Alzheimer's creates horrible tragedies, and the only positive aspect of former president Reagan's illness that it put the spotlight on the disease (and the avenues of research to cure or treat it).
Many Republicans have attempted in the last decade or so to turn Ronald Reagan into their FDR - a leader who brought moral clarity, vision, and a sense of purpose to a disordered world. Reagan ended stagflation, won the cold war, spoke plainly, and demonstrated the meaning of character for posterity. They named an airport after him and succeeded in stopping a mini-series that portrayed him as something less than a saint.
His historical legacy will be a lot less than they've been hoping for.
Carter initiated the end of stagflation when he appointed Paul Volcker as the head of the Federal Reserve. As Reagan's successor George H. W. Bush learned the hard way, there is a significant lag in economic contractions and expansions - Reagan's economic legacy is chiefly the practice of cutting taxes and increasing expenditures without regard to the long-term effects of budget deficits and national debt.
Historians agree that while Reagan was a disciplined adversary of the Soviet Union's, the communist system essentially collapsed under its own weight and with Gorbachev's pragmatic leadership. And even if you accept the premise that the military buildup of his administration contributed the collapse of the Soviet Union, you'd have to concede that his was a risky strategy.
Reagan's social policies - consisting mostly of cutting (admittedly often wasteful) programs for poor and underprivileged people - resulted in a mental health crisis we've still not recovered from; a homeless population that has plagued inner city areas; and what is now one of the largest prison populations in the world. It is hard to think of a single successful policy instituted by Ronald Reagan that has endured to this day.
He was a popular president by any standard, creating the allure of the "Reagan Democrat" in the Republican mind. He defeated the incumbent Carter soundly and Walter Mondale equally so. He was the kind of president you'd like to have visit you in your home - affable, approachable, and funny. He was known as the "great communicator" and impressed us with the way he handled the attempt on his life.
I think Reagan will be remembered chiefly for his advocacy of short-term gratification at the expense of future generations. His legacy will be the politics of image management, perhaps the most telling moment being when he ridiculed Carter for accusing him of wanting to cut Medicare (which Reagan tried to do), an issue that plagues us to this day.
It is mean to criticize a man diminished into a near-vegetative state by Alzheimer's, so the press, the Democrats and most everyone else has held back on a sincere assessment of Reagan's record. The Republicans have taken advantage of this decency to indulge in shameless propaganda on his behalf. And already today the networks are broadcasting a review of Reagan's political life that dispenses with the halo. If Bush uses the president's funeral to beatify or canonize Reagan (which surely he must), I think it will backfire.
It is my sincere wish that Reagan's memory be a blessing for his friends, family and others who loved him as a person; but it would be a shame if the republic ignored his (many) mistakes when history is written.
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