Ronald Reagan's Place in History (WWII, Roman, England, 70's)
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He did the right thing at the right time. His policies were effective in the 80's, as there was a different economic climate than there is today. Too many people today want to try and implement those policies now in 2012, which I don't think would work. As a Republican, I wish Reagan wasn't treated as such a giant among conservatives. It's 2012, not the 1980's. Let's move on.
He was good at acting. Sometimes a good act is what we need.
TRUE !
I call myself a "blue dog Democrat" and am quite conservative but I didn't care for Ronald Reagan.
He was good at ACTING like a "down home buddy" when giving speaches or State of the Union addresses. However, many Americans were so gullible that they hated his policies, but would not blame Reagan for his own policies.
They would blame the cabinet member under who those policies fell.
The cabinet member was just carrying out policies of the man who appointed them.....the President.
Yet, many brainwashed folk absolved the President and blamed the cabinet appointee.
Now in my 40's i admit that today i'm ambivalent about Reagan however that being said i'm glad that he (along with Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of Navy John Lehman) modernized and built up our navy (600 Ship Fleet) during the 80's as for example when i first entered back in the early part of that decade our Destroyer and Fast Frigate fleet was mostly all WW2/Korean War era built steam turbine propulsion and by the end of his term we had all new modern gas turbine propulsion systems as well as other advances in shipboard weaponry and electronics etc.
The President who chose to ignore the crisis while AIDS raged across America and the world.
Exactly the point.
If I had a lot of time on my hands I would extrapolate on how effective a speaker and communicator Pres. Reagan was, how successful he was in taking certain political initiatives. There is much we can credit him.
The subject of AIDS is something different, however. As a volunteer for a major AIDS organization, though, I will tell you that those of us dealing with this most devastating medical crisis of the second half of the 20th Century ... Reagan was consider a VILLAIN
There was no leadership from either the White House or from most sectors of government to deal with that crisis. Tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Americans died needlessly as a result.
If I had a lot of time on my hands I would extrapolate on how effective a speaker and communicator Pres. Reagan was, how successful he was in taking certain political initiatives. There is much we can credit him.
The subject of AIDS is something different, however. As a volunteer for a major AIDS organization, though, I will tell you that those of us dealing with this most devastating medical crisis of the second half of the 20th Century ... Reagan was consider a VILLAIN
There was no leadership from either the White House or from most sectors of government to deal with that crisis. Tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Americans died needlessly as a result.
This is not really a comment on Reagan's handling of the AIDS Crisis. However, many people and institutions in America deserve an "F" for the way we responded to this new disease. I pray that the next time a new disease emerges (and it will happen) that we all behave a bit more rationally.
The blood banks behaved in an almost criminal manner. They were warned that the blood supply could easily be contaminated because there was no screening process in effect to keep people who were at high risk of developing AIDS from donating blood. At the time, many blood banks simply went to inner cities and paid donors to increase the supply. It took lawsuits and multi-million dollar verdicts to get these folks to change the way they did business.
There was a great deal of ignorance about the disease because people would not speak frankly and bluntly about the mechanism for spreading AIDS. The common phrase was that AIDS could be spread through "an exchange of bodily fluids". Its not the language that should have been used and it actually lead many people to think you could get AIDS by kissing someone else.
Reagan did make C. Everett Koop, the Surgeon General of the United States. Koop began speaking out about AIDS and clearly stating it could be prevented by wearing a latex condom during sex. However, I agree that this was "too little, too late". I'm sure Reagan has some responsibility for what happened. However, so do the other people heading most of our institutions.
i first entered back in the early part of that decade our Destroyer and Fast Frigate fleet was mostly all WW2/Korean War era built steam turbine propulsion and by the end of his term we had all new modern gas turbine propulsion systems as well as other advances in shipboard weaponry and electronics etc.
Except the Destroyer and Fast Frigate development began in the 60's. Believe it or not but the Coast Guard's Hamilton class cutters powered by two Pratt and Whittney jet turbines were first commissioned in 1965 with the last the Mellon (if I recall) being the commissioned in 1972(?). Anyway, any of the programs realized during the Reagan administration had been in the pipeline of decades before.
Except the Destroyer and Fast Frigate development began in the 60's.
Well the Destroyer class goes back to WW2 and i'm assuming even before that as the Sumner class was commissioned 1943 and the later proceeding subsequent types e.g. Gearing, Mitscher, Sherman, Farragut and Adams classes with the latter two that i mostly worked on during my first two years stationed at Norfolk Naval Shipyards at Portsmouth, Virginia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovcatto
Anyway, any of the programs realized during the Reagan administration had been in the pipeline of decades before.
Oh yeah i'm not surprised knowing that however it was his ''600 ship fleet'' buildup that brought about a larger and eventually more modern navy. I realised that technology would have advance even without him as Prez however again just from my own personal experience from when i first entered in 1981 to when Reagan left office i saw our U.S. Navy vastly modernize and grow in size.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovcatto
Believe it or not but the Coast Guard's Hamilton class cutters powered by two Pratt and Whittney jet turbines were first commissioned in 1965 with the last the Mellon (if i recall) being the commissioned in 1972(?).
Wow that's interesting to hear about and so what was their max speed capacity? I'm thinking that the closest thing that the Navy had to that was it's Pegasus class Hydrofoil's powered by a single General Electric LM2500 Gas Turbine for a max speed of around 48 knots when foilborne.
I think he was one of the best Presidents. Certainly better than Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Carter. He won the cold war and put the policies in place for an economic boom in the USA.
He won the cold war and put the policies in place for an economic boom in the USA.
Care to elaborate on these two points?
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1980's 600 Ship Fleet
