The heading as I have written it is not of my own cognition, but a phrase popularized by talk show comedian, Stephen Colbert. The current generation of college students were of course born during the era Ronald Reagan, but I would be surprised if they could tell me anything of relevance about him.
There are three reasons why Ronald Reagan was the a great or greatest president:
1) He had an unchanging belief that he knew what this country needed. He was a man of convictions and these convictions would not be changed, by his own political team or opposing.
2) He knew that as president he could not change the world in every way that it so greatly needed. So he changed it in the ways that he thought needed it most. He wanted to defeat inflation, revive the economy, and stop the advance of the Soviet empire. These things he worried about - these things he accomplished.
3) He was able to overcome the desire to worry and subsequently appease the elite culture which pressures every political figure. When faced with an accusatory article attacking some recent decision he had made, Reagan did not question his own actions but questioned "what's eating this guy?"
These qualities complimented by his enduring title as "the great communicator" allowed him to become as many refer to as "the great or greatest president".
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3 comments:
Reagan just happened to be president when The Soviet Union imploded. Also, his economic policies caused huge budget deficits, quadrupling the United States national debt. Let us not forget the Iran-Contra Affiar, which killed our credibility.
the temporary huge budget deficit was a risk he took when making his decisions. because of Reagans decisions during presidency, the leviathan of economic growth beginning in 1983 which continued almost completely uninterrupted into the 90's was a tax gold rush for the treasury. And because of the defense savings due to the end of the cold war, the deficits disappeared. It was in fact Reagan who facilitated these happenings, not Clinton, even though Clinton gladly took the gratitude for them.
The economic growth may have also been triggered by the taxes George H.W. Bush had to install because of the huge deficit the nation was in.
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