Reagan took down the Soviet Union. The Iranians cowered in front of him.
Trump…not so much.
I was stationed in Germany from 77-81. I lived in a small town on the Mosel River, Traben-Trarbach. I ate dinner at the local gasthaus 2-3 times a week.
My neighbors pleaded with me to vote for Carter, because they were certain that Reagan would start WWIII. We carried on conversations leading up to the election, which were conducted entirely in German. Living off base for 4 years helped me develop conversational near fluency.
My premise for electing Reagan was simple: the world is a safer place when America is strong, and Reagan was best equipped to engineer the country away from the weakness of the Carter Administration.
On my next visit to the gasthaus after Inauguration Day, I was invited to sit at the stammtisch, a table reserved for family and close friends of the family.