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.
“And circumstances constantly change. Reagan himself, if he were living today, might be a fish out of water now.”
You make some good points. Certainly the man must fit the times to catch the kind of lightning in a bottle that RR did.
My observation was meant to be more focused on the man and not so much the time, maybe thinking that he was a man for all seasons. I think you may be right though. Thanks.