Ronald Reagan

[Stonecold54]

I am 25 years old. I know I have not been in the world that wrong. But his death is the first one I have ever had that I became emotionally upset over. I grew up through his presidency. And whether you agree with his policies or not he will probably be the last great President we have for a long time. He inspired hope in a country that doesn't seem to do that anymore. He challenged the Soviets and did what the two Bushes and a Clinton couldn't do without firing a shot by bringing down an empire through persuasion. I am sad at his passing because for me it represents a change for the worse. I just wanted to share a few thoughts about him. Thanks

[Luftdude]

A sad day indeed :(

LD

[Scrumhalf]

He was certainly a man of conviction. Can't say I agreed with his supply-side economics policies but as a statesman, he was a giant.

He lasting legacy is the winning of the cold war and the fall of the iron curtain. He will be immortalized in history for this.

[lxorl]

also one hell of an actor.... =)

was a great man who did a lot of great things.

[meat12]

He definatley will be missed....also grew up during the Reagan years...very sad he was a great man

[JUICE]

:(

[r_deese]

Death of one of the greatest presidents America has seen or will see. He will be remembered with the best for sure.

[LuvMuhRoids]

He was the last of our good presidents and memorable.

[Primal Instinct]

He was a double-edged sword, imo. He gave real messages of hope to the US citizens (not hollow ones like Dubya does) and he helped speed up the inevitable demise of the Soviet Union by pushing the Strategic Defense Initiative aka the (Star Wars Space Defense System). The Soviet government went bankrupt trying to keep up with it and the start of the breakup of the Soviet Republic was a direct result. He even survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr.

Reagan was a good public speaker and people genuinely liked him but he also did some things not so good for the nation. President Reagan ran up monumental national debt, almost entirely bankrupting our own nation. It took well over a decade to fiscally recover from it and balance the books. He also perhaps should have gone to jail (Bush Sr. too) because of the Iran-Contra Scandal, in which his administration set up a arms for hostages deal with our sworn enemies- Iran- to buy the release of the 52 American hostages from the Iranians holding them in the US embassy in Tehran. It was an under the table deal- Reagan talked tough and repeatedly stated that we would never, EVER negotiate with terrorists- and the illegal proceeds were then shuffled of to illegally fund the guerillas fighting the government in Nicaraugua, South America. Talk about conspiracy- it was five years before the story leaked out to the mainstream media! Reagan could not seem to "recall" any of the events or playing any part in the scandal. He lost two Chiefs of Staff and others in his administration over it and he (and Bush Sr.) narrowly escaped criminal prosecution. All presidents are somewhat dirty. It doesn't matter what party they represent.

The scary part is that during the last half of his second term he was in early to mid stages of Alzheimer's Disease and still running our nation and "directing" its policies. Thank the Lord for the "Two Man Rule", in which it takes two men to authorize a nuke missile launch, whew! His disease became ever more evident as his tenure came to a close. My grandmother had the same thing and I recognize the symptoms. It is a terrible way to go out.

All in all, despite his wife's constant meddling in government affairs (Nancy regularly consulted with psychics about when Ron should travel, set policy, give speeches, etc...) Reagan was OK for the most part. I was 12 years old when he was elected to his first term as POTUS. I remember watching his inauguration at the local boys club where I would go to "work out" and play pool and basketball. Life for me back then was a much simpler time. I miss being oblivious to stuff like I used to be as a young kid. Everything was so promising back then and my family was still relatively young and healthy. Oh well, so on goes life. The best thing that we can do today is to give our children that same sort of carefree feeling of freedom that we had growing up. They'll grow up soon enough on their own. Ignorance IS bliss. I apologize for the long dissertation :dunno:

[Racer814]

damn...I'm old....I was a senior in HS when he was elected and yes I liked him very much....sad day

[ECKARDT]

Reagan definitely had the type of charisma that could guide a country in time of need. Remember when the French would not let us use their air space when Libya was screwing around so Reagan had their empty embassy taken out during the bombing...dude had balls and was a classic. Only politician I have ever seen to tell a memeber of the press to "shut up, you shut the hell up" and they did.

[Bouncer]

Im not sad at all. For the last 10 years he has been suffering. Nancy had to take care of a person that didnt even know who she was, that had to be very painful. He was a great person and a great person and Im glad he no longer has to suffer. Godspeed.