President Reagan dead at 93

[Deadlyman]

As many of you may already know, the 40th president of USA, Ronald Wilson Reagan passed away today at the age of 93.
The greatest President of the last half of the 20th century. Polls have said he is the 4th most popular president of all time behind only Washington, Lincoln and FDR.
This man was a part of the 80's to me. The 80's was a great decade. One of the reasons was because he was President for most of the decade. He made the country a great place to live in. We have a lot of what we have today because of him and the 80's.
Feel free to post any memory of President Reagan in this thread.

In memory of Ronald Reagan, I submit this smilie

If you want to send condonlences to the family, here is the offical Reagan memorial site Reagan Memorial Site
As current President Bush said today and I echo his sentiments, God bless President Ronald Reagan.

[Sir_Die_alot]

I'm not really sad to see him go, not because I don't admire the man, but becuase the man he was died years ago. :( If nothing else, Alzheimer's is a desease I would really like to see cured in my lifetime.

[Deadlyman]

but because the man he was died years ago. :(

True, and that whats sad. I feel sorry for Nancy.

Alzheimer's is a disease I would really like to see cured in my lifetime. 

Same here. I hope my parents dont suffer from it. I dont know how I would handle it

[Nystul]

I'm a bit too young to remember much political substance from Reagan's presidency, but a few things do come to mind.

At age 7, I got to stay up way past my bedtime to watch the coverage of the '84 election. It was a simple yet powerful image, watching a map of the U.S. as each state turns the same color, with 2 specks barely big enough to see representing the locations that Reagan didn't win. That kind of result is almost unthinkable today. He won 49 out of 50 states in an election in which the Democrats still won the majority of the House seats.

I remember Reagan giving a speech with an interesting prop, a massive stack of paperwork. It was either the federal budget or tax code, and the clear point was that it was too big. Sadly, I think the stack would be even bigger today.

Of course, I remember at least vaguely the Reagan/Gorbachev summits. It felt like the fate of the world was at stake.

My older brother was a Young Republican, and had a close encounter with Reagan at a local stop on the campaign trail. The story is that a secret service agent asked him to hold a brief case for a minute while he attended to something. The joke was that my brother got to "carry the football" for the President. My brother was a star quarterback of the highschool team at the time, but it took quite a while for me to really understand what the President's football was. The plastic toy car I used to toddle around in had a purple "Reagan for President" bumper sticker from that campaign.

I remember the switch from black-and-white generic containers of cereal and peanut butter to the name brand stuff. Whether Reaganomics works is still quite debatable, but it certainly seemed to work for my family at the time.

There's my eulogy. I wasn't alive to see Washington, Lincoln, or even Roosevelt in action, but I'd certainly rate Reagan as the greatest President of my lifetime.

[Freepaperclips]

There's my eulogy.  I wasn't alive to see Washington, Lincoln, or even Roosevelt in action, but I'd certainly rate Reagan as the greatest President of my lifetime.

Hear! Hear!

All too often we (or "I," or "the Younger Generation") forget that the problems and issues that we face today are not the ones that we have faced in the past. As silly as it sounds, today, if you asked thirty people around the age of 20 or so and asked them about the Cold War, only half of them would have described it as a "real" conflict.

This is ridiculous. And insulting. Especially as I am twenty myself.

Apperently the threat of nuclear war isn't much in these days. Now that's inflation for you.

He was a good man and a strong one. And let's face it: a 98% approval rating at the end of his second term should be the best praise we could give.

[Haider]

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Iran-Contra, funding Saddam, funding bin Ladin, Beirut - those were the days...


Thank you Ronnie for making a powder keg out of the Middle East and for torture and killings of ten thousands in Central America.

[Rhydderch Hael]

... Thank you Ronnie for making a powder keg out of the Middle East and for torture and killings of ten thousands in Central America.

Meh. Lincoln commanded the slaughter of the South. Washington was a rebel leader who operated with a cause that never more than 1/3 of the population supported. Churchill let helpless British citizens perish in Conventry.

The demonization of any world leader is no difficult feat. I'd suggest no one here take up a flame war to a statement that is both true, but masked in the all truth that no leader of men is perfect, given that mankind is far from perfect in itself.

I mean, of all the bad crap that leaders do get blamed for— how much and how often did those dark courses get initated and carried out by a myriad number of men other than that leader? A lot.

[FoxBat]

I mean, of all the bad crap that leaders do get blamed for? how much and how often did those dark courses get initated and carried out by a myriad number of men other than that leader? A lot.

Of course, they take credit for alot of stuff they didn't do either.

If a president is going to be a figurehead, then I say we let them do their job. They can take all the credit, and all the blame. A vote puts in and out of office far more than one official, but sometimes it's easier to think of them as if they were one.

[Nystul]

It's fair enough that they get the blame along with the credit, but at this particular moment I don't really feel like getting into such a debate. For one thing, the man just died. For another, Occhi isn't here to rip the critique to shreds and give the insider's view on those policies.

One thing I am sure of is that it is a lot easier to be a critic than a leader, especially when you have 20 years of hindsight and don't have to deal with any unexpected consequences for what you think would have been the best decision. The aftermaths of the decisions made may be small potatos compared to what could have been.

[Sailboat]

a 98% approval rating at the end of his second term

Did he really have that? 98%? That's a staggering, improbably high-looking number. That would also seem to conflict with a lot of conversations I heard at the time.

No offense, but I'm curious. I wonder if you could document that somehow.

Sailboat

[LochnarITB]

True,  and that whats sad. I feel sorry for Nancy.

I am right now watching the arrival and unloading of the plane carrying his casket. In past appearances, for a seemingly small woman of advanced age, she still appeared to have a strength about her and zest for life. Seeing her just now, coming down the steps from the plain and walking across to where the casket was being moved, she suddenly seems extremely frail. It almost appears like the last of her life left with him. I hope it isn't so, but I wouldn't be surprised to see her leave us soon too. Sad indeed.

[Guest]

I heard that Ronald Reagan was stupid, and a bad president.

[DeeBye]

I heard that Ronald Reagan was stupid, and a bad president.

I heard you were banned, and somehow came back.

[Guest]

It's true.

I wasn't in the country during Ronald Reagan's time, and I was a little kid anyway. That's just what I heard. Cripes.

[Munkay]

To be blunt: this forum isn't for hersay. If you want to make a point, make one. Be ready to back it up. Empty posts are ridiculous.

-Munk

[Guest]

Fine. Consider the last post deleted.

Was Ronald Reagan republican?

[Nystul]

He was a Republican, and a very conservative one at that. Given his strong ideology, it is not surprising that he is both loved and hated depending on which Americans you ask. But again, the ability for someone that conservative to win the majority even in the most liberal states to earn his second term is very telling.

[AtomicKitKat]

Funny how deaths come in threes. Reagan, Ray Charles, and now Estee Lauder...

[Nantuko_Primus]

My older brother was a Young Republican, and had a close encounter with Reagan at a local stop on the campaign trail.  The story is that a secret service agent asked him to hold a brief case for a minute while he attended to something.  The joke was that my brother got to "carry the football" for the President.  My brother was a star quarterback of the highschool team at the time, but it took quite a while for me to really understand what the President's football was.

My god, your brother held the launch codes for the USA's nukes for a bit if I'm not mistaken. :o :o :o I'm gonna go change my underwear now.........

[[wcip]Angel]

So that's what "the football" means! Metal Gear Solid 2 makes so much more sense now!