Until now I have avoided the political arguments because they have a only a slight influence on R/E and interest rates, with presidential politics having even less influence. I don’t know the age of the posters who are reagan bashing but if you weren’t at least driving a car during his first presidency or practicing nuclear attack drills in school, you are in no position to judge the man or the time he ran the country. I was there and he did all that you can ask and more than we usually get, he left it better than he found it. He won the cold war without a real war, the attitude and pride was entirely different and things were generally good under his watch. Another hundred years, he and Kennedy will be considered as the top leaders of that century. I won’t argue the details because it is as fruitful as arguing Jim Brown/Ladinan Tomlinson/Emmet Smith, they played in different eras, so you really can’t ever find the answer without a time machine.
Was Reagan the entire reason the country turned into the superpower it became, not entirely, but he helped. The 1980 Olympic Hockey Team is who I give much of the credit to, but i look at the world differently than most. What I don’t look at differently is what life was like from 80-88 and how I voted in 1984 (I am not a lock step republican or democrat, I am not religious, I actually voted for clinton and think he did a good job in many respects getting my vote for second place in my lifetime and I didn’t vote for our current president). In 1984 Reagan won every state but Minnesota and D.C., for those who lived then, it was a no brainer. Even Lewis Black, a somewhat liberal comedian, has said that we should dig up Reagan from his grave, stand him up at the podium and even saying nothing and dead he could probably do a better job than the current president and those we have to choose from to replace him.
I’m sure you can whine about some thing he did that was bad while sipping coffee in your favorite coffee house. Fine, have at it, but rest assured you won’t convince me. I was there and from Jimmy Carter to today, he’s still the best in my lifetime. Sometimes a feel good president is all you need when nobody feels good, the world punks you all the time, the economy is in the crapper, interest rates are 17% and you can’t get gas on even numbered days. Those are the cards he was dealt and the was a crappier hand than even the next guy will get, leave it better than you found it, that’s all I ask.
