Ronald Reagan: Not all he's cracked up to be

Ronald Reagan, the way the right goes on about him today you’d swear he was an infallible god. Republicans argue that his Presidency was the golden era of conservatism and a highlight of American political history. There’s no doubt that Reagan sought to bring in many conservative reforms. “He also strongly advocated the Republican ideal of less government regulation of the economy, including that of undue federal taxation” (Kubarych, Roger M (June 9, 2004). "The Reagan Economic Legacy". Council on Foreign Relations. http://www.cfr.org/publication/7092/reagan_economic_legacy.html. Retrieved August 22, 2007.). However, upon closer examination of his political career we see the picture of a man who if he were around today, may face harsh criticism from some of his supporters on the right.

Whenever the right calls for the return to the age of Reagan, I have to wonder who they are talking about. Sure he held many conservative values but, he hardly seems like the ideal model of a right wing politician today. “In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget” (Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 47). Can you name a single Republican today off the top of your head who would support tax hikes? I certainly can’t. During his time as the Governor of California Reagan signed an abortion bill into law, though to be fair he later regretted the decision and declared that he was pro-life (Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 51). Now imagine if a Republican today even considered supporting a pro-abortion bill. Such a decision could gain support among the moderates but, today’s right doesn’t appear to be interested in gaining the moderates. They want a pure brand of conservatism.

Today Obama comes under have criticism for increasing the debt and deficit, it is a cause for concern no doubt. Reagan wasn’t exactly a model of balanced budgets himself considering his “order to cover newly spawned federal budget deficits, the United States borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, raising the national debt from $700 billion to $3 trillion” (Cannon, Lou (2001) p. 128). To be fair this will likely pale in comparison to the national debt by the time Obama leaves office but, it doesn’t undermine the fact that the debt grew under Reagan.

Any politician today that considers doing anything other than rounding up all the illegal immigrants and building a giant wall along the Mexican border would be condemned by the right, that is unless of course your name is Ronald Reagan.

“Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. The act made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants, required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status, and granted amnesty to approximately 3 million illegal immigrants who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1982, and had lived in the country continuously. Critics argue that its contention subjecting employers to sanctions were without teeth and that it failed to stem illegal immigration Graham, Otis”

(January 27, 2003). "Ronald Reagan's Big Mistake". The American Conservative. http://www.otisgraham.com/otis_graham_writings/art_ronald_reagans_big_mistake.html. Retrieved August 15, 2007

If Obama where to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants he’d likely be accused of being an immigrant himself and a supporter of terrorists and other enemies of the state. Speaking of which, Reagan negotiated with America’s enemies, as opposed to the current Republican stance of war, war, and war.

“Prior to Gorbachev visiting Washington, D.C., for the third summit in 1987, the Soviet leader announced his intention to pursue significant arms agreements” Keller, Bill (March 2, 1987).

"Gorbachev Offer 2: Other Arms Hints". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D81131F931A35750C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved March 17, 2008.”

Today it seems like a rather revolutionary idea that the U.S. military is planning to bribe the Taliban to bring those in the organization who are less extreme over to our side yet here we have Reagan, talking to the leader of a nation he once referred to as an “evil empire” (a statement he later disagreed with himself).

Reagan did manage to bring in a new era of conservatism in American politics but these policies were mixed with the decisions of a man who in today’s political climate would have been labeled a moderate. Whoever the ideal Republican of the right is today, it’s not Reagan.