Top 10 Reasons Why Ronald Reagan Was an Overrated President
The good ole Gipper. The sacred god of the Republican Party. Even lots of Democrats get misty-eyed at the mention of his name. Ronald Reagan doesn't just show up high on presidential rankings. He practically sets up camp there. But before you put him on Mount Rushmore 2.0, maybe take a step back. You might be surprised how many of those golden memories are more myth than substance.
You've been told he was the great communicator. That he ended the Cold War with a squint and a smile. That he saved the economy. But once you start pulling at a few threads, things unravel fast. Trickle-down economics didn't exactly flood the lower classes with wealth. The national debt didn't magically disappear. And while speeches were flowing, certain real-life emergencies were getting radio silence from the Oval Office.
This list isn't here to make you mad. It's here to make you think. Or at least question why we keep polishing Reagan's legacy like it's a prized antique. So if you've ever felt that maybe the praise has gotten a little out of hand, you're not alone. These are the reasons why Reagan may not be the legend you've been sold.
Scroll through the list and vote for the reasons you think most deserve attention. Your votes decide which truths climb their way to the top.
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He helped cause 9/11
The Reagan administration helped fund a rebel group to remove the Soviets from Afghanistan. It worked, and the Soviets withdrew. The problem was, after they withdrew, the U.S. did practically nothing to help rebuild Afghanistan.
No cash for education, healthcare, infrastructure, roads, etc. So the Afghani people turned to a group known as the Taliban. One of the soldiers who fought for the rebels against the Soviets was Osama bin Laden. Reagan inadvertently helped create Al-Qaeda.
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He failed to reduce long-term income inequality with his tax cuts
The trickle-down (or pyramid) theory only works for the wealthy. Corporations see their profits grow in the stock markets for a while, but economic profit growth does not mean economic growth. Giving money or tax cuts to the richest does not ensure money will flow to the bottom of the pyramid, which represents lower incomes and the working class.
Reagan tried this, and since then we have seen a growing separation between the rich and poor. The wages of the working class have stagnated while the profits of the rich have increased. The huge US debt today is a result of Reagan's policies, supported by neo-liberalism believers like Margaret Thatcher. The bank crashes, real estate crashes, and stock crashes of the 2000s are the butterfly effect of Reagan's policies in the 1980s.
It is shameful that under the Trump administration, they are trying to do it all over again with their so-called tax cuts for corporations. While we were slowly recovering from the Reagan effect, the Trump tax cut will put us in a worse state in the future.
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He ballooned the national debt through increased defense spending
Percentage-wise, Reagan added more debt than any other president in history. It was so bad that after cutting taxes, he was forced to increase taxes in other areas multiple times.
It's weird how Republicans, who mostly identify as fiscal conservatives, worship a man who was incredibly irresponsible with money.
Tax cuts and increased military spending increased the federal government's debt by trillions of dollars.
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He didn't resolve the stagflation that plagued the late 1970s
One reason Carter was so unpopular is that his term was plagued with stagflation, which means high inflation and economic decline, defying all laws of economics. Reagan is often credited with ending stagflation and causing the 1980s economic boom.
Wrong. Volcker, the head of the Federal Reserve, did. He was appointed by Carter but was reappointed by Reagan. Volcker hiked interest rates, which ended inflation. With inflation gone, the economy quickly recovered, leading to the 1980s boom.
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He took a strong stance against labor unions
There might be a reason why the middle class only saw their incomes go up by around 1-2% in the 1980s. Reagan was a major union buster. He constantly attacked unions and sided with management in almost all cases.
Under his administration, the unionization rate began to drastically decline, which might be why middle-class wages have been near-stagnant for decades.
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He violated the Boland Amendment and arms embargoes with the Iran-Contra affair
Reagan wanted to sell weapons to Iran, a country that promotes terrorism, and use the profits to fund the Contras in Nicaragua, an extremist right-wing guerrilla group that committed acts of terror and barbarism. Congress denied Reagan's request to sell to Iran and passed a law against it.
Well, he did it anyway and effectively broke the law. On top of that, he funded two groups that supported terrorism. Well done, Ron.
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He provided support to authoritarian regimes in Latin America and elsewhere
Reagan supported right-wing dictatorships around the world. In his view, it was necessary to suppress the expansion of communism. Tell that one to Guatemala, whose people were slaughtered by their dictator, who was personal friends with Reagan.
He also gave asylum to Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator of the Philippines.
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He ignored the emerging AIDS epidemic in its early years
He was a disgusting, phony, self-serving, undereducated charlatan of a man. He said trees cause pollution and that ketchup is a vegetable for poor children whose only means of food were the hot lunches they were served in school.
He totally ignored the scourge that was AIDS, a death sentence at the time. He was racist, simple-minded, and uncaring. He absolutely ballooned our deficit, and trickle-down economics is the most often debunked, inadequate economic theory in existence. I hate him almost as much as I detest Trump.
When AIDS began to spread, Reagan didn't even acknowledge it. It took years after the initial spread of the virus before he actually talked about it.
To make matters worse, many members of Reagan's cabinet supported dismissive attitudes toward AIDS - at least until it started to spread to straight people. His communications director even said that AIDS was "nature's revenge on gay men."
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He didn't fully end the Cold War during his presidency
Many praise Reagan for single-handedly ending the Cold War, which is far from true. While he might have helped end the Cold War, several other factors aided in the demise of the Soviet Union.
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He continued using electoral strategies appealing to Southern white voters
Reagan campaigned in Mississippi, where the KKK was very prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. He campaigned on the basis of "states' rights." Ouch. Kind of a bad choice of words, Ron. You really poured some salt in those wounds, didn't you? I get your message, but be a little more considerate in what you say.
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He was hostile to environmental regulations
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He enacted mandatory minimum sentences that disproportionately affected Black men
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He implemented policies that critics say contribute to today's socioeconomic challenges
Whether it is the deficit, wealth inequality, political polarization, the war on terror, or the war on drugs, it can all directly be traced back to Reagan's presidency in one way or another.