“I agree. Reagan won also with the Dems voting for him too.”
There is a yuuuuuuuge difference between the two, though. Reagan had an enormously popular base and widespread manufacturing and defense industry base support, was “The Great Communicator” AND had executive experience. His exposure through his representation of GE was probably more valuable than his hosting the TV show or B movies. Plus, he was a self deprecating man, firm, but with a terrific sense of humor.
He applied to an exclusive CC in Los Angeles and during the interview was told that they suggested he apply to Lakeside, that they really didn’t have show business people in their membership, especially actors.
He smiled and said “you are obviously not familiar with my work.” He was ushered in almost on the spot.
I’m not slamming Trump. I think that Reagan’s breadth of experience and his charisma might not be matched anywhere in American history.
And circumstances constantly change. Reagan himself, if he were living today, might be a fish out of water now.
A lot of great statesmen’s reputations were formed after the fact, not before. Trump if elected comes to the presidency as a tabula rasa. Even Reagan wasn’t looking all that wonderful in the first couple of years. Then the momentum started to change direction.
With the Internet, we are tempted to tell time by the second hand of the clock, so to speak. Some silly tweet is coast to coast and making headlines before the next deadline. Then it echoes around and around and around, sometimes in multiple versions. This is a much noisier and much more impatient informational environment than existed in Reagan’s time. I would expect Trump’s ratings to plummet like a rock for about two years as well, until he’s managed to swing around the ship of state, and then to start gaining a halo. I’m going to keep reminding FReepers of this, if I am still on at the time.
That’s one story I had not heard. Was that in the thirties?