With all due respect, in his second term he passed the major tax reform bill that resulted in fewer tax brackets in return for eliminating most tax shelters. That was the closest we came to a flat tax. Also, he gave the "tear down that wall" speech. I just don't see the failure.
I'm with you on this - I just don't think it's reasonable to expect a president to go full flank ahead reforming the country for eight straight years. Political battles take time and energy, and eight years of them has got to be a lot to take.
That's pretty clear. The tear down the wall speech was great, but it wasn't a magic summons. The tax situation isn't as you say, though, and rather than get into a big debate over it I'll just let you believe as you do. Iran Contra, deficits, bloated government and more contradict that view, though.
It was during Reagan's second term that he met Gorbachev at Reykjavik and refused to compromise on SDI. I remember the drubbing he took from the libs at the time - all they could talk about was how he had "squandered" the potential for weapons reduction. Reagan was right in holding his ground. Forcing the Soviets to respond to the prospect of a functional and deployed SDI system helped tumble the Communist regime, IMO.
Wasn't social security overhauled in 1988 which extended its projected viability to the numbers quoted today?