Much media attention was recently focused on Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. I must say that these periodic outpourings of adulation for him always hit a nerve with me.
I respect President Reagan, and his legacy. He was a decent man who devoted most of his later life to public service. I just can't help feeling, though, that his current portrayal by the media as a some-time god is simply at odds with the facts. In the words of Bill Murray, playing his SNL night-club personna: "I'm sorry -- That's the way I feel about it."
Reagan was viewed as a straight-shooter and "The Great Communicator" -- a master of television's quick sound-bites. Some of his alleged accomplishments include: ending the Cold War; rebuilding respect for America among our citizens and around the world while rebuilding our military; championing and implementing fiscal responsibility; and, finally, following a high moral and religious compass while promoting the same in the American people.
Let's take these "accomplishments" one at a time.
The Cold War: While Reagan undeniably played a role in the fall of the Soviet Union, it is a gross exaggeration to say that he ended it. If I had to pick a single event or cause, I would attribute the Soviet war in Afghanistan as the turning point. And a recent PBS documentary quoted a number of Russians saying that banned Western music, and the Beatles in particular, had a far greater effect on disenchantment with the Soviet system than any statements or actions by "old" American politicians. A popular corollary to the Reagan myth is that the arms race with America "bankrupted" the Soviet regime. That policy certainly didn't start with Reagan, and I would further speculate that the repeated failures of the Soviet five-year economic and agricultural plans had far more to do with Soviet "bankrupting" than anything Reagan did.
Rebuilding respect/military: To a degree, the rebuilding of respect for America is true. But, even here, there is more myth than substance. Under the Carter administration, the U.S. had been mired in the triple-whammy of an energy crisis caused in part by Mid-East turmoil, the Iran hostage crisis, and a slowing economy with high inflation (from commodity and food shortages). President Carter had proposed a realistic, though somewhat painful, energy policy that was probably our only bona-fide attempt to deal with this long-standing problem. As Carter became consumed by the Iran hostage crisis, his approval rating fell as Americans became increasingly impatient. Reagan made Americans "feel good", after his election, by dismantling Carter's energy policy. World oil prices fell, allowing Reagan to postpone (forever?) any realistic American energy policy. We are unfortunately still paying for Reagan's short-sightedness. To his credit, though, Reagan's forceful campaign tone did bring the end to the Iran hostage crisis.
Championing fiscal responsibility: It is ironic that Reagan is associated with this, when the actual conduct of his administration seemed diametrically opposed to it. The Reagan Administration was the first to run large proportionate deficits in peace time. His vision of supply-side economics meant that taxes should be cut and at minimum never increased, even though there were large increases in federal spending under his watch, especially for the defense. Another case of postponing the painful reckoning until future generations!
High moral/religious tone: Another case of all myth and very little substance. Ronald Reagan rarely attended church, and was our only divorced president (although I don't think either of these in any way disqualify someone from being president -- I'm just pointing out inconsistencies). His administration and he personally were involved in some high-level scandals, the biggest probably being the Iran-Contra Affair. According to a wikipedia listing, at least 24 of his Cabinet or Pentagon officials were charged, convicted, and/or dismissed for legal or ethics violations during his administration. This is the highest number of corrupt officials in any administration, at least until the George W. Bush administration. You can check the evidence I used at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States
And yet, the perception exists that Reagan was all of these things and more!
HIV Travesty: This is a section about President Reagan that I feel compelled to add. A travesty that hardly anyone brings up anymore is the inertia (at best) with which his administration dealt with the HIV/Aids outbreak. They didn't push for blood collection safeguards until there was a near-epidemic. Reagan, himself, seemed to hold the opinion that it was a "gay-only" disease, and built further fear by refusing to say publicly that it couldn't be contracted by casual contact. His administration even went so far as to not allow (on moral grounds!) federal funding for the distribution of literature on safe-sex practices. The dying continued then, and unfortunately continues to this day...
I first heard of Ronald Reagan as a politician when he was California governor in the sixties. At that time, he seemed only slightly to the left of the John Birch Society. His main past-time seemed to be to insult the intelligence (and, sometimes, hygiene standards) of students at UC Berkeley. When he was first being mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in the 70s, I thought there was no possible way this country would ever submit to him being president. Was I wrong!
And now, unfortunately, there's Sarah Palin....
I respect President Reagan, and his legacy. He was a decent man who devoted most of his later life to public service. I just can't help feeling, though, that his current portrayal by the media as a some-time god is simply at odds with the facts. In the words of Bill Murray, playing his SNL night-club personna: "I'm sorry -- That's the way I feel about it."
Reagan was viewed as a straight-shooter and "The Great Communicator" -- a master of television's quick sound-bites. Some of his alleged accomplishments include: ending the Cold War; rebuilding respect for America among our citizens and around the world while rebuilding our military; championing and implementing fiscal responsibility; and, finally, following a high moral and religious compass while promoting the same in the American people.
Let's take these "accomplishments" one at a time.
The Cold War: While Reagan undeniably played a role in the fall of the Soviet Union, it is a gross exaggeration to say that he ended it. If I had to pick a single event or cause, I would attribute the Soviet war in Afghanistan as the turning point. And a recent PBS documentary quoted a number of Russians saying that banned Western music, and the Beatles in particular, had a far greater effect on disenchantment with the Soviet system than any statements or actions by "old" American politicians. A popular corollary to the Reagan myth is that the arms race with America "bankrupted" the Soviet regime. That policy certainly didn't start with Reagan, and I would further speculate that the repeated failures of the Soviet five-year economic and agricultural plans had far more to do with Soviet "bankrupting" than anything Reagan did.
Rebuilding respect/military: To a degree, the rebuilding of respect for America is true. But, even here, there is more myth than substance. Under the Carter administration, the U.S. had been mired in the triple-whammy of an energy crisis caused in part by Mid-East turmoil, the Iran hostage crisis, and a slowing economy with high inflation (from commodity and food shortages). President Carter had proposed a realistic, though somewhat painful, energy policy that was probably our only bona-fide attempt to deal with this long-standing problem. As Carter became consumed by the Iran hostage crisis, his approval rating fell as Americans became increasingly impatient. Reagan made Americans "feel good", after his election, by dismantling Carter's energy policy. World oil prices fell, allowing Reagan to postpone (forever?) any realistic American energy policy. We are unfortunately still paying for Reagan's short-sightedness. To his credit, though, Reagan's forceful campaign tone did bring the end to the Iran hostage crisis.
Championing fiscal responsibility: It is ironic that Reagan is associated with this, when the actual conduct of his administration seemed diametrically opposed to it. The Reagan Administration was the first to run large proportionate deficits in peace time. His vision of supply-side economics meant that taxes should be cut and at minimum never increased, even though there were large increases in federal spending under his watch, especially for the defense. Another case of postponing the painful reckoning until future generations!
High moral/religious tone: Another case of all myth and very little substance. Ronald Reagan rarely attended church, and was our only divorced president (although I don't think either of these in any way disqualify someone from being president -- I'm just pointing out inconsistencies). His administration and he personally were involved in some high-level scandals, the biggest probably being the Iran-Contra Affair. According to a wikipedia listing, at least 24 of his Cabinet or Pentagon officials were charged, convicted, and/or dismissed for legal or ethics violations during his administration. This is the highest number of corrupt officials in any administration, at least until the George W. Bush administration. You can check the evidence I used at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States
And yet, the perception exists that Reagan was all of these things and more!
HIV Travesty: This is a section about President Reagan that I feel compelled to add. A travesty that hardly anyone brings up anymore is the inertia (at best) with which his administration dealt with the HIV/Aids outbreak. They didn't push for blood collection safeguards until there was a near-epidemic. Reagan, himself, seemed to hold the opinion that it was a "gay-only" disease, and built further fear by refusing to say publicly that it couldn't be contracted by casual contact. His administration even went so far as to not allow (on moral grounds!) federal funding for the distribution of literature on safe-sex practices. The dying continued then, and unfortunately continues to this day...
I first heard of Ronald Reagan as a politician when he was California governor in the sixties. At that time, he seemed only slightly to the left of the John Birch Society. His main past-time seemed to be to insult the intelligence (and, sometimes, hygiene standards) of students at UC Berkeley. When he was first being mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in the 70s, I thought there was no possible way this country would ever submit to him being president. Was I wrong!
And now, unfortunately, there's Sarah Palin....
