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BS ‘n’ About…
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was undoubtedly one of the greatest leaders to ever occupy the Oval Office. He arrived in Washington at a bleak time, full of optimism, with an agenda virtually impossible to fulfill. In 1980 the Cold War looked anything but winnable, the economy anything but fixable, and our national spirit anything but upliftable. We felt weak as a nation, as a people, as an economy, and as a force in world affairs. Ronnie swept into office, got us to buy wholeheartedly into his vision, and fixed all that.
Indeed, he was one heckuva leader. But was he a great President? That awaits an answer history has yet to write. He made us strong when we were weak. What we do with that strength will largely determine his legacy.
The Reagan Administration laid the foundation for the world we live in today. Much as the ‘60’s and ‘70’s were the bastard stepchild of FDR’s New Deal, today is firmly rooted in Reaganomics and “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”. The New Deal gave us union jobs, a rebuilt infrastructure, social services, educational benefits, health coverage, pensions, and a military designed to defend against aggression. Reaganomics has resulted in unfettered capitalism, a deregulated financial system, unaffordable insurance, right-to-work jobs, shrinking social services, an aggressive military, and the largest single transfer of wealth from one class to another in the history of mankind.
Were the Great Communicator with us today, would he be proud of the changes he’d brought to our lives? Would he be pleased with the results as he strolled down the Main Streets of the Dixons of America? Would he be happy with the way things ‘trickled-down’?
Ronald Reagan was a man of vision. Ending the Cold War has to rank among the greatest diplomatic successes of all time. It was a bluff that needed to be called and he was the right man, in the right place, at the right time. For those who lived through it, the Cold War was obviously the issue of its day.
But let’s not forget that this icon of the right was a man of humble origins who started out as a union-agitator, FDR Democrat and, by many accounts, had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the Republican Party. He never seemed to lose sight of the fact that he was working to better our lives. He seemed to care. That’s why we tightened our belts for him. That’s why we loved him.
But his legacy doesn’t ring true. The world we’ve carved from the successes he achieved go against everything he seemed to stand for. Did he win the Cold War just so we can rattle sabers with the latest 3rd World Bad Guy of the Month? Did he boom the economy so a few of us could become billionaires while the rest of us can’t afford education, healthcare, or retirement anymore? Did he restore our national pride just so we can use our arrogance to browbeat our allies and bully our enemies?
We have gained much as a people and as a nation in the days since Ronald Reagan. But we’ve also lost much which we used to take for granted. When the Gipper took the oath of office, we were in conflict with the Muslim World, gas prices were skyrocketing, our allies disrespected us, the Administration had failed in its policies, and we were looking deep within as a people and a nation. Sound familiar?
Ronald Reagan was a great leader who marshaled the resources of our nation like no peacetime President we’ve ever had. But the ‘trickling-down’ that was promised hasn’t occurred. As individuals, we are weaker and lonlier, less educated and less healthy, more afraid and more stressed, less secure and less rooted. We no longer have the time to raise our kids or care for our elders. Those are prices that the Great Communicator couldn’t have seen coming. Those are prices he couldn’t be happy about.
Say what you will about Ronnie Reagan, but his was certainly a unique Presidency. He dared to have a vision that wasn’t limited by the realities of the situation. He dared to think outside the box, envision a future, and get things done. He united us and got us to BELIEVE again. Say what you will about Ronnie Reagan, but we could sure use someone with his kind of vision right about now.
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