan, in essence, brought about the end of the Cold War. Recency is huge when it comes to who people think is the greatest. No one has made an advancement like Reagan since Reagan.

You know very little of history if you actually believe that Reagan brought forth the end of the Cold War. Reagan created huge budget deficits and he screwed up the whole Saving & Loan crisis. Lets not get into the whole Reaganomics debate either. That was fixed by Bush Sr when they wisely raised taxes to pay off Reagan's reckless military spending. Plus there was the whole .COM bubble during the mid 90's that helped gloss over some of the other failings of Reaganomics.

[SirRobin]

No he didn't. Not even close.

The USSR ended it on their own.

Yes but it pretty much happened at the same time. So its not surprising that Reagan is associated with it. Just like with Carter and the Oil Embargo.

[BicycleMafioso]

I'm not from the US, so my opinion is largely void, but when he left presidency, he left the country in a real mess economically; One that is spiralling worse and worse even today.
Whether or not he was the primary culprits of this or not, I simply do not know, but he was POTUS when the economics and greed went for the worse. Post-Reagan tuition fee, corporate structures, job security. Things like that.

[Crissi]

I think any poll that takes an average american's opinion on history is going to be really really skewed toward recent events with rose tinted glasses. There is no way in HELL that he should beat Lincoln.

anyways, Reagen was meh.

[belfpala]

Any Republican who puts Reagan above Ford is no Republican at all. done.

[Rukentuts]

Yes but it pretty much happened at the same time. So its not surprising that Reagan is associated with it. Just like with Carter and the Oil Embargo.

Too many people buy into correlation v. causation it's not even funny.

[BicycleMafioso]

I think any poll that takes an average american's opinion on history is going to be really really skewed toward recent events with rose tinted glasses. There is no way in HELL that he should beat Lincoln.

What did Lincoln do for greatness in the US? Apart from abolishing slavery (which he didn't want to do) and winning the Civil War (which isn't fair, since the other guy would've counted if he'd won)

Honest question.

[Wells]

Is OP surprised that an ideology that constructed a fetish for an America that never existed constructed a god king to represent it?

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No he didn't. Not even close.

The USSR ended it on their own.

If anything, he ramped it up for political gain.

[SirRobin]

I've never been a greed is good sort of fellow, and I hope to never be. So I see Reagan differently than, I suspect, many folks do.

[Agilent]

No he didn't. Not even close.

The USSR ended it on their own.

He was a factor in it. He greatly increased the size of the US military which led to the USSR spending a lot of money to keep theirs up. Which in turn bankrupt them.

[Rukentuts]

He was a factor in it. He greatly increased the size of the US military which led to the USSR spending a lot of money to keep theirs up. Which in turn bankrupt them.

He was a non-factor in it.

[belfpala]

He was a factor in it. He greatly increased the size of the US military which led to the USSR spending a lot of money to keep theirs up. Which in turn bankrupt them.

Then... oh shit we can keep doing that? /government closes under Clinton. /Government closes under Obama. /my State's government closes under a Republican governor.... whoops.

[Grummgug]

There is a fight over Reagan's legacy, the likes of which the nation has probably not seen since George Washington.

Its undeniable he is a great president. Unfortunately, the mainstream press is run by democrats, so they have to try to discredit him. They accomplish this goal the usual way - by downplaying any success, or trying to assert his role in any success was limited. Meanwhile, they attempt to assert that the bulk of the blame for any failures lie on his shoulders.

I was a kid in the 1980s, and I can distinctly remember democrats attempting revisionist history DURING HIS PRESIDENCY. They would argue that the economy was horrible for the entire 1980s like it was the Great Depression, meanwhile any sane person would EASILY see we were in an economic boom with collapsing unemployment and a huge stock market rally. Democrats would ignore that entire argument and claim the economy was trash and he was a stupid cowboy bent on nuking the Earth.

But let's ignore all of that and get to heart of what him a great president - Reagan was a MASTER negotiator.

Reagan took office in 1981, in the middle of a 40 year stretch where democrats controlled at least one house of congress. Democrats controlled the budget. The GOP had won the Senate, but the House was still controlled by the Democrats and a 31 seat majority, led by Tip O'Neil. Reagan wanted tax cuts, and the democrats were committed to blocking Reagan's agenda. But Reagan was such a master negotiator that he actually broke thru the House anyway and got his tax cuts passed. he did it with endless evenings making personal phone calls to members of congress, working on deals with each of them to get a yes vote. He managed to outmaneuver democrat House leadership and turn enough democrat votes yes to pass his legislation anyway.

It was a STUNNING feat and pretty much cemented his greatness right there.

It would be like Obama staying up late every night, calling members of the GOP House, brokering deals to pass his legislative agenda. I have never even heard of Obama paying any republican member of congress so much as a phone call...

If you understand what Reagan accomplished, Obama looks incredibly lazy and inept by comparison. Reagan was truly a great LEADER, forget president, a LEADER.

[trabajador5000]

Not too sure, haven't done any research, but from what i've heard from friends and family, Reagan was a feared and respected president, especially in regards to foreign policy.

[lizon]

What did Lincoln do for greatness in the US? Apart from abolishing slavery (which he didn't want to do) and winning the Civil War (which isn't fair, since the other guy would've counted if he'd won)

Honest question.

Open up your wallet, find a dollar bill (or any value of a dollar). You can thank Lincoln for that.

I have never even heard of Obama paying any republican member of congress so much as a phone call...

So all those quotes from Boehner saying he had a phone conversation with Obama must have all been a lie? Revisionist history indeed.....