What did you like about Reagan?

Sometimes on ATS, I see names that indicate that they really liked Ronald Reagan. For all those who liked Reagan and continue to admire him, I am interested to know why. What specific actions did he take while in office that you thought were good moves? I'm not trying to prove any kind of point here or bait anyone. I am sincerely curious to know. Please, no conservative or liberal bashing, I just want to know what everyone's thoughts were about why they liked him so much. Hope this topic hasn't been posted before.

What no responses yet? Aw, cmon, folks, don't be shy...I promise not to bite.

What the heck...


Reagan had a character and charisma that has been virtually unsurpassed by any other politician in recent memory. He had a warmth and charm that reassured and comforted, even while the cold war escalated. He exuded this wise, grandfatherly feeling and nearly always ended his speeches with a message of hope.

Say what you will about his policies and decisions, as an orator and personality, he was one of the best.

~~

i grew to like & admire the man (& his wife )

i seen him on early TV & movies, i found out he was
president or whatever of the ScreenActorsGuild (SAG)
Nancy gave up her career so as to support his visions

my fuzzy memory puts him at the turning point where
his radio chats & views put him into the political vortex
and changed the paradigm of politics in the USA (for a time)

I never voted for the man,
& i'm sure that I never would have in any other universe

We needed a 'good'-man at that particular time & circumstance
as a sort of centering/grounding phase...
does a Reganesque approach to the Middle-East cauldron seem
a quaint idea...or is it worth looking into??

~i do not equate his tactic of calling the USSR an 'Evil Empire'
the same thing as GW Bush's declaring those 'Axis of Evil' nations
and later labeling others as 'Islamo-Fascists' to direct our destructive
energies at...in the same class of idelogical persuasion ~

Hey, thanks for replying! I agree with you completely. I met him, while he was still Governor of California and I can certainly confirm what you say. He came across as one of the warmest, relaxed-with-himself persons I've ever met, and he seemed to genuinely care about you when you met him. And I do think this is a very important quality to have as Prez when you are traveling around, meeting heads of state, etc. He did inspire confidence just by being himself. Not for nothing was he called "The Great Communicator".

What I'm really looking for, though, are specific policy decisions that he made that folks thought were a good idea.

Well I was a young bride during Reagan and during Reagan my two children were born.

Been in the military at the time with my husband, Reagan was well liked by the military community, my husband been a Republican, made me a Republican also so we were happy that he did a lot for the military families and the military over all.

Plus he was an actor and well known as a famous celebrity with his wife.

Occurs later on my opinion changed about some of his political views and performance when it came to domestic issues.

Still he did great for the military.

Ronald Reagan is kind of a hero to me.
I like that Reagan was something more then just a great public speaker . Reagan also proved that you dont have to come from an eliet class to be successful and there is his special relationship with Nancy.

I liked Ronald Reagan.

He was a good speaker, he was the epitome of what a president should be like.
He had grace, mannerisms of someone i would like to see again representing the USA.

He WAS NOT an embarrasement to the people of the USA.

I miss him.

He actually tried to give the government back to the people. He said: "If you don't like what is happening, write your congressmen,senators,governors, and tell them you don't. Petition them." How long has it been since you heard another president say this?

I loved Ronald Reagan because he wasn't afraid to look evil in the face and stare it down, still with a smile on his face. Virtually every speech he gave was inspirational and he was a true leader in every sense of the word.

I'll never forget when he got reelected in 1984, I was only 11 at the time, and my father told me "that's the guy who's going to keep us alive for the next 4 years."

May he rest in peace.

I liked his twitch and the way he kept licking his lips and shrugging...

The sign of a TRUE leader

i think Ronald Reagon was the scariest president ever, he just had that "i'll do whatever it takes and i dont care what you think" type attitude (to me at least)

i think that made him a good president...but for sure not a GREAT president...

Originally posted by forestlady
Sometimes on ATS, I see names that indicate that they really liked Ronald Reagan. For all those who liked Reagan and continue to admire him, I am interested to know why. What specific actions did he take while in office that you thought were good moves? I'm not trying to prove any kind of point here or bait anyone. I am sincerely curious to know. Please, no conservative or liberal bashing, I just want to know what everyone's thoughts were about why they liked him so much. Hope this topic hasn't been posted before.

Reagan led a clean life. He was pretty much what you see is what you get.

I like the fact that he had no real family drama - other than kids seeking vengeance against their 'evil' parents.

He represented our nation well.

Diplomacy ruled back then.

Originally posted by jimmabean
i think Ronald Reagon was the scariest president ever, he just had that "i'll do whatever it takes and i dont care what you think" type attitude (to me at least)

i think that made him a good president...but for sure not a GREAT president...

Dude! That is George DUHbya Bush to aT.

The difference between Reagan and THIS Bush is when Reagan said something, by God, he meant it. and he followed thru. Or Changed course.

Bush II is a supreme disappointment. No mantle of Reagan.

When Reagan came in the US had a lot of problems and not least of was a poor self image. He was able to correct that and it was not an easy task either. He took his share of criticism and he was hounded by his critics who also called him a dummy his entire term of office.

He has the last laugh on those types.

As a kid who grew up under Reagan - during the cold war - without a father - he inspired me. I joined the military he rebuilt and enjoyed a good, rewarding life. I don't think Reagan wanted war at all, but he was all about meeting the challenge. And picking battles wisely.

There were many things that I absolutely did not like about Ronald Reagan -- the Iran/Contra scandal for one. But, that said, I can not help but admire Ronald Reagan for the man that he was. He, as a previous poster put it, was exactly what he seemed to be -- a man who was principled, believed in absolute right and wrong with little room from gray thinking. Now this might not be a realistic way to view the world but, coming from "simpler times", Ronald Reagan was able to restore something to the spirit of the United States that had been lost to the war in Viet Nam -- hope.

Being older, the oldest president to serve, he gave a chronologically younger nation a sense of security and stability. Americans stopped feeling insecure and stopped floundering, so to speak, in international political waters. What we might have been doing might not have been correct but at least we were doing something.

Ronald Reagan demonstrated the poise, grace and dignity as a lesson to subsequent presidents as to how to behave. I clearly recall how President Reagan met the plane of bodies from the '82 Lebanon Marine bombing. With tears in his eyes and a 'frog' in his throat, he proudly thanked the family of these fallen soldiers for their service. Perhaps it was theatrical but, nevertheless, it was percieved as genuine statesmanship and as the expressions of an American Patriot.

I think that Ronald Reagan can be admired because he still genuinely believed in the dream of what the United States was and could still be. Alas, it is only a dream -- more so in these troubled times -- but, perhaps, it is a dream that can yet, someday, be realized.

i don't like nothing on him!, Nada!

Grace, dignity, a class act all around...I grew up watching him on TV, Death Valley Days, and his numerous movies...how could I not like, no love him? After Nixon, Ford, and Carter, his was a breath of fresh air.

He confronted evil...and whether you liked him or not, you knew exactly where you stood. No pretence.

For certain his like is no where to be found on the political scene today...our loss. As someone said, I miss him, homespun hollywood charm and all...

Well he made a great first impression on me when he freed the hostages on that airplane in Iran on the day of his inaugeration. Besides that he was a republican. Besides that he just seemed to walk tall like Joe Don Baker. Some of that could have been an image not true to the real man but I kind of doubt it. I haven't seen any of his movies, I guess they were before my time.