Reagan: Overrated. FDR: Underrated. American Heritage Magazine.

[onehandle]

Overrated

As often happens with our Presidents, the recent outpouring of grief over the death of Ronald Reagan has tended to distort the historical record. This is certainly understandable, especially considering Reagan’s tragic final illness, which by all accounts he faced with typical personal courage for as long as he could.

Yet the primary claim for Reagan’s greatness—that he “won” the Cold War—seems exaggerated on the face of it. The Cold War was won by every President from Truman through Reagan, not to mention the countless brave men and women, in our armed forces and without, and in all the free countries of the world, who did the long, hard job of grinding down the Soviet Union after 1945. An Evil Empire does not fall in a day.

snip...

Underrated

Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been frequently compared to Reagan of late as another congenitally optimistic big-vision President. Yet both the hard right and the hard left have been steadily chiseling away at his reputation for years.

more...

http://www.americanheritage.com/xml/2004/5/2004_5_feat_16.xml

[JohnKleeb]

1. I agree 100%

[Senator Lamb]

2. presidents

ok, even though im a dem, ill admit Reagan was an "influential" president as far as history, but he is no FDR. Washington, Lincoln, teddy, FDR are in their own status, untouchable.

[kokomo]

3. Does this mean no Ronnie Raygun on Mt. Rushmore or on the dime?

[Cat Atomic]

4. Reagan was a disaster.

I don't know how anyone can even call him a *decent* president- let alone a great one. Criminal scandals on top of criminal scandals. The Air Traffic Controller thing alone should be enough to put him in the "Villain" category.

Immoral, elitist, racist, warmongering, cowardly, phoney motherfucking asshole. That was Ronald Reagan.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Reagan was the product of political marketing and Hollywood

magic. Oh, and a gullible audience. We are, afterall, talking about a country who made a success of the man who invented the pet rock.

[shelley806]

6. A Good Reminder

Thank you so much for the link. I think that you are correct in your observations about FDR. I'll read the article.

[DemBones DemBones]

7. One paragraph about Reagan practically says it all:

"His breaking of the air traffic controllers’ union was a watershed moment in the destruction of workers’ rights in America, and perhaps saddest of all, he remained hostile to nearly all social-welfare programs (despite the fact that his own family was rescued through government intervention during the Great Depression)—even inventing and popularizing the infamous story of a black, Cadillac-driving “welfare queen” who never actually existed."

(emphasis added)


Thanks for the link!

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

8. Interesting Article

I've always considered American Heritage a conservatively-slanted publication (or at least an apologist for conservatives). I'm sure a lot of subsribers will be having fits.

[Bush was AWOL]

9. Why did the hard left go after FDR?

You'd think they'd love him.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

10. 100% true! Reagan was influencial in the Conservative Circles....

but FDR was "The Man"! Reagan would NEVER dare touch Welfare or Social Security. FDR's programs are that loved that the not so great "Saint Ronnie" kept his smarmy hands off of them.