I was too young to vote for Reagan and at the time my politics disagreed with his. As I've gotten older I came to appreciate him for being both a great leader and a great symbol. In 1986 I thought he was an old doddering fool war mongering but after the Soviet Union fell I had to credit him and his admin with understanding both the fine art of brinkmanship and noble rhetoric to expose and the physical and moral bankruptcy of Communism and end the Cold War. I also think Reagan's finest hour was when he met with Gorbachev and Rjeikivik and dared to even discuss total nuclear disarmament with the leader of the nation he had called the "Evil Empire" just a few years earlier. Watching some of Reagan's speeches being replayed again also reminds me how lost great rhetoric is among both our current president and many of our other current polticians. It wasn't without accident that he was called "The Great Communicator." Watching his speech at the Berlin Wall and the epic lines "Mr. Gorbachev open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall!" Is something that I can see our current president saying but I not anywhere near with the force and charisma exuded by Reagan. The man was a natural. Reagan like all men wasn't without faults but was perhaps our last president with both great vision and great charisma which we have yet to see in any president since.
Fair enough. My own opinion is that Clinton had great intelligence and great charisma but not great vision. He seemed to muddle his way through a lot of policy and his foreign policy was extremely poll driven and more focussed on the crisis du jour rather than a coherent vision of what America's relationship was to the rest of the World. Reagan wasn't like that and while I disagreed with a lot of what he did I have to give him credit for having a vision and seeing it through. As I said I also give him a lot of credit for knowing when his vision was fulfilled and having the courage to propose an even bolder step towards making the World safer with his former sworn enemy at Rjeikivik.
Wasn't Reagan the one who called the soviet unoin the evil empire?talk about building a relationship with the rest of the world. do bolder steps include SDI which was a joke even to republicans.
I'll never consider Reagan one of the great ones, but he seemed like a nice and honorable man who happens to have disagreed with me a lot. May he rest in peace after a long and terrible illness. Mother****er sure was tough to kill.
Reagan was a hard man not to like. He was easily the most charismatic president of my lifetime and a great communicator (on par with Clinton). Reagan's policies on the other hand ....
I've debated saying anything because I didn't feel like getting into an argument over something that pales in comparison with President Reagan's passing. However, just to give my personal opinion since this IS the D&D folder, I'm just going to say that his characterization of the USSR seemed to be a way to establish the USA as the "good" side of the Cold War, and the Soviets as the "black hats". He established a clear "us or them" doctrine, and then used the tools he had at hand (an economy that turned around during his terms, a second to none military rebounding after Vietnam and President Carter) to defeat what he saw as the world's greatest threat. And he did it without a major showdown, nuclear exchange, or "holocaust" that Chicken Littles were forecasting throughout his 8 years. And wizkid, if you honestly think that Clinton was better because REAGAN was a liar, then... never mind I don't feel like getting into a flame war. A personally autographed picture of President Reagan (from '69 when he was governor of California) hangs on a wall in our house and is one of my family's prized possessions. I respect the man as one of America's greatest leaders, and wish his family well during this time. R.I.P Mr. President, and may you have the rest you richly deserve.
Why wouldn't you? A number of other presidents have been referenced in the two threads dealing with Reagan.
