What you say points out the fact that it is not just the president, but mostly congress, that really decides what will happen. Reagan stood for the right things economically, but didn’t go to the mat for them. Arguably, beating the Soviet Union was more important.
Republicans need to be clear about what we want economically, and then work to elect congress to match. Small government, restoration of limited federal government, and control of fiat currency should top the list of priorities.
Well, we thought we did that. Turns out that once in power they thought big government was just great so long as they were in charge of it.