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I'm communicating from my "backup browser"-- a 66 mhtz. 486 with a sticking keyboard & gritty trackball- so excuse the weird typos, they are hard to go back to & correct.

Jimmy Carter was my Governor before he convinced America that she needed a "reformer," and won office. I was running small businesses at the time, and by the time the 1980 elections rolled around, I was convinced that he was a disaster.

Just a few things wrong?

1- the fall of the Shah of Iran
2- Cubans in Angola
3- interest rates topping 21%
4- the Soviets ( remember them? ) rattling sabres around Europe
5- unrest in Central America
6- stagflation ( look it up, it's ugly! )
6- the Death of Elvis ( just kidding! )

Actually, there's a lot more, but this old PC is the devil to type on- anyway, almost anyone would have been better than Jimmy C., but luckily, Reagan came along. Let's just say I thought he was our best hope for reversing some of the rot & "malaise" that was infesting the country, and we moved heaven & earth to get him elected. They were good days.

Ahh yes - stagflation. I remember that term from one of my college microeconomics courses. I was lucky to have a teacher who was a market economist (a.k.a. "supply sider") who was able to present the facts in a concise manner and let us make the decisions.

Stagflation started with Nixon when he instituted price controls in the early 70's. Ford and Carter continued the mistake, Reagan corrected the mistake in the early 80's - not without some pain.

Politicizing the Olympics
Giving away the Panama Canal

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.