Friday, January 20, 2006
A Word on the Legacy of Ronald Reagan, 25 Years Later
Today, January 20, 2006, is the 25th anniversary of the first inauguration of Ronald Reagan as the 40th President of the United States. Hours after he was sworn in, the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran by the government and radicals there were released, and Reagan began his administration with this diplomatic nightmare off his plate.
In the eight years he spent as President, Reagan was labeled a moron, a dope, a dupe of others, a warmonger, and other foul epithets. Since he left office in 1989, evidence has shown that he was in fact the opposite of these things, from his breadth of knowledge in his letters before and after his presidency to his ending the Cold War and bringing the Soviet Union to its knees, despite the hatred and opposition from many, including liberals. In many ways, Ronald Reagan has been proven right, both by time and history but also by the actions of his enemies, political and otherwise.
For instance, in 1982 Reagan wanted to put MX missiles into western Europe to counter the Soviets. Millions marched against America in Europe, denouncing the US and Reagan as warmongers. Yet, today, there is no more USSR, and Reagan was proven right. The pro-Soviet states which were the frontlines of the Cold War are now more capitalist than the western European "allies" for whom we shed untold amounts of blood and capital to keep afloat.
Reagan also cut taxes - despite harangues from Downies who said he hated blacks, poor people, and loved the rich...in short, many of the same stale arguments they use against George W. Bush today. Yet under Reagan, tax receipts more than doubled from 1981 to 1989, despite the cuts in income taxes. When Reagan came to office, he found that years of regression from a Downie-led Congress and the wounded presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford and the disastrous regime of Jimmy Carter had left the US military in such disrepair that without nuclear weaponry we were sliding into a 2nd world country military-wise. Reagan set out to rebuild the entire US armed forces top to bottom, and now it is the greatest army in the world, manpower and weaponry alike. And yet Reagan did this despite the hatred and opposition of the same people - John Kerry, for instance - who came to his funeral or who now admit in hushed whispers that Ronald Reagan was the perfect man for the presidency at the time - and perhaps one of the greatest Presidents in American history.
It is said that a President can either make his times, or be made by his times. Ronald Reagan was the former - in every field, he made the times, he dictated the policy, he changed the world. In many ways, the current President, George W. Bush, is the shining successor to Reagan. However, in his time in office, Bush will not only make his times, but be made by them.
Liberals and America-haters mock Bush, call him names, and deride his accomplishments. But as we see 25 years after he became President, the reaction to Ronald Reagan, once labeled as "that cowboy actor," history sees the truth in a legacy. Ronald Reagan's grows, but it remains secure. He was the perfect man for his time, and America and the world have him to thank for the world we do live in now.
Today, January 20, 2006, is the 25th anniversary of the first inauguration of Ronald Reagan as the 40th President of the United States. Hours after he was sworn in, the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran by the government and radicals there were released, and Reagan began his administration with this diplomatic nightmare off his plate.
In the eight years he spent as President, Reagan was labeled a moron, a dope, a dupe of others, a warmonger, and other foul epithets. Since he left office in 1989, evidence has shown that he was in fact the opposite of these things, from his breadth of knowledge in his letters before and after his presidency to his ending the Cold War and bringing the Soviet Union to its knees, despite the hatred and opposition from many, including liberals. In many ways, Ronald Reagan has been proven right, both by time and history but also by the actions of his enemies, political and otherwise.
For instance, in 1982 Reagan wanted to put MX missiles into western Europe to counter the Soviets. Millions marched against America in Europe, denouncing the US and Reagan as warmongers. Yet, today, there is no more USSR, and Reagan was proven right. The pro-Soviet states which were the frontlines of the Cold War are now more capitalist than the western European "allies" for whom we shed untold amounts of blood and capital to keep afloat.
Reagan also cut taxes - despite harangues from Downies who said he hated blacks, poor people, and loved the rich...in short, many of the same stale arguments they use against George W. Bush today. Yet under Reagan, tax receipts more than doubled from 1981 to 1989, despite the cuts in income taxes. When Reagan came to office, he found that years of regression from a Downie-led Congress and the wounded presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford and the disastrous regime of Jimmy Carter had left the US military in such disrepair that without nuclear weaponry we were sliding into a 2nd world country military-wise. Reagan set out to rebuild the entire US armed forces top to bottom, and now it is the greatest army in the world, manpower and weaponry alike. And yet Reagan did this despite the hatred and opposition of the same people - John Kerry, for instance - who came to his funeral or who now admit in hushed whispers that Ronald Reagan was the perfect man for the presidency at the time - and perhaps one of the greatest Presidents in American history.
It is said that a President can either make his times, or be made by his times. Ronald Reagan was the former - in every field, he made the times, he dictated the policy, he changed the world. In many ways, the current President, George W. Bush, is the shining successor to Reagan. However, in his time in office, Bush will not only make his times, but be made by them.
Liberals and America-haters mock Bush, call him names, and deride his accomplishments. But as we see 25 years after he became President, the reaction to Ronald Reagan, once labeled as "that cowboy actor," history sees the truth in a legacy. Ronald Reagan's grows, but it remains secure. He was the perfect man for his time, and America and the world have him to thank for the world we do live in now.
