This is absolutley a debate: The Reagan Presidency.

[AirForceRocks]

There hasn't been a funeral with a national day of morning like this in 31 years.

There hasn't been a State funeral in 31 years, but there was indeed a national day of mourning on the day of President Nixon's funeral back in 1994. It's SOP when a former President dies.

Well, according to Patch'sD I'm wrong on even that count.

I believe that you are right and that Patch'sD is wrong. If memory serves, the Republicans took over the Senate on President Reagan's coattails in 1980, and held that majority until the 1986 elections.

 

[AirForceRocks]

There's no doubt that Reagan was popular at the time and this helped him to push his policies through Congress. The policies that created that HUGE deficit that I mentioned.

The problem with your analysis is that his policies were only half the "problem" (and I don't consider rebuilding a hollow military to be a problem). The other half was the reluctance of Democrats in Congress to cut social spending.

 

[jrydberg]

If memory serves, the Republicans took over the Senate on President Reagan's coattails in 1980, and held that majority until the 1986 elections.

That is correct.

 

[caitycaity]

i did not agree with a lot (most?) of president reagan's policies, but i did have respect for him as a person.

 

[jrydberg]

I'm a bit puzzled why you would make clearly controversial statements on a debate thread and then complain when they are debated...

 

[Patch'sD]

I stand corrected GOP had senate control through 86 and then was turned over to the Dems until 96. Thanx for the Correction, However original point still stands GOP did not control both houses during Reagan's term in office.

 

[Galahad]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
Well said, caity! I have a great deal of respect for all of the men that have served as President of this country. I think in many ways it is a thankless job, and the pressures that they endure...I can only imagine.

I think that every single President, whether I agree/agreed with their policies or not, are due respect simply for the fact that they held probably them most difficult and risky (in terms of coping with world events) job in the world.

And I think that if we look at our Presidents, especially recent ones, each and every one of them did something that only that particular person could have pulled off, given the events of the day.

 

[gometros]

I am a staunch Democrat, and I have my own views of the success or failure of Reagan's presidency. But an American president has died and I'm not sure now is the proper time to vilify him. Only history and the historians can determine how good or bad a president Ronald Reagan was.

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by caitycaity
wow, madman, did you get taken over by richyams or what?

Does it change? Reagan was a dunce. Bush is a dunce. Reagan was threat to civilization. Bush is a threat to civilization.
Reagan was going to blow up the world. Bush is going to blow up the world. Tell me what is different today than in the 80's about Reagan?

 

[Patch'sD]

Ah, "There You go again".

Negative ads. Do you want to go back and look at Kerry and His Primary Speeches. Kerry is such is good boy. Words like inept and Liar's are such positive remarks.

George Bush has run the most arrogant, inept, reckless and ideological foreign policy in the modern history of our country.

John Kerry. New Hampshire Jan 27, 2004.

 

[gometros]

How did a discussion about the Reagan presidency turn into a debate about the current presidential race?

 

[caitycaity]

Originally posted by dmadman43
Does it change? Reagan was a dunce. Bush is a dunce. Reagan was threat to civilization. Bush is a threat to civilization.
Reagan was going to blow up the world. Bush is going to blow up the world. Tell me what is different today than in the 80's about Reagan?

you do realize that not all liberals feel that way, right? that is what i was referring to.

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by caitycaity
you do realize that not all liberals feel that way, right? that is what i was referring to.

You're right. Fair enough. Perhaps I should have said the Dem playbook.

 

[Lanshark]

I did not agree with all of President Reagan's policies. I did agree with some of them. I can say that about every President in my lifetime. There is not one that I agreed with 100% and not one that I disagreed with 100%. The bottom line is they all served their country and are afforded the respect that the office of President holds.

There is a difference in reading about history and living through it. I believe unless you lived through the era where there was a fear of the Soviet Union you would not fully understand it. There were actually bomb drills, like fire drills, in schools. People build bomb shelters out of fear. The way that school children feel these days about terroristic attacks we felt about an attack from the USSR.

I think it's fair game to debate his policies. I think it would be classless to attack his character.

 

[Pete's Mom]

Originally posted by Lanshark
There is a difference in reading about history and living through it. I believe unless you lived through the era where there was a fear of the Soviet Union you would not fully understand it. There were actually bomb drills, like fire drills, in schools. People build bomb shelters out of fear. The way that school children feel these days about terroristic attacks we felt about an attack from the USSR.

I remember being around 12 or 13 and laying in bed at night scared to death that the Soviets were going to nuke us and wondering if I was going to wake up in the morning. I can't imagine feeling the same way by just "reading or studying" it more than 20 years later.

Can you honestly say that 20 or more years from now that a new generation will be able to fully understand the impact of 09/11 as we feel it now?

 

[DawnCt1]

Originally posted by Pete's Mom
I remember being around 12 or 13 and laying in bed at night scared to death that the Soviets were going to nuke us and wondering if I was going to wake up in the morning. I can't imagine feeling the same way by just "reading or studying" it more than 20 years later.

Can you honestly say that 20 or more years from now that a new generation will be able to fully understand the impact of 09/11 as we feel it now?

We lived in East Hartford, Ct at the time. Where the maker of jet engines, Pratt and Whitney was located.. Everyone felt that we would be a "target". The air raid drills occurred during the Cuban Missile Crises. I remember in 5th grade, the teacher turning off the class room lights, filing into the hall and hiding our heads against the concrete wall in the corridor, like that was going to save us.

 

[Lisa F]

I think it's crazy to think that there will ever be a single president who always does everything "right" by everyone's standards.

I also think it's extremely simplistic to believe that you can do whatever you want without having to pay a price, whether you are a regular person or the President of the United States. IMO, the fact that Reagan was the kind of person who could make the kinds of decisions and tradeoffs that he did with confidence and the fact that he made no apologies about where his priorities lie made him worthy of respect and admiration, regardless of whether you think the ends (bringing an end to the cold war) justify the means (huge deficit in the budget).

I guess at the end of the day all that really matters in ANY of our lives regardless of political affiliation is whether the world is now a better place (even just slightly) because you were in it. Ketchup and air-traffic controllers notwithstanding, I think I can say with confidence that Ronald Reagan made the world a better place. He may not have solved EVERY problem or left a perfect utopia in his wake but if that's the requirement for admiration, then there really are NO heroes in this world.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Ketchup and air-traffic controllers notwithstanding, I think I can say with confidence that Ronald Reagan made the world a better place.

1) Ronald Reagan NEVER suggested or approved of ketchup as a vegetable. Why do people keep bringing something up that is patently false and using it as a "this was a bad thing" against him?

2) The ATC strike was ILLEGAL - the President gave the ATC's plenty of time, 48 hours, to end the illegal strike and return to work or face termination. They CHOSE to continue the illegal strike, so again, why is that used as some kind of evidence that Reagan made a mistake?

 

[Patch'sD]

I to am greatfull that my kids never had to go bed worrying about the nuclear nightmare.

 

[Lanshark]

I remember in 5th grade, the teacher turning off the class room lights, filing into the hall and hiding our heads against the concrete wall in the corridor, like that was going to save us.

Yep. I remember these same drills in IN as a grade schooler. They didn't try to mask what it was. This is what we were to do in case of a nuclear attack. As I said above, unless you lived it it is difficult to imagine it. Watch the movies of that era. All the bad guys were Russians. There was a very real fear. The bad guys these days are Middle Eastern. The fear is just as real.

Although I didn't agree with many of President Reagan's policies his contribution was enormous.