Ronald Reagan was my favorite president. Read this excellent article on his accomplishments from the Heritage Foundation:
What Were Ronald Reagan’s Achievements?
February 3, 2012 at 1:00 pm
February 6 is Ronald Reagan’s birthday. While the right has long looked to Reagan as the standard-bearer of conservative leadership, over the past few years, even liberals are waxing Reaganesque.
For instance, before he was the class warrior in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt, President Obama invoked the Gipper to support his millionaire tax. As Reagan historian Steven Hayward remarked, “Ever so slowly, liberals are attempting a subtle revisionism” of our 40th President.
Let’s set the record straight. Just take a look at Ronald Reagan’s greatest achievements as evidence of his conservatism.
Every President is judged on his performance in two areas: peace and prosperity. By this standard, Ronald Reagan was one of our greatest Presidents, and this is why the last half of the 20th century is often described by historians as the Age of Reagan.
Reagan’s military buildup and competition with the Soviet Union not only kept America safe but also, in Margaret Thatcher’s memorable phrase, won the Cold War without firing a shot. At home, he persuaded Congress to pass an economic recovery program—centered on cutting marginal tax rates—that sparked an unprecedented period of peacetime prosperity. As important, Reagan lifted the country out of a great psychological depression induced by the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and sustained by the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the Jimmy Carter malaise. He did so by appealing to the best in the American character.
As Reagan explained in his Farewell Address, quoting the Constitution, “We the People” was the underlying basis for everything he tried to do as President.
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Comments
I was looking for evidence of the greatness of Ronald Reagan because Republicans are so busy making him an icon. I am still looking. He did not end the Cold War he just talked a lot about it. Tax cuts have been proven by bipartisan researchers to not be a stimulus to the economy-the economy seems to be cyclical unless the greed of Wall Street , banks or large coprporations take it down as they did in 2006… He broke the air traffic controillers union..so breaking unions is an accomplishment and results in lower wages for the middle class and more money for corporations and investors.He was involved in the illegal Iran Contra scheme but couldn’t recall anything about it. What’s to cheer about?
Recently I read, “President Reagan’s action in firing the striking workers was controversial. The strike and subsequent firing of these workers resulted in cutting roughly half the scheduled commercial flights on the first day of the strike, and the airline industry lost substantial revenue… The air-traffic control system continued to function. Most Americans supported President Reagan’s actions. Internationally, the Soviets paid close attention to this incident and were struck by President Reagan’s resolve and decisiveness.”
DID REAGAN WIN THE COLD WAR? The star wars campaign made the Soviets give up and if that is the case then Reagan must get the credit for ending the cold war.
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Concerning Reagan’s performance in spending and taxing. Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute commented:
In a post last week, I explained that Obama has been a big spender, but noted his profligacy is disguised because TARP outlays caused a spike in spending during Bush’s last fiscal year (FY2009, which began October 1, 2008). Meanwhile, repayments from banks in subsequent years count as “negative spending,” further hiding the underlying trend in outlays.
Reagan 0.5%, Clinton 2.5%, Carter 2.9%,Bush 43 3.7%, Bush 41 6.1%, LBJ 6.3%, Obama 7.0%,Nixon 8.5%.
When you strip away those one-time factors, it turns out that Obama has allowed domestic spending to increase at the fastest rate since Richard Nixon.
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What were the results of the Reagan tax cuts?
According to the Cato Institute:
So Ronald Reagan a) collected more total revenue, b) collected more revenue from the rich, while c) reducing revenue collected by the bottom half of taxpayers, and d) generated an economic powerhouse that lasted – with only minor hiccups – for nearly three decades.