I mean no disrespect at the time of Reagan's passing, but at the same time, the question that I've wondered about for years is certainly apparent today.
Exactly what is it about Ronald Reagan that's made him a Saint among conservatives and so liked by most Americans?
Was it his ethical, scandal free Administration? How could it be? The Clinton Administration, the "Most Corrupt of All Time" according to some, had a grand total of one misdemeanor conviction. The Reagan Adminstration had a total of
32 criminal convictions, including two National Security Advisors, Robert McFarlane and John Poindexter, while his Secretaries of Defense and State escaped indictment by being pardoned by George H.W. Bush. As to Reagan himself testifying under oath - he either lied or was incompetent.
Was it his honesty and passion for human rights? No, this is the man who looked America and the world in the eye and said, "We do not negotiate with terrorists, because it will only lead to more terrorism", only to turn around and trade arms to a terrorist state in a failed trade for hostages - which, just as he said, led to 6 more hostages being taken - in order to circumvent U.S. law to arm his own terrorists, the Nicaraguan Contras. He also supported death squads in El Salvador and Quatamala, as well as brutally repressive regimes in the Phillipines and Chile.
Was it his brilliant use of our military? It was his order to plop down a Marine expeditianary force in the middle of Beirut Airport, surrounded on three sides by enemy held high ground, with no mission but to sit tight until the local terrorists could put together an attack that blew 240 of our finest to bits, whereupon Reagan promptly had us turn tail and run. So, two days later, he ordered the glorious, if somewhat pointless, invasion of Greneda, a tactical clusterflop that caused more military deaths than our "failure" in Somalia.
Was it his handling of the economy? No, Reaganomics was a disaster. What created the 'Reagan Boom' was dumb luck and the price of oil. During the 70's, two successive oil crises sent the price of oil skyward, tripling - todays dollars - from the 1973 embargo, and then doubling again after the 1978 crisis. However, by the end of the Carter Presidency the U.S. had, through conservation and alternative energy programs, reduced our imports by and incredible 25%, leading to the eventual collapse of OPEC and oil prices. Note that if you lay a graph of inflation rates over a graph of oil prices, they match almost exactly, even to the short spike during the Gulf War.
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http://www.wtrg.com/prices.htm
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http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.cf...fm?lesson=EM210
With oil prices dropping from almost $60/bbl to $20/bbl, corporate America found itself awash in new capital, which it promptly spent on leveraged buyouts, junk bonds, designer teapots and real estate... lots and lots of real estate, which, in turn, led to the 1987 S&L crisis. What was left of our economy after that was $250 billion deficit and a $1.7 trillion debt.
So, if his actual presidency was so less than stirling, what exactly was it about Reagan? In a phrase, Reagan became the epitome of Style over Substance.
1. Optmism -- Reagan shares a quality that has made Arnold Schwarzeneger so popular in California and, as much as conservatives hate to hear it, Bill Clinton immensly popular for two terms. Tremendous optimism and good humor. Unlike both Bush's and the Republican Congress created by Newt Gingrich, Reagan ran a relatively mud free and positive campaign, and carried that optimism through his Presidency. Reagan and Tip O'Neil were apparently good friends who often chatted amiably over drinks. Who can imagine such cross-party friendships today?
2. The Great Communicator -- Ronald Reagan was a trained actor and understood how to use theatre craft to promote his agendas. He pretty much invented the photo op and the sound bite, and brought back the Saturday radio address used so well by FDR. Trained to read before a camera, Reagan became the first real TV President, using folksy and heart touching anecdote in place of facts.
3. The Teflon President -- both of these qualities made Reagan so popular among Americans that scandals that would have sunk any other Presidency simply bounced off Reagan.
4. The Great Conservative -- After the disastrous years of the Nixon legacy, both his scandals and his fairly liberal legacy, Reagan proudly came forward with an unapologetically conservative platform, changed the face of the Republican party and Republicans loved it. At last they could once again be proud to be Republican.
5. A Winner -- Reagan not only trounced his presidential opponents, he also trounced the excesses of the American move towards liberalism, and in fact single handedly reversed it. Bill Clinton won the nomination because he ran as a DLC Centrist, and the hard line Liberals were ignored, a legacy of Reagan conservatism.
6. The End of the Cold War -- I will give Reagan credit for this. The Cold War ended on his watch, and while the Soviet Union was ready to topple from the stagnation of the 70's, Reagan was the one who pushed it over.