What did Reagan ever do for America?

I was born in 1981, so I was too young to understand politics when Reagan was in office. My parents (stubborn Democrats) refuse to say anything positive about him. So what did Reagan really contribute to this country? —Born (Almost) Yesterday

If you want to know in detail what Reagan contributed, there are biographies out on the man. But here's a brief list of what I think he achieved: (1) by rebuilding US defense, speaking against the evils of communism, and calling for the Berlin Wall to come down, he helped end the worst of the long Cold War with Russia; (2) by cutting taxes and regulation, he helped rejuvenate the US economy; (3) by showing an understanding of the power of freedom and optimism, he helped restore American confidence and patriotism; (4) by helping fund pro-liberty revolutions around the world, he helped turn many countries away from tyranny and toward the US worldview; (5) by conducting himself with great professionalism in office, he returned dignity to, and respect for, the institution of the presidency; (6) by speaking out for individual rights at the UN and other forums, he reminded the US and the world of the core nature of America; (7) by rebuilding friendships with other pro-freedom nations, he strengthened America's system of alliances, which made us safer; (8) by working for expansion of trade worldwide, he helped enrich the entire planet and the US in particular.

There were other things Reagan did. These were the positives that stood out. They far outweighed any negatives. He helped turn a faltering, dispirited nation into a vibrant, strong, and courageous one. He was a great man. I'm only sorry to say that I—a much gloomier and more myopic person at the time—did not fully appreciate him while he was in office. Incidentally, if you want a true sense of the man's character and values, I recommend the book, In His Own Hand. It is a collection of Reagan's many radio addresses. They capture the essence of his mind.

*The first World Trade Center bombing was on February 26, 1993, one month into the Clinton Administration. The terrorists - Egyptians and Palestinians -- blew a hole six stories deep beneath the North Tower intending to topple it onto the South Tower and kill 250,000 people. It was - in the words of the definitive account - "the most ambitious terrorist attack ever attempted, anywhere, ever." Clinton did nothing. He did not even visit the site. Worse, he allowed the attack to be categorized as a criminal act by individuals, even though its mastermind - as the administration soon discovered -- was an Iraqi intelligence agent named Ramzi Youssef.

*The second attack took place 10 months later in Mogadishu, Somalia. It was an attack on American military forces who were in country to bring food to the starving Somalis. In the battle, which has been memorialized in Black Hawk Down, eighteen American soldiers were killed and the body of one was dragged through the streets in a gesture designed to formally humiliate the world's greatest super power. Clinton's response? He turned tail and ran.

*In 1995, Ramzi Youssef was captured in the Philippines with plans to use commercial airliners to blow up CIA headquarters among other targets. This al-Qaeda plot was termed "Operation Bojinka," which means "the big bang."

*After the discovery of "Operation Bojinka," Al Gore was appointed to head a task force to tighten airport security. Its key recommendations, which would have prevented 9/11, were rejected by the White House on the grounds that they might be construed as "racial profiling."

*In 1996 the Khobar Towers - a barracks housing U.S. soldiers was blown up in Saudia Arabia by Iranian and Palestinian terrorists acting on behalf of al-Qaeda. Nineteen U.S. servicemen were killed but the Saudis refused to cooperate in tracking down the killers.The Clinton Administration did nothing.

*In 1998, the year of Lewinsky, al-Qaeda blew up the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania- under any circumstances an act of war. Two-hundred-and-forty-five people were killed and 6,000 injured, mainly Africans. Clinton's response? The infamous strike on a medicine factory in the Sudan and a spray of missiles into an emptied terrorist camp in Khost.

*In October 2000, al-Qaeda attacked the U.S.S Cole, an American warship, killing 17 servicemen. Another act of war. The Clinton response? Nothing. Every year that these terrorist attacks were taking place, Democrat congressional leaders supported bills to cut U.S. intelligence funding and/or hamstring CIA operations, and/or prevent the tightening of immigration controls - all of which would have strengthened American defenses against an al-Qaeda attack.

*Meanwhile, the principle ally of Saddam Hussein, the architect of suicide bombing, the creator of the first terrorist training camps, and the apostle of terror as a redemptive social cause -- Yasser Arafat -- was a "partner in peace" and the most frequent guest at the Clinton White House among foreign heads of state.

*Despite the fact that Republicans had fought Democrats for eight years over the military and intelligence budgets, over immigration and security issues, despite the alliances that leftwing Democrats had made with America's enemies in the UN, despite the obstructionism of Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy in opposing domestic security measures and efforts by the Justice Department to bring al-Qaeda to heel, Republicans refused to point a partisan finger on issues of war and peace. Now their self-restraint has come back to haunt them as the Democrats seek to shift the blame they have done so much to earn to the shoulders of their political opponents.

*The Democratic attack on George Bush is based on an intelligence analysis he received a month before 9/11, which indicated that al-Qaeda terrorists were planning to hijack planes. The described threats in this analysis came under the category "general" meaning they did not specify time, place or method, and they were uncorroborated. The reports the President received in the months prior to 9/11 described targets that were mainly overseas - in the Arabian Peninsula, Israel, Italy, Paris, Rome and Turkey. On the slim reed of the existence of a possible hijacking threat in the United States - included with all these others -- the Democrats have built their treacherous case.

Regarding Carter, you forgot the turning over control of the Panama Canal, a canal built with American blood and treasure, to a backward nation. Carter's actions to this day reveal a person who fails to understand how the world works; witness his trip to Cuba a pandering to Castro, his urging the US to end the economic boycott (if 80,000 Europeans per year visiting Cuba cannot change Castro, we won't either), and his unwillingness to probe into Castro's heinous crimes. Reagan was the right man for the time. He had a set of principles and stuck to them. There were some failures of course (Beirut) but, overall, he was the most successful President of my lifetime (b. 1957). One post mentions the collection of Reagan's writings, entitled "In His Own Words". This collection reveals a Reagan who had thought out his principles and policies many years before 1980. Anybody from the left who, to this day, still paints a picture of Reagan as an "amiable dunce" should be given this book. If they still believe their own bullshit, they refuse to think and should be ignored. In response to the liberal, elite "intellectuals", Reagan used to say, "There are simple answers, just not easy ones." People unwilling to face the facts and, instead, follow the holy grail of some vague peace process or negotiations don't want to deal with the real problem and would rather just feel good about themselves while accomplishing nothing (and, in fact, probably worsening the situation). Reagan had the courage of his convictions and with the support of people on the right side of the aisle, made the world a better place.

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