Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Ronald Reagan Myth

I am following the Armstrong High School Marching Band through the middle of Florida.  They performed at Magic Kingdom Monday and will perform at the Outback Bowl on Friday. Sorry for any delays in blogging, but it is 87 and sunny here so sitting on my computer has little appeal. (ie record temps)  I heard I can get my snowmobiles out when I get back home. :-)


So here is another gift from Laurie !!!
Here is a link to a different topic that I found interesting. I am curious as to the conservative perspective. Is the story all wrong about Reagan or is this writer mostly accurate and it just didn't matter that Reagan was asleep or out to lunch so much.

Behind the Ronald Reagan myth: “No one had ever entered the White House so grossly ill informed”

6 comments:

Sean said...

Having not participated in any behind-the-scenes meetings with Reagan, I can't comment either way. I would say it seems unlikely that he was a complete blank slate given his history as governor of California. More likely was that he had a set of principles and surrounded himself with people he knew could execute the details -- which to a large degree is what every President has to do.

John said...

And the power he had to speak and excite audiences certainly helped sell his agenda.

Heritage View

AEI View

Wiki IQ Hoax

US News IQs

John said...

USA Today

This may explain a lot...

"There are many reasons for the Democrats' difficulties with cultural issues over the past quarter-century. But part of the explanation is that somehow the so-called party of the people became the party of meritocracy. Many voters, whose parents were part of FDR's New Deal coalition, discovered that anti-intellectual presidents like Reagan expressed their values and aspirations better than book-smart Democrats like Carter and Walter Mondale, who carried only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia in the 1984 election.

Stevenson came to understand the enduring lesson that courting the intellectuals is not a road map for political victory. Democrats may not lionize "C" students, but such students sure outnumber and outvote the Rhodes scholars."

John said...

It reminds me of the philosophy of why it may be better to hire grounded people with a 3.5 rather than that 4.0 candidate who just does not get it...

Unknown said...

So it seems the view is it didn't matter how disengaged Reagan was. I think it does matter, but what matters more are the accomplishments and scandals of his administration, like Iran contra and the Reagan-Bush Ties to Iran-Hostage Crisis

This topic makes me think of Trump. Since we survived 8 years each of Reagan and Bush maybe we could survice Trump. I wonder who his top staff would be. Would he actually try to do the things he has been campaigning on like deport 11 million people?

John said...

Laurie,
The reality is that the people you are listening to have an agenda.

Like all Presidents including Obama, these guys are just pretty smart humans who have all of our typical human flaws. There is little to be gained by wondering which President was smarter.

I mean many people think Obama is about as clueless as they come.