Remembering Ronnie
There's been a lot written in the past 24 hours about Ronnie Reagan's presidency. The following is my personal recollections about his term in office. Appologies if the memory is not quite accurate.
Perhaps I can shed some light on the oft written phrase, "Reagan won the cold war" as queried in
the road to surfdom.
In my view, Reagan was the first of the media presidents, chosen because of his personna rather than any substance. The Republicans have since made a habbit of this; you have to look no further than the current imcumbant. Choose the media performer, and have the hard nosed back room boys pulling the strings. The front man's changed but the back room hasn't.
Reagan massively increased military spending. Some say that it was the Soviet Union trying to match this that ultimately brought it down. It's a moot point. Seems to me that Gorbachev ended the cold war by relaxing the tight control on the population, which unleashed a movement towards liberalization that could not be stopped.
My recollections of the period were of a belligerent US making a lot of people nervous about nuclear war. The anti-nuke movement was at its strongest during the Reagan years.
Reagan also massively increased the US budget deficit but handing out hugh tax cut, mainly to the wealthy if memory serves me correctly.
The Reagan era brought about changes (attributable to him or not) that made the world a more secure place by ending the cold war. It's a pity that the current Republican administration has undone that security.
And other point: I remember that Reagan's minders never let him near the press. Journalists were reduced to shouting questions to him when he was on route to the car or helicopter. I think this was the start of rigorous media management.
Banner Designed By:
