The legacy of Ronald Reagan

[IllustriousPotentate]

Ronald Reagan passed away today. What do you think of his presidency as a whole, him as a person, and what do you think were some of the highlights and lowlights of his administration?
Has America lost a great leader, or was Reagan just a run-of the mill average or bad president? Comments? Remarks?

[stafffighter]

He did some good things and some bad things, like most of us. Too bad he had alsimers, otherwise he could have told bush where the weapons he sold saddam were

[Idiot-Finder]

At 6/5/04 05:35 PM, stafffighter wrote: He did some good things and some bad things, like most of us. Too bad he had alsimers, otherwise he could have told bush where the weapons he sold saddam were

True.

[CapitalistSocialist]

At 6/5/04 05:35 PM, stafffighter wrote:

:Too bad he had alsimers, otherwise he could have told bush where the weapons he sold saddam were

hahahaha that's harsh man......

He did do a lot to cool off the cold war which is probably his most lasting achievement

[Idiot-Finder]

At 6/5/04 05:41 PM, CapitalistSocialist wrote:

He did do a lot to cool off the cold war which is probably his most lasting achievement

Also don't forget he even helped the country out after crappy performances by Ford and Carter.

[LLStarks]

Don't worry... They're next. Everyone dies someday. But, they were still BAD presidents.

[X] President Richard Nixon (1913-1994)
[ ] President Gerald Ford (b.1913)
[ ] President James Carter (b.1924)
[X] President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
[ ] President George H. W. Bush (b.1924)

[stafffighter]

I don't know why but men who have had that job seem to live long lives. Depending on how they did that can be a reward or a punishment.

[RydiaLockheart]

Regardless of how anyone viewed him as a president, I think it's a shame he had to die of Altzhiemer's (sp?). He had a long and fruitful life, though, so I guess that's what matters.

I think Reagan, like any president, had both his good and bad points. He was able to pick up the slack left by the Carter administration, though, so I have to give him that.

[aviewaskewed]

I agree with a lot of what I heard here, Regan did some good, and some bad too...kind of a middle of the road guy (too bad Bush couldn't be content with that), and hey, he's immortalized in Frank Miller's Batman epic The Dark Knight returns (they don't name him, but the artwork leaves no doubt that it's Regan)

[stafffighter]

Immortalized in a way our current president would do well to learn from.

[fli]

I can't comment on him too much. I've heard both sides, but I can't really feel anything.

But my teacher, who is very against Reagan, told me today he finally saw irony actually work in real life. He told me that Reagan didn't sign a bill allowing stem cell reasearch, and ultimately he could had saved his own life. Now I don't know anything about this, but if it is true, man... now that's ironic.

[Reverend-Kyle]

At 6/5/04 06:21 PM, Rydia_Lockheart wrote: Regardless of how anyone viewed him as a president, I think it's a shame he had to die of Altzhiemer's (sp?). He had a long and fruitful life, though, so I guess that's what matters.

He was 93; if alzheimers didn't get him, he probably would have been done in by a light breeze.

I think he wasted money with the "Star Wars" project and put the world at risk during his later years. They said he was diagnosed with alzheimers in '94, but do we know when it kicked in?

[KittenMagus]

Reagan was great at distributing his tasks to more qualified people. Probably the best thing he did as presidant was realize he was over his head, and surround himself with people who had a good idea what they were doing. I personally liked him.

He did a beautiful job of resolving the Iranian hostage crisis, cooling down the cold war, and improving American morale. Pity he held such faulty economic beliefs.

Oh well, I'd say the good far outweighs the bad in this case.

I give Reagan 4/5 stars.

[Brown-Hat]

any bets on Bush abusing this sad event for political gain?

[stafffighter]

He could do that easily, he has basically been trying to relive that administraction. Maybe someone should diagnose him

[RedSkunk]

I don't think any better of him now that he's dead.

[GooieGreen]

At 6/5/04 11:10 PM, red_skunk wrote: I don't think any better of him now that he's dead.

I don't think you should. I'm not any happier or more saddened that he's gone.

[RedSkunk]

Eloquent, gooie, eloquent.

[Slizor]

I think Reagan, like any president, had both his good and bad points. He was able to pick up the slack left by the Carter administration, though, so I have to give him that.

The problems the US was facing during Carter's presidency (also Nixon's and Ford's) are wrongly attributed to Carter. The poor state of the economy was the after-effects of the 1970s oil price rises and the Iran hostage situation.....well that was just mean. Carter could have got them out if Reagan didn't negotiate with them before he was President.

[BAWLS]

At 6/5/04 10:18 PM, Brown_Hat wrote: any bets on Bush abusing this sad event for political gain?

If he did, I doubt it would change the way people look at him.

[Coop]

At 6/5/04 05:41 PM, CapitalistSocialist wrote: He did do a lot to cool off the cold war which is probably his most lasting achievement

Yeah, but you can't attribute it all to one man. It was the actions of may, which lead to the end of the Cold War, not just Ron Reagan.

[GooieGreen]

At 6/6/04 12:13 AM, SKUNKbrs wrote: Eloquent, gooie, eloquent.

I try, bubby

[JoS]

Yet another President Fidell CAstro has outlived. Whats he at now for dead presidents?

[Commander-K25]

At 6/5/04 06:21 PM, Rydia_Lockheart wrote: Regardless of how anyone viewed him as a president, I think it's a shame he had to die of Altzhiemer's (sp?). He had a long and fruitful life, though, so I guess that's what matters.

I think Reagan, like any president, had both his good and bad points. He was able to pick up the slack left by the Carter administration, though, so I have to give him that.

Very true. Having lost family members to Alzheimer's myself, I assure you that no one deserves to go out that way. In truth, he was gone a long time ago. As Nancy Reagan said last month, "Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him."

For better of for worse, goodbye Mr. Reagan.

[fli]

Well, if I have any feeling for Reagan, all I can say that I am terribly upset with his support of the murder of civilians in Nicaragua during the Sandinista period because the US' fear of dictatorship and communism. I have more sympathy for innocent civilians then for Mr. Reagan. But since I don't anymore then that, I can't just go on that basis. But I've spoken to people from Nicaragua, and two of them are quite happy. They saw their family being killed as kids by gurillas supported by Reagan. So to me, Reagan was bad person in that respect.

[HoodedLynx]

Although Reagan was one of the most popular US presidents of all time (movies and TV maybe?), and probably a nice guy in person, in my opinion he did some of the most evil things any president could do. You do relize that his administration sold arms to the terrorists to take hostages, under his administration they also sold arms to rebels (I forgot which country but it's in S. America) who were fighting against a government we did not support (because the US is always right and all), we invested so much money into the "Star Wars" that it put the country way into debt, while he cut taxes at the same time (stupid?), and he closed the state hospitals where mentally ill homeless people were being held and helped, so he could continue cutting taxes and get high approval ratings, and now republicans bitch about the homeless population, among other things. I think that Reagan was probably one of the worst preisdents that we have ever had as a country.

[fli]

At 6/6/04 03:14 PM, HoodedLynx wrote: Although Reagan was one of the most popular US presidents of all time (movies and TV maybe?), and probably a nice guy in person, in my opinion he did some of the most evil things any president could do. You do relize that his administration sold arms to the terrorists to take hostages, under his administration they also sold arms to rebels (I forgot which country but it's in S. America) who were fighting against a government we did not

That country is Nicaragua.

And let's us not forget the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s. Reagan didn't do nothing until it was way too late. The infection had become too big to control.

The more I study Reagan, the more I am thinking that he is a terrible person and bad christian.

[Dagodevas]

I believe that he'll be remembered in a very positive light 50 years from now. Many presidents, including the most respected, deal with controversy and error during their administrations, but Reagan's charisma and presence made him very easy to be liked. He'll probably be most remembered for ending the Cold War and quickly solving the Iran hostage crisis.

[fli]

I'm getting "The Reagans" from Netflix.com... After the contraversy, I want to see it. And no goddamn republican gonna tell me otherwise...

[mrpopenfresh]

As a president, the guy was a dud, but as a person, he seemed really nice.