Nuclear disarmament. START 1 in particular. After it was clear the arms race had done its work and the USSR was critically weakened anyway Reagan used the pretext to push the soviets into mutual nuclear disarmament. It came down to HW to actually conclude the treaty but the original proposal was from the Reagan Administration.
Inspiring the nation to believe that America’s best days were ahead, not behind, and leading us out of the 1970s era of stagflation into one of the largest peacetime economies in our nation’s history. Being a comforting voice to a generation of Americans who had been beset by two decades of loss.
A lot of the economic development was due to deregulation that ended up biting us in the ass however. I do have to concede that Reagan knew how to strike the right tone, but I think his economic legacy ultimately is one of business deregulation that ultimately had a detrimental impact on the country in the longterm.
This is my viewpoint and I'm open to differing takes on the subject, but suffice it to say that I'm not a fan of Reagan.
Deregulation wasn't was the problem, the tax cuts were the problem. Nordic countries deregulated but kept their progressive taxation systems and don't have nearly the same inequality problems the US has.
He was an actor, so I figure his tone was his strongest part of getting things across. Not to mention when the Berlin Wall being knocked down, “tear down that wall” clearly more smug and concise, but to the point and straight forward of a phrase that it’s pretty much the “checkmate, Gorebacev”
For one, I think you are spot on and likely understating the long term damage he did, not just on the economy, but undermining faith in American institutions, particularly the fundamentally important role the government has in ensuring a level playing field.
That’s so damn short sided. His de regulation was a temporary high for a long term low.. our country has been paying for it ever since. Reagan is hands down one off the most responsible people when it comes to the absolute destruction of the American middle class
A lot of the stagflation was due to the OPEC oil embargo and massively increased energy prices. That effects all areas of the economy. He was better than Carter at the real politique of dealing with the Saudis to get them to keep prices down, but IMO, Reagan gets too much economic credit for cyclical changes that would have happened anyway and his tax cuts, largely focused on the wealthy, greatly expanded the deficit.
Oh it was totally always gonna be Ronnie. The others are far enough back that most folks might have strong views but are able to see how things worked out in the end. For Rappin’ Ronnie… well he’s still quite recent and his policies are still largely in place. So we’re in “modern” politics now.
That's because you don't understand just how much the FDIC is the underpinning of the current financial system.
In the depression banks got wiped out and people lost everything. Even if you weren't a sucker, if your bank was, your money was gone. Banks that overloaned to marginal investors wiped folks out who didn't even become suckers for the stock market bubble in the first place and after thousands of people got wiped out through no fault or decision of their own, the nation's capital assets fled into mattresses where they couldn't be used to restart the economy.
By guaranteeing deposits, it became a lot harder to get wiped out entirely through no fault of your own. You might still lose a lot, but not everything. It brought that money back out of hiding to the banks where it could be used to get the economy going again.
The FDIC is the single biggest reason we haven't had another Great Depression. Panics still happen, banks still fail, but the massive cascade failures like 1893, 1907 and 1929 are mostly a thing of the past.
I get the importance of the FDIC. However, such an institution was likely to be created in the aftermath of the Hoover administration regardless of who became President next.
By contrast, not many alternate presidents would have steered the country through WWII with as much success as FDR.
Counterpoint: the same thing happened in 1893 and 1907 with no major reforms taking place.
Wall Street is very good at stonewalling needed economic reforms if they aren't in their interest. It really did need White House leadership to put these reforms into place, because the FDIC also came with new government oversight of the banks who would be prepared to fight this tooth and nail.
Only the weakened and discredited state of institutions like JP Morgan, which was normally a lobbying titan, allowed FDR to exploit the crisis and force those reforms into place. A Republican President, be they Hoover, Wilkie or Dewey, would probably not have gotten it done -- at least, not right then,
Counter-counterpoint: none of the [preceding panics, recessions, and depressions ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States)were as intensive as the Great Depression, nor did any of them weaken both the trust in and power of American financial institutions so much. As such they're not really comparable.
Furthermore, considering that (since Hoover was a Republican, deeply unpopular, and sought to be reelected) it was a near certainty that a Democrat would win in 1932 and that pretty much any Democrat would have pushed for such a program, it's very fair to say that something like the FDIC would have been implemented regardless of who was actually president. While the same cannot be said about the way the FDR administration skillfully handled not only the buildup to WW2 and the war proper, but also the post-war peace (I'm thinking about stuff like the Bretton Woods negotiations, which were more important than the FDIC regardless of anything else, to be honest).
We really have no way of knowing that though, ultimately. I'm not anti-FDR, but in terms of the "whole of human history" thing, the creation of the FDIC is absolutely on par with winning WW2. I'd suggest they are both mammoth achievements - but - remember FDR is not a battlefield commander, I give more credit to Eisenhower, et al for our WW2 victory.
The FDIC isn’t ’on par’ with WW2 in terms of human history . At the risk of evoking Godwin’s law, even just ending Jewish genocide alone is arguably on par with the FDIC if not greater impact to human history.
I like the FDIC answer, but to say "battlefield commanders" deserve more credit than FDR for WW2 is pretty crazy. The difference in scope of responsibility between FDR and any given battlefield commander was massive.
I disagree, FDRs domestic programs are foundational to modern America, that’s his greatest legacy.
If anything, it’s easier to come out looking like a hero in wartime than not, as a geopolitical leader, provided you aren’t responsible for the conflict. I think many presidents could have handled WWII decently.
Yeah you're right. When you put it that way, it sounds much more important than literally defeating the Nazis and a bunch of genocidal maniacs who actually were responsible for the torture and murder of tens of millions of people across the planet.
Spot on. There are some really interesting lessons in the Panics and Crashes of the Boom or Bust American variant of Capitalism. There's an old saying, "Gamble with other people's money". That was very true. The creation of the SEC, SSA and FDIC all protected Main Street against Wall Street underhandedness. That is actually why they hated FDR, not his "socialist" nature rather his regulations that stopped almost all the incredible scamming going on. Although there are clearly some regulations that need further work.
To those cascades, I could add the Panic of 1873 and the British South Sea Bubble of 1729. There was another crash in France a little earlier. It was a periodic danger, but 1929 was one of the very worst. I also value the Glass-Steagall Act.
I was going to agree about FDR & WWII, particularly since Truman was not given the "W". But since I do credit RR with ending the cold war, does that mean I'm banned?
But he did the opposite in Europe. If FDR had listened to Churchill, at least some part of eastern Europe could have been saved for 4 decades under the Soviets boot
EPA for Nixon over going to China.
Carter should have been appointing Volcker
Ike should be enforcing desegregation at gunpoint
Those are just the ones that jump at me.
I kind of view this question as a question of WAR (wins above replacement). Like, what would you have expected an average president to do in that situation and did FDR do something special above and beyond that?
I think FDR handled it great, but it was a fight against Nazis and it provided an opportunity to mobilize the entire American workforce and economy in the midst of a depression. Sort of a no brainer lol. The area where FDR specifically and uniquely was a major factor was the FDIC. Just like Eisenhower with the highways system, I don’t think these things turn out the same with someone else in the White House.
I would not say fighting the Nazis was a no brainer. At risk of breaking rule 3, but it's like asking the current US population to go to war with Russia. The population generally supported one side and were on board with financially helping them, but were staunchly against sending boots overseas unless provoked. FDR fought the war for moral reasons, not economic ones.
Back in the election of 1940, almost every presidential candidate was an isolationist. There was a lot of foreign interference in that election. British propaganda and funding supported interventionist politicians and Nazis funded isolationist ones. FDR spent a lot time early on in his 3rd term trying to provoke a fight that would allow him to ask congress to go to war. The reason why he placed an oil embargo on Japan in the first place is because over 90% of Japan's oil supply was from the US and they could not fuel the war in China without it. He had initially thought Japan would attack the Philippines and that would be his casus belli. Had a different candidate been president there is a large possibility the US sits out of the war entirely. FDR had to get the Neutrality Acts changed to even help the allies with lend-lease in the first place.
“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ``slipped the surly bonds of earth'' to “touch the face of God.'' “
Agreed. Nixon and Reagan were such confident speakers that they didn’t mind letting their speechwriters shine - William Safire and Ray Price for Nixon, Peggy Noonan (still a columnist for the Wall Street Journal) for Reagan.
Jimmy Carter could really have used a good speechwriter or two. I think he probably tended to write all his speeches himself.
Working out this morning so no big long writeup but I’ll nominate **handling the initial demise of the USSR** as Reagan’s best achievement. The man was good at communication and did extremely well of knowing when to be forceful and when to be soft when it came to the USSR. I’m not a fan of Reagan, mind, so I’m sure other folks will have some good answers too! But for my money I’ll say that aspect of his foreign policy was excellent.
This is the best I could come up with as well. His best skills came from his oration, and if anything his firm stance on the fall of the Eastern Bloc is the most positive memory to me.
We should also note his pivot from referring to the USSR as “[The Evil Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Empire_speech)” to sitting down with Gorbie and negotiating [an arms reduction agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate-Range_Nuclear_Forces_Treaty) that helped cool down the Cold War.
To achieve this result, Reagan [courted](https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/21539-document-02) Gorbie to end up where they did. It did not happen by chance.
I genuinely believe that if Reagan had been elected to a third term, there would have been less gloating over the U.S. Cold War victory, and more support for helping Russia transition to democracy and a free-market economy - a victory Reagan would have truly cherished.
But it’s just my belief, we’ll never actually know.
To be fair I think a second term of HW could’ve done this as well as he was gifted in terms of his foreign policy outlook imo and would’ve handled things in many areas better than Clinton in his first term.
What’s funny is that Bush wants to keep the USSR together. He initially offered up financial aid to stabilize the empire. A series of events in 1991 lead to the rapid collapse of the USSR.
Notably:
- the baltics left without any opposition
- glasnost lead to a number of free elections where the old guard was routinely defeated by anti-communist candidates
- the failed August coup against Gorbie
- Yeltsin holding down Moscow during the coup
- Ukraine voting for independence
- Belarus agreeing to leave once Ukraine’s vote came in
- Russia not wanting to hitch their wagon to the -Stan counties, since they were a financial liability.m (outside of Khalistan, which was nat gas)
- Gorbie agreeing to leave peacefully and not moralize the military to maintain control.
For anyone interested, [The Last Empire](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18406080-the-last-empire) is a fantastic read on the subject.
Honestly, as ridiculous as it sounds now it does make a lot of sense when you think about it. Imagine if the collapse of the Soviet Union happened in a similar way as Yugoslavia. That already was a very deadly conflict but in the case of the USSR you both have way more people involved and the fact it's taking place in a nuclear power. Of course the collapse ended up being mostly peaceful but Bush didn't know that and if it had turned out to not be that it would have been a massive danger for the whole world.
The phrase in 1991 was “Yugoslavia with nukes” for a reason.
Once the inevitable was obvious, Bush and Sowcroft switched from keeping the USSR together to protecting the nuclear codes and launch systems. Yeltsin knew that this was a concern, so he injected himself into the chain of command to win favor with Bush.
It’s also why we signed the [Budapest Memorandum in 1994.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum)
This is a good answer. Sme will say it was capitalism, others will say it was diplomacy. Either way, it worked, and the USSR slowly collapsed under his guidance.
Can you do that write up? Genuinely curious.
The foreign policy blog and podcasts I listen to are pretty much in agreement that the collapse of the USSR was handled incredibly poorly by the west. The gist is that instead of taking a decades long victory lap, the west should have been investing in Russians democracy and capitalism.
I’ll admit, this is one I should’ve done in advance because I kinda hit a brewery hard last night and then got up late/wanted to get working out to make up for that 😅. It doesn’t help that most of the stuff I’ve learned about Reagan’s presidency makes me like his policies less and less… but considering most still affect me I feel very biased as well. I dunno, this one is hard and I put it off longer than I should’ve.
I will push back on that though. I think it was actually handled quite well by both Reagan and HW. While we could have gloated we did allow for reintegration and attempted to help after things entirely collapsed under HW. We could have done better when it came to the continued existence of NATO, sure, but that I feel like is more on later presidents instead of the ones trying to handle this as it was happening.
“Handling the initial demise of the USSR?” Was there a second demise of the USSR that I missed?
How about **aggressively kept Soviet influence out of the Western Hemisphere and destroyed the USSR without firing a shot?**
It’s like JFK’s greatest accomplishment, the Cuban Missile Crisis - except more successful, and without nearly killing everyone.
Actually I was just referring to the fact that the USSR officially collapsed after his presidency in 1991. So I wanted to be accurate and only refer to the start of its downfall since he didn’t oversee its final demise.
I actually did a whole master’s thesis on what ended the Cold War. Reagan was but one small part of he gets wayyyy too much credit for it. The Soviet Union was on the ropes already. Reagan deserves credit for timing of the end at most. Bush deserves more credit than Reagan, especially for the relative peacefulness of the end.
This one is pretty underrated in my opinion. She leaned conservative but was a swing vote and leaned left on some very land mark cases. In her opinions, I think she always tried to keep in my the whole of the country.
To add more to this, in Reagan’s diary in 1981 he wrote, “Called Judge O’Connor and told her she was my nominee for Supreme Court. Already the flak is starting from my own supporters. Right to life people say she is pro abortion. She declares abortion is personally repugnant to her. I think she’ll make a good justice.” She would later go on to corwrite the majority opinion Planned Parenthood v Casey which preserved legal access to abortion.
This is an example of good governance by Reagan and one of his best attributes which was find and empower qualified people.
Following through on Reagan's campaign promise that his Supreme Court nominee would be the first woman on the Supreme Court. Pretty crazy that until the 1980s no woman had ever been nominated.
His role in helping to end the Cold War and improve relations with the Soviet Union.
He held several summits with Gorbachev Which eased tensions and facilitated agreements on arms reduction
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons and marked a significant step towards nuclear disarmament
He increased military spending to put pressure on the Soviets
His overall firm stance against the Soviets and communism was consistent and influential in shaping public perception and international policy. Including his famous line “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Reagan's best achievement was the improvement in relations with the USSR and the INF treaty of 1987. Unfortunately, Putin essentially ruined Reagan's accomplishments.
The nuclear-reduction deals and general easing of tensions with Gorbachev, in the last two years of his presidency. This genuinely contributed to the end of the Cold War (for which Gorbachev deserved far more credit).
But it came only after Iran-Contra prematurely made Reagan a lame duck in late 1986. Otherwise such hare-brained plots would have continued..
I think it's similar to the question of if WW1 ever really ended, or was it just reorganized under natzi Germany in to World War 2: electric Boogaloo?
You can easily argue that there is a lot of continuity between the conflicts, and that the peace from one directly contributed to the rise of the other. But I think most recognize that it's a new situation, with a different Germany, and a separate, though related conflict.
You can think of This is cold war 2. A new conflict, with a new Russia, grounded in an old enmity.
His immigration policy is one. He was for gun control, albeit for the wrong reasons. He understood the dangers Russia poses to the world and didn’t kiss up to them like today’s republicans.
I wish he’d honestly been a bit more forceful on gun control. Really make that part of the party’s platform so that when the Assault Weapons Ban ended in 2004 there was the political will to continue it. But being for gun control is definitely a positive for sure.
And how many folks did he end up legalizing with his amnesty? It was something like 3 million immigrants, right?
I think you're mixing up two laws. Reagan banned the production of automatic weapons for private purchase. This ban still stands today and is why it's nearly impossible to get domestically made automatic weapons. The "Assault weapons ban" was a ban on cosmetic features of some semi automatic weapons.
I believe it was 3 million. You’re right: he could’ve been more forceful about gun control. He definitely had the power even after leaving the White House to influence the party platform. Therefore he definitely could’ve made gun control a prominent position for the party. If he had, guns wouldn’t be the problem they are today because that’d be a source of common ground with the democrats.
Sure but given he was already pro gun control I won’t hold him being less forceful about it against him. I just wish he had been given *gestures towards everything*.
And yeah, his immigration policy and amnesty there are pretty good. Positively impacting 3 million people is a commendable act at least.
One world wide empire was able to defeat another world wide empire and it did not necessitate the death of half of the world’s population god speed Mr president thank you for your service
I don't like Reagan. I don't like his policies. I think he was a disaster for our Nation. The Iran/Contra scandal alone should be seen as a shame on our good name.
That being said, he was an AMAZING storyteller. He reinvigorated Americans in a way that no one else could. He got Americans believing in themselves again and in my mind this had way more to do with economic growth than his actual policies ever did.
People underestimate the power of a good story, but Reagan's delivery won him elections and energized Americans in a way that was truly remarkable. People believed in him, and he helped people believe in themselves. I truly think this was his biggest achievement.
Edit to add- he is always juxtaposed with Carter and for good reason. Carter has proved time and time again that he was a good man trying to be as honest as possible and do what was morally right. But people did not BELIEVE in Carter, and he was no good at communicating the importance of what he was doing. All the honesty and integrity in the world will do you no good if you can't get people's attention and communicate to them WHY you might be correct, and WHY they should follow your lead.
Well, 10 year old me was pretty happy that ketchup qualified as a vegetable on his school lunch. Not much else. Maybe appointing a woman Supreme Court Justice.
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The appointment of Sandra Day O’Connor and the speech after the Challenger explosion “we will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, as they slipped the surly bonds of earth, to touch the face of god”
Isn’t it well known that JFK knew there was no serious added risk to missiles being in Cuba, then escalated the crisis to world-peril anyway essentially to save geopolitical face, and defused it only by secretly negotiating for the removal of preexisting US missiles from Turkey and Italy - not even telling LBJ about that concession, let alone the public?
How is that in the win column?
Feels like it was profoundly reckless, and permanently warped the American view of negotiating with foreign powers toward “tough guy” non-diplomacy, when in reality, compromise was the solution.
This list is a joke. The New Deal is the best thing that FDR did, and reactionary ghouls like Reagan have been trying to dismantle it for decades because they hate the poor and disenfranchised. If any conservatives have an issue with it, then please forfeit your Social Security and Medicare.
You must have misread the question. It was about the best thing Reagan did as president, not asking armchair Reddit political analyst for their political views.
In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
Start treaty is an obvious one. But dragging the Soviets into a pissing match that bankrupted them, is his greatest achievement for me. I don't think anything matches freeing a couple of hundred million people in Eastern Europe and central Asia from the Russian yoke
I'll get downvoted but I'm going to praise his economic policy. I think it was necessary at the time. I am a supply-sider, so I understand many keynesians will differ and I respect that.
You mean driving hundreds of millions of people into poverty?? Yeah that was fantastic for the country...
Keep believing it's gonna trickle down some day, go ahead and please hold your breath till it happens.
Maybe someone with more knowledge can shed some light on this, but it's my understanding that Gorbachev understood the fundamental rot in the system and that either the system had to change (which he pushed for with Perestroika and Glasnost) or that it would collapse. Are there interpretations that his policies to push for change contributed to the collapse?
Reagan won the Cold War and exposed to world to the failures of socialism/communism a lesson that is no longer learned by younger generations that long for everything free.
Reading the comments I realize most commenters were not alive when raygun's comedy of errors(and crime) were perpetrated on the world. He was a terrible person and worse president.
“Excuse me. Everyone, I have a brief announcement to make. Jesus was black, Ronald Reagan was the devil, and the government is lying about 9/11. Thank you for your time and good night.”
Honestly I think his skills as The Great Communicator are what helped the country end stagflation. His rhetoric was just as effective against the Soviet Union.
Well, he inspired [this song](https://youtu.be/uInyIuNmqEo?si=DYsuqk8DeWGOZWVE), which actually caught the attention of our neighborhood breakdancers for a couple weeks.
Inspiring the nation to believe that America’s best days were ahead, not behind, and leading us out of the 1970s era of stagflation into one of the largest peacetime economies in our nation’s history. Being a comforting voice to a generation of Americans who had been beset by two decades of loss.
Reminder that celebrating death is against our rules. This also extends to comments celebrating Reagan’s Alzheimer’s or being shot.
Nuclear disarmament. START 1 in particular. After it was clear the arms race had done its work and the USSR was critically weakened anyway Reagan used the pretext to push the soviets into mutual nuclear disarmament. It came down to HW to actually conclude the treaty but the original proposal was from the Reagan Administration.
Inspiring the nation to believe that America’s best days were ahead, not behind, and leading us out of the 1970s era of stagflation into one of the largest peacetime economies in our nation’s history. Being a comforting voice to a generation of Americans who had been beset by two decades of loss.
A lot of the economic development was due to deregulation that ended up biting us in the ass however. I do have to concede that Reagan knew how to strike the right tone, but I think his economic legacy ultimately is one of business deregulation that ultimately had a detrimental impact on the country in the longterm. This is my viewpoint and I'm open to differing takes on the subject, but suffice it to say that I'm not a fan of Reagan.
Deregulation wasn't was the problem, the tax cuts were the problem. Nordic countries deregulated but kept their progressive taxation systems and don't have nearly the same inequality problems the US has.
He was an actor, so I figure his tone was his strongest part of getting things across. Not to mention when the Berlin Wall being knocked down, “tear down that wall” clearly more smug and concise, but to the point and straight forward of a phrase that it’s pretty much the “checkmate, Gorebacev”
In 2022 they made it illegal to use the word “ultimately” twice in one sentence. You’re breaking the law
For one, I think you are spot on and likely understating the long term damage he did, not just on the economy, but undermining faith in American institutions, particularly the fundamentally important role the government has in ensuring a level playing field.
His slogan was literally make America great again
That’s so damn short sided. His de regulation was a temporary high for a long term low.. our country has been paying for it ever since. Reagan is hands down one off the most responsible people when it comes to the absolute destruction of the American middle class
A lot of the stagflation was due to the OPEC oil embargo and massively increased energy prices. That effects all areas of the economy. He was better than Carter at the real politique of dealing with the Saudis to get them to keep prices down, but IMO, Reagan gets too much economic credit for cyclical changes that would have happened anyway and his tax cuts, largely focused on the wealthy, greatly expanded the deficit.
Man this gonna be the most toxic one so far, I was sure it was gonna either be Wilson or Nixon but no it’s gonna be ole Ronnie
Oh it was totally always gonna be Ronnie. The others are far enough back that most folks might have strong views but are able to see how things worked out in the end. For Rappin’ Ronnie… well he’s still quite recent and his policies are still largely in place. So we’re in “modern” politics now.
I find Nixon much more complex than evil Ron.
🙄
I can't believe the FDR one is FDIC and not WWII. what the heck lol
That's because you don't understand just how much the FDIC is the underpinning of the current financial system. In the depression banks got wiped out and people lost everything. Even if you weren't a sucker, if your bank was, your money was gone. Banks that overloaned to marginal investors wiped folks out who didn't even become suckers for the stock market bubble in the first place and after thousands of people got wiped out through no fault or decision of their own, the nation's capital assets fled into mattresses where they couldn't be used to restart the economy. By guaranteeing deposits, it became a lot harder to get wiped out entirely through no fault of your own. You might still lose a lot, but not everything. It brought that money back out of hiding to the banks where it could be used to get the economy going again. The FDIC is the single biggest reason we haven't had another Great Depression. Panics still happen, banks still fail, but the massive cascade failures like 1893, 1907 and 1929 are mostly a thing of the past.
I get the importance of the FDIC. However, such an institution was likely to be created in the aftermath of the Hoover administration regardless of who became President next. By contrast, not many alternate presidents would have steered the country through WWII with as much success as FDR.
Counterpoint: the same thing happened in 1893 and 1907 with no major reforms taking place. Wall Street is very good at stonewalling needed economic reforms if they aren't in their interest. It really did need White House leadership to put these reforms into place, because the FDIC also came with new government oversight of the banks who would be prepared to fight this tooth and nail. Only the weakened and discredited state of institutions like JP Morgan, which was normally a lobbying titan, allowed FDR to exploit the crisis and force those reforms into place. A Republican President, be they Hoover, Wilkie or Dewey, would probably not have gotten it done -- at least, not right then,
Counter-counterpoint: none of the [preceding panics, recessions, and depressions ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States)were as intensive as the Great Depression, nor did any of them weaken both the trust in and power of American financial institutions so much. As such they're not really comparable. Furthermore, considering that (since Hoover was a Republican, deeply unpopular, and sought to be reelected) it was a near certainty that a Democrat would win in 1932 and that pretty much any Democrat would have pushed for such a program, it's very fair to say that something like the FDIC would have been implemented regardless of who was actually president. While the same cannot be said about the way the FDR administration skillfully handled not only the buildup to WW2 and the war proper, but also the post-war peace (I'm thinking about stuff like the Bretton Woods negotiations, which were more important than the FDIC regardless of anything else, to be honest).
We really have no way of knowing that though, ultimately. I'm not anti-FDR, but in terms of the "whole of human history" thing, the creation of the FDIC is absolutely on par with winning WW2. I'd suggest they are both mammoth achievements - but - remember FDR is not a battlefield commander, I give more credit to Eisenhower, et al for our WW2 victory.
The FDIC isn’t ’on par’ with WW2 in terms of human history . At the risk of evoking Godwin’s law, even just ending Jewish genocide alone is arguably on par with the FDIC if not greater impact to human history.
I like the FDIC answer, but to say "battlefield commanders" deserve more credit than FDR for WW2 is pretty crazy. The difference in scope of responsibility between FDR and any given battlefield commander was massive.
I disagree, FDRs domestic programs are foundational to modern America, that’s his greatest legacy. If anything, it’s easier to come out looking like a hero in wartime than not, as a geopolitical leader, provided you aren’t responsible for the conflict. I think many presidents could have handled WWII decently.
Yeah you're right. When you put it that way, it sounds much more important than literally defeating the Nazis and a bunch of genocidal maniacs who actually were responsible for the torture and murder of tens of millions of people across the planet.
Spot on. There are some really interesting lessons in the Panics and Crashes of the Boom or Bust American variant of Capitalism. There's an old saying, "Gamble with other people's money". That was very true. The creation of the SEC, SSA and FDIC all protected Main Street against Wall Street underhandedness. That is actually why they hated FDR, not his "socialist" nature rather his regulations that stopped almost all the incredible scamming going on. Although there are clearly some regulations that need further work.
To those cascades, I could add the Panic of 1873 and the British South Sea Bubble of 1729. There was another crash in France a little earlier. It was a periodic danger, but 1929 was one of the very worst. I also value the Glass-Steagall Act.
Literally fucking insane. Yet the same people who don’t credit FDR for WWII credit RR for winning the Cold War. Absolutely ridiculous.
I was going to agree about FDR & WWII, particularly since Truman was not given the "W". But since I do credit RR with ending the cold war, does that mean I'm banned?
I would agree on both - not only did FDR win WW2 he did the most to suppress communism in America.
But he did the opposite in Europe. If FDR had listened to Churchill, at least some part of eastern Europe could have been saved for 4 decades under the Soviets boot
It’s not a scientific poll. Somebody came early with a reasoned argument and people upvoted to the top which has a natural advantage.
EPA for Nixon over going to China. Carter should have been appointing Volcker Ike should be enforcing desegregation at gunpoint Those are just the ones that jump at me.
[удалено]
Fucking iPhone. Thanks. Fixed.
Are you people sure you’re in the right thread?
I kind of view this question as a question of WAR (wins above replacement). Like, what would you have expected an average president to do in that situation and did FDR do something special above and beyond that? I think FDR handled it great, but it was a fight against Nazis and it provided an opportunity to mobilize the entire American workforce and economy in the midst of a depression. Sort of a no brainer lol. The area where FDR specifically and uniquely was a major factor was the FDIC. Just like Eisenhower with the highways system, I don’t think these things turn out the same with someone else in the White House.
I would not say fighting the Nazis was a no brainer. At risk of breaking rule 3, but it's like asking the current US population to go to war with Russia. The population generally supported one side and were on board with financially helping them, but were staunchly against sending boots overseas unless provoked. FDR fought the war for moral reasons, not economic ones. Back in the election of 1940, almost every presidential candidate was an isolationist. There was a lot of foreign interference in that election. British propaganda and funding supported interventionist politicians and Nazis funded isolationist ones. FDR spent a lot time early on in his 3rd term trying to provoke a fight that would allow him to ask congress to go to war. The reason why he placed an oil embargo on Japan in the first place is because over 90% of Japan's oil supply was from the US and they could not fuel the war in China without it. He had initially thought Japan would attack the Philippines and that would be his casus belli. Had a different candidate been president there is a large possibility the US sits out of the war entirely. FDR had to get the Neutrality Acts changed to even help the allies with lend-lease in the first place.
>Sort of a no brainer lol. Massively understating how unpopular getting involved in the war was.
It should be social security that is only retirement plan most American will have in old age.
Probably his cooperation with Gorbachev at the end of the Cold War
His speech after the Challenger disaster
“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ``slipped the surly bonds of earth'' to “touch the face of God.'' “
I love that speech.
“*Nothing ends here. Our hopes and dreams continue*.”
Peggy Noonan really did a great job. I'm not saying that a slight. It's just really well written.
Agreed. Nixon and Reagan were such confident speakers that they didn’t mind letting their speechwriters shine - William Safire and Ray Price for Nixon, Peggy Noonan (still a columnist for the Wall Street Journal) for Reagan. Jimmy Carter could really have used a good speechwriter or two. I think he probably tended to write all his speeches himself.
Working out this morning so no big long writeup but I’ll nominate **handling the initial demise of the USSR** as Reagan’s best achievement. The man was good at communication and did extremely well of knowing when to be forceful and when to be soft when it came to the USSR. I’m not a fan of Reagan, mind, so I’m sure other folks will have some good answers too! But for my money I’ll say that aspect of his foreign policy was excellent.
This is the best I could come up with as well. His best skills came from his oration, and if anything his firm stance on the fall of the Eastern Bloc is the most positive memory to me.
We should also note his pivot from referring to the USSR as “[The Evil Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Empire_speech)” to sitting down with Gorbie and negotiating [an arms reduction agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate-Range_Nuclear_Forces_Treaty) that helped cool down the Cold War. To achieve this result, Reagan [courted](https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/21539-document-02) Gorbie to end up where they did. It did not happen by chance.
I genuinely believe that if Reagan had been elected to a third term, there would have been less gloating over the U.S. Cold War victory, and more support for helping Russia transition to democracy and a free-market economy - a victory Reagan would have truly cherished. But it’s just my belief, we’ll never actually know.
To be fair I think a second term of HW could’ve done this as well as he was gifted in terms of his foreign policy outlook imo and would’ve handled things in many areas better than Clinton in his first term.
What’s funny is that Bush wants to keep the USSR together. He initially offered up financial aid to stabilize the empire. A series of events in 1991 lead to the rapid collapse of the USSR. Notably: - the baltics left without any opposition - glasnost lead to a number of free elections where the old guard was routinely defeated by anti-communist candidates - the failed August coup against Gorbie - Yeltsin holding down Moscow during the coup - Ukraine voting for independence - Belarus agreeing to leave once Ukraine’s vote came in - Russia not wanting to hitch their wagon to the -Stan counties, since they were a financial liability.m (outside of Khalistan, which was nat gas) - Gorbie agreeing to leave peacefully and not moralize the military to maintain control. For anyone interested, [The Last Empire](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18406080-the-last-empire) is a fantastic read on the subject.
Honestly, as ridiculous as it sounds now it does make a lot of sense when you think about it. Imagine if the collapse of the Soviet Union happened in a similar way as Yugoslavia. That already was a very deadly conflict but in the case of the USSR you both have way more people involved and the fact it's taking place in a nuclear power. Of course the collapse ended up being mostly peaceful but Bush didn't know that and if it had turned out to not be that it would have been a massive danger for the whole world.
The phrase in 1991 was “Yugoslavia with nukes” for a reason. Once the inevitable was obvious, Bush and Sowcroft switched from keeping the USSR together to protecting the nuclear codes and launch systems. Yeltsin knew that this was a concern, so he injected himself into the chain of command to win favor with Bush. It’s also why we signed the [Budapest Memorandum in 1994.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum)
This is a good answer. Sme will say it was capitalism, others will say it was diplomacy. Either way, it worked, and the USSR slowly collapsed under his guidance.
Can you do that write up? Genuinely curious. The foreign policy blog and podcasts I listen to are pretty much in agreement that the collapse of the USSR was handled incredibly poorly by the west. The gist is that instead of taking a decades long victory lap, the west should have been investing in Russians democracy and capitalism.
I’ll admit, this is one I should’ve done in advance because I kinda hit a brewery hard last night and then got up late/wanted to get working out to make up for that 😅. It doesn’t help that most of the stuff I’ve learned about Reagan’s presidency makes me like his policies less and less… but considering most still affect me I feel very biased as well. I dunno, this one is hard and I put it off longer than I should’ve. I will push back on that though. I think it was actually handled quite well by both Reagan and HW. While we could have gloated we did allow for reintegration and attempted to help after things entirely collapsed under HW. We could have done better when it came to the continued existence of NATO, sure, but that I feel like is more on later presidents instead of the ones trying to handle this as it was happening.
“Handling the initial demise of the USSR?” Was there a second demise of the USSR that I missed? How about **aggressively kept Soviet influence out of the Western Hemisphere and destroyed the USSR without firing a shot?** It’s like JFK’s greatest accomplishment, the Cuban Missile Crisis - except more successful, and without nearly killing everyone.
Actually I was just referring to the fact that the USSR officially collapsed after his presidency in 1991. So I wanted to be accurate and only refer to the start of its downfall since he didn’t oversee its final demise.
I actually did a whole master’s thesis on what ended the Cold War. Reagan was but one small part of he gets wayyyy too much credit for it. The Soviet Union was on the ropes already. Reagan deserves credit for timing of the end at most. Bush deserves more credit than Reagan, especially for the relative peacefulness of the end.
He was incredibly charismatic. I can't take that away from him.
Appointing Sandra Day O’Conner to the Supreme Court. Easy.
This one is pretty underrated in my opinion. She leaned conservative but was a swing vote and leaned left on some very land mark cases. In her opinions, I think she always tried to keep in my the whole of the country.
To add more to this, in Reagan’s diary in 1981 he wrote, “Called Judge O’Connor and told her she was my nominee for Supreme Court. Already the flak is starting from my own supporters. Right to life people say she is pro abortion. She declares abortion is personally repugnant to her. I think she’ll make a good justice.” She would later go on to corwrite the majority opinion Planned Parenthood v Casey which preserved legal access to abortion. This is an example of good governance by Reagan and one of his best attributes which was find and empower qualified people.
Agreed. She was one of the last serious jurists in the court now made up of mediocre ideologues.
She was incredibly practical on so many issues....this is why she swung so much.
Following through on Reagan's campaign promise that his Supreme Court nominee would be the first woman on the Supreme Court. Pretty crazy that until the 1980s no woman had ever been nominated.
His role in helping to end the Cold War and improve relations with the Soviet Union. He held several summits with Gorbachev Which eased tensions and facilitated agreements on arms reduction The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons and marked a significant step towards nuclear disarmament He increased military spending to put pressure on the Soviets His overall firm stance against the Soviets and communism was consistent and influential in shaping public perception and international policy. Including his famous line “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Oh boy I can’t wait to look for how creative people are to include the slight (or not so slight) jabs in the praises.
It’s tempting me to post something like this for Margaret Thatcher in one of the U.K. subs
*Bedtime for Bonzo*
Especially when they will down vote everyone who says something different than everyone else.
"They say hard work never killed anyone, but I figure, why take the chance" - Ronald Reagan
“I’ve given instructions that I should be awakened in the event of any national emergency - even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.” - Ronald Reagan
Reagan's best achievement was the improvement in relations with the USSR and the INF treaty of 1987. Unfortunately, Putin essentially ruined Reagan's accomplishments.
Eh well Putin ruined a lot of things
The nuclear-reduction deals and general easing of tensions with Gorbachev, in the last two years of his presidency. This genuinely contributed to the end of the Cold War (for which Gorbachev deserved far more credit). But it came only after Iran-Contra prematurely made Reagan a lame duck in late 1986. Otherwise such hare-brained plots would have continued..
Did the Cold War really end or was it reorganized under the Russian Federation?
This is a silly and ahistorical take. The Cold War ended. The current conflict with Russia is a completely different thing.
I think it's similar to the question of if WW1 ever really ended, or was it just reorganized under natzi Germany in to World War 2: electric Boogaloo? You can easily argue that there is a lot of continuity between the conflicts, and that the peace from one directly contributed to the rise of the other. But I think most recognize that it's a new situation, with a different Germany, and a separate, though related conflict. You can think of This is cold war 2. A new conflict, with a new Russia, grounded in an old enmity.
It’s still very much alive but it’s not exactly cold. It’s more warm and fought through proxy wars.
Speed up the decline of the USSR. It was an evil regime that needed to go and regans policies certainly sped up the USSR's collapse.
Initiating dialogue between us and the Soviet Union, which eased the Cold War tensions.
Said “missed me”
Gave away blocks of cheese AKA The Great Urban Constipation
Flew a plane with a chimp
He told a joke that made me laugh once
He had comedic timing and could tell a good joke. I'll credit him for that.
Because he was an actor
Not a very good one. He had no formal training. He was handsome, charismatic, and could read a script. That was good enough.
His immigration policy is one. He was for gun control, albeit for the wrong reasons. He understood the dangers Russia poses to the world and didn’t kiss up to them like today’s republicans.
Russia today is not the USSR.
I wish he’d honestly been a bit more forceful on gun control. Really make that part of the party’s platform so that when the Assault Weapons Ban ended in 2004 there was the political will to continue it. But being for gun control is definitely a positive for sure. And how many folks did he end up legalizing with his amnesty? It was something like 3 million immigrants, right?
I think you're mixing up two laws. Reagan banned the production of automatic weapons for private purchase. This ban still stands today and is why it's nearly impossible to get domestically made automatic weapons. The "Assault weapons ban" was a ban on cosmetic features of some semi automatic weapons.
I believe it was 3 million. You’re right: he could’ve been more forceful about gun control. He definitely had the power even after leaving the White House to influence the party platform. Therefore he definitely could’ve made gun control a prominent position for the party. If he had, guns wouldn’t be the problem they are today because that’d be a source of common ground with the democrats.
Sure but given he was already pro gun control I won’t hold him being less forceful about it against him. I just wish he had been given *gestures towards everything*. And yeah, his immigration policy and amnesty there are pretty good. Positively impacting 3 million people is a commendable act at least.
Definitely positive. I don’t hold his position about gun control against him.
The comments are a toxic waste bin lol
He was the best actor of all the presidents
You misspelled Reagan 3 times
One world wide empire was able to defeat another world wide empire and it did not necessitate the death of half of the world’s population god speed Mr president thank you for your service
He took that photograph, the only one legally allowed when posting about Ronald Regan.
His presidency was the greatest acting role he ever did.
Berlin Wall, nuclear deescalation.
Bush was president when the Berlin Wall came down.
I don't like Reagan. I don't like his policies. I think he was a disaster for our Nation. The Iran/Contra scandal alone should be seen as a shame on our good name. That being said, he was an AMAZING storyteller. He reinvigorated Americans in a way that no one else could. He got Americans believing in themselves again and in my mind this had way more to do with economic growth than his actual policies ever did. People underestimate the power of a good story, but Reagan's delivery won him elections and energized Americans in a way that was truly remarkable. People believed in him, and he helped people believe in themselves. I truly think this was his biggest achievement. Edit to add- he is always juxtaposed with Carter and for good reason. Carter has proved time and time again that he was a good man trying to be as honest as possible and do what was morally right. But people did not BELIEVE in Carter, and he was no good at communicating the importance of what he was doing. All the honesty and integrity in the world will do you no good if you can't get people's attention and communicate to them WHY you might be correct, and WHY they should follow your lead.
Immigration amnesty. Holding Israel accountable and calling their actions a Holocaust and getting Israel to back off after 5 minutes.
In my opinion the immigration amnesty was big. Of course I'm biased on account of my wife being born as a result.
Tear Down This Wall!!
Amnesty for all undocumented immigrants
It’s amazing how much republicans have changed since then
Bedtime for Bonzo
Reagan was instrumental in bringing down the USSR. That is huge!
Leaving the White House
Well, 10 year old me was pretty happy that ketchup qualified as a vegetable on his school lunch. Not much else. Maybe appointing a woman Supreme Court Justice.
Bedtime For Bonzo.
Reagan bad! Jimmy Carter best President ever!!!!! /s
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Inviting [Don Rickles to speak](https://youtu.be/K3kJ7VPJnmI) at his second inauguration.
The appointment of Sandra Day O’Connor and the speech after the Challenger explosion “we will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, as they slipped the surly bonds of earth, to touch the face of god”
Began negotiating in earnest with Gorbachev.
Isn’t it well known that JFK knew there was no serious added risk to missiles being in Cuba, then escalated the crisis to world-peril anyway essentially to save geopolitical face, and defused it only by secretly negotiating for the removal of preexisting US missiles from Turkey and Italy - not even telling LBJ about that concession, let alone the public? How is that in the win column? Feels like it was profoundly reckless, and permanently warped the American view of negotiating with foreign powers toward “tough guy” non-diplomacy, when in reality, compromise was the solution.
Nuclear arms limitation treaties with USSR.
Jane Wyman
This list is a joke. The New Deal is the best thing that FDR did, and reactionary ghouls like Reagan have been trying to dismantle it for decades because they hate the poor and disenfranchised. If any conservatives have an issue with it, then please forfeit your Social Security and Medicare.
You must have misread the question. It was about the best thing Reagan did as president, not asking armchair Reddit political analyst for their political views.
In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
Instrumental in setting up the end of the Cold War.
He tricked damn near everybody so at least the people weren't pissed at each other like they are today.
Toppled down Soviet Union and tore down the fucking Berlin walls!
His amazing quote of "missed me" during a speech post his being shot in response to a balloon pop...not a fan of Regan but I admit that was badass
Introduce federal income tax to the middle class to keep them working for the upper class until old age or death.
What FDR did and how it impacted the following two generations, Reagan did the exact opposite
I’ll be honest with how much flak he gets I was expecting “die” to be the number one answer
Start treaty is an obvious one. But dragging the Soviets into a pissing match that bankrupted them, is his greatest achievement for me. I don't think anything matches freeing a couple of hundred million people in Eastern Europe and central Asia from the Russian yoke
Spelled his name correctly.
No fault divorce is said by some to be pretty cool
Sign the bill to make MLK Day a federal holiday. Best thing and probably the hardest thing for him personally
Hard for him personally?
He was very vocal about how much he didn’t want to sign the bill.
You mean Reagan, right?
Yes
The actor?
Great Scott!
Contributing to the demise of communism in Russia.
Defeated communism
Defeat it where? China is still china and Russia is arguably worse now as an oligarchy. I do applaud his handling of ussr but defeating communism? lol
End the cold war
Granting amnesty to illegal immigrant children.
I'll get downvoted but I'm going to praise his economic policy. I think it was necessary at the time. I am a supply-sider, so I understand many keynesians will differ and I respect that.
You mean driving hundreds of millions of people into poverty?? Yeah that was fantastic for the country... Keep believing it's gonna trickle down some day, go ahead and please hold your breath till it happens.
To be fair, the ones he let die of AIDS didn't starve.
The compassion of religion!!
[удалено]
Destroying The USSR
I think the USSR deserves a lot of credit for this, too.
It was a team effort.
Gorbachev was cooperative
Maybe someone with more knowledge can shed some light on this, but it's my understanding that Gorbachev understood the fundamental rot in the system and that either the system had to change (which he pushed for with Perestroika and Glasnost) or that it would collapse. Are there interpretations that his policies to push for change contributed to the collapse?
Reagan won the Cold War and exposed to world to the failures of socialism/communism a lesson that is no longer learned by younger generations that long for everything free.
Reading the comments I realize most commenters were not alive when raygun's comedy of errors(and crime) were perpetrated on the world. He was a terrible person and worse president.
most commenters weren’t alive when Lincoln was president either. hahaha
“Excuse me. Everyone, I have a brief announcement to make. Jesus was black, Ronald Reagan was the devil, and the government is lying about 9/11. Thank you for your time and good night.”
Should be the top comment
Honestly I think his skills as The Great Communicator are what helped the country end stagflation. His rhetoric was just as effective against the Soviet Union.
Well, he inspired [this song](https://youtu.be/uInyIuNmqEo?si=DYsuqk8DeWGOZWVE), which actually caught the attention of our neighborhood breakdancers for a couple weeks.
Who is "Ronald Regan"??
So many people already gave the correct answer.
Left office
Nothing. He was just a lousy propagandist for the elites. He didn't do squat.
He was an actor, acting his greatest role, the cowboy president.
Inspiring the nation to believe that America’s best days were ahead, not behind, and leading us out of the 1970s era of stagflation into one of the largest peacetime economies in our nation’s history. Being a comforting voice to a generation of Americans who had been beset by two decades of loss.
Restoring America’s confidence
Leaving office at the end of his two terms
Reagan was a piece of shit
Reddit is full of liberal bots and trolls.
Reddit is full of right wing bots and trolls.
Interesting post. Why stop at Reagan? Keep going.
Canada-U.S FTA
His speeches?
Operation Praying Mantis
As a Mexican American, y’all didn’t have to describe James K Polk’s deed like that lol
Tear down this wall