June 08, 2004
Reagan In Memoriam
filed under: Stuff you never, ever needed to knowRonald Reagan's ascendancy in American politics came just as I was first becoming aware that there was such a thing. I was coming at it from a strange slant, admittedly: in my elementary school's 1980 mock election, I was the only student to cast a ballot for John Anderson. I was staying after school to serve as a crossing guard, intensely proud of my flag and reflective sash, when I heard that Reagan had been shot, and I vividly remember sitting in an empty classroom with a handful of other students and teachers, watching the tv on the portable cart.
Obviously, as my sympathies lie primarily on the left, Reagan was not my favorite president. But I'm also not interested in shrill demonizations, especially of someone who has just died after a horrifying illness. So I've been somewhat adrift this week, trying to find a way to process Reagan's passing and the extent of the celebrations of grief that have sprung up around it.
These two articles helped me a good deal - they are even-handed studies of what actually happened under Reagan's presidency. They set aside the pet mythologies of the right and of the left, and they help shed some light on our current political landscape.
First is Kevin Drum, at Washington Monthly, discussing Reagan's lucky streak.
Then there's Paul Krugman in the NYTimes (registration required), examining Reagan's tax legacy, and the crucial differences between policy formation under Reagan and under Bush 43.
Posted by rjt at June 8, 2004 11:20 AM