Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future

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OneMansView, April 6, 2009 (view all comments by OneMansView)
Even-handed look at the orchestrated Reagan myth

The central concern of the author is that the very serious economic, environmental, social, and foreign policy problems of this nation are either going unaddressed, or worse exacerbated, because we the public and political opportunists in particular cling to a set of beliefs and policies, supposedly held and enacted by former President Ronald Reagan and now unassailable after a two-decade long campaign to raise him to sainthood, that are grossly ideological, bare only faint resemblance to the Reagan presidency, and most importantly cannot and will not work.

The mythologizing began in earnest in the mid-90s, when it was announced that Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer’s, by Republican operatives who were seeking a way to counter the Clinton presidency. According to the myth, government is too large and is our essential problem; large tax cuts, especially for the rich, will have broad economic benefit and will result in budget surpluses; social and environmental problems are either nonexistent or overstated, but will miraculously work themselves out regardless; the U.S. must dominate the world militarily, unilaterally if necessary; and most fundamental is that unregulated, laissez-faire capitalism is the only viable economic system. This belief system gains credibility when it is presented in the context of Reagan’s sunny personality and profound optimism and his handlers’ astute usage of props and the media in packaging it all.

What is most ironic is that while personally popular, the American public had grown weary of Reagan by the time he left office. Economic inequality had substantially risen and the public gave Reagan a pass on the Iran-Contra affair, for which he could have probably been impeached. Perhaps it says much about myth-making in our era of mass communications.

While Reagan did subscribe to much of that ideology, the author painstakingly shows that Reagan deviated substantially from those ideals and invited failure when he did not. His approach was practical, though perhaps reluctantly, in many cases and was not driven, as are modern right-wing ideologues, to roll back the New Deal. It is painful for modern Republicans to learn that Reagan raised taxes at least six times in his two terms, at least partly to shore-up social security. Government spending and the size of government grew tremendously under Reagan resulting in increases of the federal debt of over two trillion dollars. It seems to be little remembered in our era that his administration’s failure to regulate the S&Ls resulted in a bailout of investors by taxpayers of at least 200 billion, certainly a forerunner to the bailout of Wall Street today.

The author shows that the costs of blindly following the Reagan myth are best seen in the presidency of GW Bush. At a time when the U.S. attempted to wage war on two fronts, Bush elected to dogmatically enact a huge tax cut disproportionately skewed to the rich, resulting in deficits far larger than those of Reagan. His blind insistence on invading Iraq was contrary to Reagan’s very tactical withdrawal from Lebanon. Perhaps the largest failure of the Bush era is the belief that huge financial firms making as much money as possible regardless of manner will be a benefit to the U.S. economy. His lack of concerns about global warming and alternative energy is as misguided as Reagan’s rollback of mileage standards for car manufacturers.

Despite the failed, ideological presidency of GW Bush and devastating economic realities, it is not clear that the Reagan myth has been much diminished. The Republican candidates for president in 2008 made great efforts in attempting to cast themselves as the person most able to carry out the mythological Reagan principles. It could be contended that perhaps Bush did not follow the prescription well enough. The election of Obama to the presidency is at least a small sign that the Reagan myth is just that: a myth. But myths die hard.

The author’s book is a reasonable look at the huge discrepancy between what Reagan supposedly did and his actual performance. It is not Reagan bashing, though certainly some much-needed balance is achieved in assessing Reagan’s presidency. He is most assuredly correct to suggest that if we are to have a chance at a bright future, we must, at the very least, move beyond myths. The book does tend to be a bit wordy and repetitious. It’s unfortunate that those who could best benefit from the book won’t read it. They’ll simply see it as an attack on a sacred icon. It’s too bad, because probably at least 47 percent of the electorate believes a good bit of the Reagan myth – not a comforting thought.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781416597629

Subtitle:

How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future

Author:

Bunch, Will

Author:

Bunch, William

Publisher:

Free Press

Subject:

Political Process - Political Parties

Subject:

Public Affairs & Administration

Subject:

Political Parties

Subject:

History & Theory - General

Subject:

Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism

Subject:

Conservatism

Subject:

Symbolism in politics.

Subject:

United States Politics and government.

Subject:

Politics - General

Copyright:

2009

Publication Date:

20090203

Binding:

Hardback

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Pages:

288

Dimensions:

9 x 6 in