Was Reagan a bad president? Why?
Mike Bowerbank
Mike Bowerbank, Support and Analytics
Written Mar 4, 2016
This is not a yes or no question. It's a yes AND no question.
When Reagan took office, inflation, unemployment, and interest
rates were all in the double-digits. That's unthinkable today,
but that's how it was. When Reagan left office, all were in
single digits. It's hard to knock that. On that score, it was
a successful presidency. Here are some other good things:
In 1980, the United States seemed like a nation in decline. Just
four years later, you would never have thought that. The country
rewarded Reagan with a one-sided near-sweep in the 1984 election.
Mondale took Minnesota... Reagan took the rest of the states. Reagan
loved Gorbachev. The two men hammered out treaties and nuclear
reduction treaties. Reagan signed an acid rain treaty with Canada.
The Soviet Union was going bankrupt - Reagan helped hurry its demise.
On the other hand, there were the bad things, screw-up, and scandals:
Reagan's disastrous idea to deploy troops in Beirut led to the deaths
of hundreds of Marines. Not one balanced budget. Nowhere even close.
Deficits soared and the debt ballooned. He armed Iraq and was friends
with Saddam Hussein and we all know how that ended a few years later.
Reagan hated the Soviets so much he armed and funded radical Afghan
fighters to fight the Russian occupation; many of those fighters would
go on to form the Taliban. Reagan vilified the Iranian mullahs, but
still saw fit to swap arms for hostages, sell weapons to Iran, and
use profits to fund an illegal war in Central America. Reagan's
administration was terribly corrupt - look up how many of his team
were indicted... your jaw will hit the keyboard. (Hint: more than
137 but less than 139.)
Every president's legacy is a mixed one, but with Reagan, it was
extreme highs and extreme lows. When he was good, he was excellent.
When he was bad, it was unimaginably terrible.
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