What do you remember about Ronald Reagan?

Question

I remember catsup being considered a vegetable for school lunches, Old people eating dog food because he cut back social security benefits and actually started taxing them.
Budget cuts on state mental health programs.(CREATING THE HOMELESS) Gratuities being taxed for the first time. Cocain becoming an epidemic. Him saying that he remembered the good old days in America when there were no racial problems. Iran-Contra. Beirute 200 marines killed that congress had demanded come home six weeks before. What do you remember?

More jobs left over from Carter. The Berlin wall fell in 1990 Reagan had been out of office for four years. Gorbi ended communism.

Answer 1

I remember that he nominated Robert Bork for the U.S. Supreme Court (after he already appointed Bork to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Bork had been serving for five years until the nomination to the highest bench).

I remember that Reagan said (July 1, 1987),

"Well, it's with great pleasure and deep respect for his extraordinary abilities that I today announce my intention to nominate United States Court of Appeals Judge Robert H. Bork to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
"Judge Bork is recognized as a premier constitutional authority. His outstanding intellect and unrivaled scholarly credentials are reflected in his thoughtful examination of the broad, fundamental legal issues of our times. When confirmed by the Senate as an appellate judge in 1982, the American Bar Association gave him its highest rating: 'exceptionally well qualified.' On the bench, he has been well prepared, evenhanded, and openminded. ...
"Judge Bork, widely regarded as the most prominent and intellectually powerful advocate of judicial restraint, shares my view that judges' personal preferences and values should not be part of their constitutional interpretations. The guiding principle of judicial restraint recognizes that under the Constitution it is the exclusive province of the legislatures to enact laws and the role of the courts to interpret them."

Of course, ed-mike, your heroes, the liberal Democrat Senators, were the ones who threw conniption fits over that nomination -- conniption fits unlike any ever seen before. Senator Kennedy responded almost immediately to the nomination with an insane rant -- a rant which was merely the first salvo of the bloodiest war ever waged in American history over a Supreme Court nomination. Even the Washington Post editors ended up saying a few months later that the left-wing effort to torpedo Bork's nomination was so terrible that "the anti-[Bork] effort was almost enough to make you pro. ... [The] intellectual vulgarization and personal savagery ... profoundly distort[ed] both the record and nature of the man. ... [T]he time is ripe for a rigorous challenge to the lazy and dangerous cliches that often pass for policy wisdom ... among liberals these days."

Max Lerner was one of the rare liberal journalists who supported Bork's nomination and who was dismayed at the fact that Bork was torpedoed. Lerner said that many of his fellow liberals were engaging in "Chicken Little polemics." After the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected Bork and shortly before the vote in the full Senate, Lerner wrote,

"It is now fairly clear that the Judiciary Committee sitting in judgment on Robert Bork reached the wrong conclusion, for the wrong reasons, in the wrong climate, obeying the wrong political passion, and targetting the wrong man. ...
"In a sense the opening shot in the war against him was the victory of the Democrats in gaining control of the Senate in 1986. ... Bork's fate was decided even before the nomination went to the Senate committee.
"I hear my friends say that Bork lost because of his ineffectual TV performance. Whether he did well or badly on TV is clearly the wrong question to ask. Yet a public that can't master the intricacies of constitutional law falls back on a candidate's TV performance as if they were watching a political campaign.
"The fact is that if the fate of future judicial nominations is decided by pressure groups, on TV, this will have a devastating effect on the available talent for the federal courts. Constitutional scholars and sitting judges will begin to tailor their public views or decisions to the interest groups sitting in judgment on them."

Do you remember any of that, ed-mike?

Answer 2

The USA had a reputation, during that era, of being capable of of accomplishing nearly anything it set out to do. The Russians couldn't keep up with the USA. It was very expensive and the needed technology was not mature enough to be successful. The big difference that effort made was, it tipped the balance of power during that era of the Cold War and the Russians finally threw in the towel, ending the Cold war without ever firing a shot. Communism was once again demonstrated as being a failed political and economic system. Reagan spent a fortune. Star Wars never succeeded, but the end of the Cold War must be credited to the actions of Ronald Reagan. The technology learned was not wasted. We do now have functional missile defense systems that may not match up to that lofty goal, but they are of benefit and wouldn't exist if it were not for those efforts forwarded by Ronald Reagan. Clinton used those missile defense systems extensively to block the scud missiles fired by Saddam Hussein of Iraq. I was about 40 years old when Ronald Reagan was President and he was without a doubt the greatest American President during my lifetime. Reagan can also be credited with pulling America out of a terrible economic situation and for creating over 20 million new jobs in the private sector.

Answer 3

Wow, you really think he was responsible for people using cocain? How much dog food did your grandfather eat? Most of the homeless are out of prison waiting for a chance to go back in. Yes, some mental health patients ended up on the street while he was govenor.

I remember that I didn't like him when he was president. Since then I have become convinced that he was a very good president compared to the others (republicans or democrats) who have been in office during my life time. Don't ask me about who came before Carter, I was too young.

What great things did you contribute to the world?

Answer 4

I remember he was Governor of California after he was an famous actor during the 40's, 50's and created a lot of problems there, However, Then he became the United States of America President in the early 80's and had been shot but survived during his Presidency and told U.S.S.R to stop this Cold War and Nuclear weapon race and making them and conquering other nations by war. And he help bring down the Berlin Wall in Germany I think. After he finish his term as President of USA, he got Alzheimer's.

Answer 5

Wow, what a cynic! I remember the Berlin Wall coming down and many many people experiencing freedom for the first time. Did you honestly, personally, ever see a senior eat dog food? My family members on fixed incomes did not experience that.

And homelessness existed long before Reagan - yes he cut back - but I also remember the economy turning around and getting this country out of horrible interest rates and gas prices.

Oh, and I remember this quote, "Many people wonder if they really made a difference during their life.. Marines don't have that problem."

Answer 6

I remember the collapse of the Soviet Union.

I remember "we begin bombing in five minutes." LOL!

I don't recall seeing any old people eating dog food. Do you remember that, or do you remember "hearing" about it?

FYI- the social security benefits were only taxable if an income threshold was passed. In other words, it didn't put anyone into the poor house.

Answer 7

I remember when the average joe had to "pay his fair share" because as an average working guy my "below $30000" always saw at least 12% go for taxes. I never made that much as a youngster but I always paid my taxes.
Ronaldus Magnus was one of the best for California also. The libs hated him for anything they could mostly for being a "Wascally Wepubweecan". GOP does not realize all their caving in does not change the "R" to a "D".

Answer 8

The fall of the Berlin Wall.

Answer 9

I remember he wasn't able to remember much later in life. History will show Reagan to have been a significant president, though I never much cared for him.

Answer 10

Extreme conservativism, Challenger exploding basically because he was supposed to discuss the launch that night, which was a big influence in going ahead with it, more government and yet less government.