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The real Reagan presidency is a lot different than the myth.

posted 2 years ago by TommyJarvis82 (2480)
1 reply | jump to latest

-Gets credit for ushering in deregulation, even though it was already well underway with Carter.

-Gets credit for the big right-turn in US politics, even though it didn't really happen until the mid-90s.

-Gets credit for things that haven't even happened like dismantling the social safety net. When in fact, Reagan actually strengthened Social Security and Medicare.

-Raised taxes countless times

-Granted amnesty for illegal immigrants

-Signed a gun control bill

He angered many hardline conservatives with his centrist/pragmatic domestic and foreign policies.

I think the conservative god myth started due to exaggeration from the left and right - as well as Republican nostalgia for a time when a Republican president was really personally likeable, charismatic with strong conservative rhetoric and fairly popular (even widely so at certainly points).

[–] Connie93 (826) 2 years ago

Cut income taxes to just 28% for the top rate;

Tore up regulations;

Slowed the growth of government;

Re-armed and stood up to the USSR;

Strongly anti-abortion.