A couple of days ago, CSPAN came out with their new ranking of the presidents. With shrub at 36th I thought that was a pretty good fit for him. Unless of course they wanted to put him farther down the line.
I was also pretty proud of the fact that the native son of my home state, Give 'em Hell Harry was in 5th place. I could live with that, and with most of the others.
However, the one that I really didn't understand and have never understood was number 10, Ronald Reagan. What did or had he done that made him rank so high on this list??
I really can't remember anything he ever did that was so great, and I have thought about it. Yeah, I know, the hostages were freed when he became president. But did he really have anything to do with it? Or was that all Carter? How much did Reagan really do in the transition period??
I visit another blog quite often called Broadway Carl, and one of his bloggers had written up a spot about the rankings of the presidents, and in the comments I asked how Ronnie got so high.. so he wrote an answer to me.
It was good, and it linked to a Vanity Fair article that talked about some of the things that happened in the time during Reagan's term in office. How he was such a clown even Gorbachev didn't like talking to him.
It is well worth checking out.. if you want to see Armadillo Hussein Joe's take on Ronnie Ray-gunz, (as he calls him) it's pretty good.
6 comments:
Reagan took credit for the release of the hostages, and while I'd have to do some digging I think Carter was stalled out on the situation and Reagan's people were working on the release before he took office. Reagan's biggest accomplishment was spending the Soviet's into bankruptcy and collapse with the massive Military spending of the 80's.
I have to be honest, I like Reagan, he has some Iowa connection, having been a radio sports announcer here before he went into acting, so I'd probably rate him fairly high myself. But then again I also live in the state that gave us Hoover... /sigh.
I remember him best for:
Supply-side economics, whereby he laid the foundation of what we've got right now.
The introduction of the American poor to homelessness. His housing policies went a long way toward creating that situation.
Making racism respectable again. After all, if the president was telling welfare queen urban legends while addressing the nation, it was fine to be racist in the privacy of your own life, right?
The Iran-Contra scandal, which was necessary in order to arm death squads.
Taking credit for the break-up of the Soviet Union. It seemed to be in plenty of trouble before Reagan came along.
Marine barracks - Beirut.
There's more, but that's the gist. I thought his presidency was a nightmare, but then, I hadn't seen George W. Bush at work back then.
The Soviet Union may have been in trouble before Reagan but he pretty much nailed the coffin lid shut.
Of course their invasion of Afghanistan helped in that.
limits on Pell Grants, that's one thing I remember.
I was at the time, a single parent of 3 small children. I was going part time to the local community college on Pell grants. One semester left, and suddenly no more grants, because I "had been in school too long".
I did finish though, with a student loan, and paid it off early.
I will check out the link to Broadway Carl, but probably not til tomorrow. Been a long day, and tomorrow's another long one.
thanks :)
Actually just to set the record straight...Carter worked on the Hostage situation...and yes, Reagon took credit- and maybe he should since later he was working the Iran Contra sitaution pretty good...sigh...
And WHERE was Nixon on the list ???Hoover ? ??
I thought it was a crock- the list that is...I KNOW Bush would score lower..and WHERE was this poll ? and WHO did they ask...cuz it was NOT posted on their site....I really do question the results...
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