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June 11, 2004WASHINGTON LETTERLegacy of Reagan's Presidency Now Begins the Test of TimeBy R. W. APPLE Jr. ASHINGTON, June 10 — Franklin D. Roosevelt once defined great presidents as those who were "leaders of thought at times when certain ideas in the life of the nation had to be clarified."By that reckoning and most others, Roosevelt himself earned a place on the list of greats for rallying the nation in the Depression and leading it to the brink of victory in World War II. Washington, who bent to the hard work of nation-building; Lincoln, who saved the union; and...

The 1980s were a dangerous time for the world. The Soviet Union stood at the peak of its military and political power, its nuclear forces ranged from pole to pole. The globe stood at the brink of World War III with a final countdown of 25 minutes from launch to total thermonuclear combat. The Soviet Union led the world with an extraordinary increase in nuclear and conventional arms. The Soviet Union had 4.9 million active soldiers, 42,000 tanks, 2,2000 warships, 15,000 combat planes, 1,500 long range nuclear tipped missiles, 1,000 short range nuclear missiles and 900 sub based nuclear missiles....

Where Ronald Reagan's role in the fall of the Soviet Union is concerned, most obituaries mention the re-armament of America, the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and the resistance to Soviet expansion in the Third World. These policies, the story goes, had dramatically increased the cost of global military and political competition with the United States, forcing the Soviet leadership to change its policies. True enough, as far as it goes. However, this précis leaves out the most important dimension of Reagan's contribution to the collapse of the Soviet Union: the deep impact he had on the self-perception and self-confidence of...

All, I searched using every parameter I could think of, but I can't track down this article that was posted here a couple of days ago. I believe it was either a Fortune or a Forbes article. It specifically compared the debt incurred under Reagan to the growth in the value of the nation's assets. Something like $16 trillion to $33 trillion for only $1 trillion in debt. Or something like that. Anyone have the link? Thanks!

The Reagan legacy He led a revolution. Will it survive? Not the purest of conservatives, but he turned American politics upside-down THIS week American party politics was put on hold as the nation mourned Ronald Reagan. The news programmes endlessly replayed Reagan's great lines—“Mr Gorbachev tear down this wall”—while talking heads mused on how the star of “Bedtime for Bonzo” made it to the world's most powerful job. No ceremony was stinted in saying goodbye to the actor turned president. His body was flown from California to Washington, DC, on an aeroplane designated Air Force One for the day. The...

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's death and state funeral in Washington tomorrow are an opportunity for people across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to reflect on the legacy of the 40th U.S. president, whose greatest accomplishment -- in the eyes of many -- was to hasten the end of the Cold War. Prague, 10 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Although Ronald Reagan's domestic legacy is still a matter of contention in the United States, many believe that his shining moment on the international stage was as one of the key actors who helped end the Soviet empire. Reagan left...

In Memory ofRonald Wilson Reagan Because of the love and deep respect President Reagan held for the people of California, it was his wish that a special time be set aside to give his friends and supporters on the west coast an opportunity to pay their respects and say goodbye. President Reagan will lie in repose at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for a period of 32 hours. He will then be taken to our nation's Capital for the State Funeral events. There he will lie in state at the United States Capitol, and a funeral ceremony will follow at...

RONALD Reagan might be dead but the White House is keen to resurrect his political spirit if it will help George W. Bush in the knife-edge presidential election campaign. As Americans started a week-long farewell to the former president yesterday, a senior Bush aide suggested Reagan's fight against "evil" and ambitions to spread democracy around the world had parallels with the current President's foreign policy. "He was absolutely clear that when liberty and freedom are on the march, America was safer; and when liberty and freedom are in retreat, America is weaker," National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said at the...

MSNBC is about to show Kerry.....Kerry gets his photo op.

There are events in life which remind one of what’s truly important. Last week, for example, the subject for this column was going to be the depraved absurdity of O.J. Simpson attempting to explain himself to the media. Again. On this ten-year anniversary of the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, Simpson was making the interview rounds as the car wreck of the week. Then President Reagan died. Once again, in a world which seems to be swamped in the ugly and hopeless (think Michael Moore and O.J, Simpson), Reagan emerges as a reminder of the class, style, compassion...

The reactions caused in Nicaragua by the death of the ex- President of the United States, Ronald W. Reagan, demonstrate in an unequivocal way, that the wounds of the pro-communist revolution and the civil war of the Eighties, are still open and still bleed. In fact, as we have said in previous occasions, in spite of the well-meaning thing that is the expression of forgetting the past and to look only ahead, it is only a rhetorical phrase. The truth is that as long as the personal protagonists, active and passive, oppressors and victims, of those ill-fated events who were...

Do your part to keep the legacy of Ronald Reagan growing so the generations to follow will be able to benefit from this great man. We are already working in our town and county to get highways, roads, building etc named after Ronald Reagan. Peggy Noonan said the Leftist media will just about blow after this week, let's keep the legacy going so the media can't rewrite history. Legacy Project Links if you need help: http://www.reaganlegacy.org/projects/support.letter.htm

<p>Reagan's achievement and legacy are twofold, but do not necessarily lie in either his legislative record or seminal foreign policy initiatives-although it is hard to believe few other presidents would have gone ahead with the substantial tax cuts, necessary Pershing missile deployments, the decision to fund missile defense, or his reconstruction of our military forces.</p>

HAVANA - Cuba harshly criticized former President Ronald Reagan and his policies on Monday, saying he should ``never have been born.''       In the first reaction to Reagan's death from the communist government, Radio Reloj said:       ``As forgetful and irresponsible as he was, he forgot to take his worst works to the grave,'' the government radio station said.       ``He, who never should have been born, has died,'' the radio said.       The statement did not mention Cuba's relationship with the United States under Reagan, a staunch foe of communism.       It also did not mention Reagan's decision to...

June 7, 2004OP-ED CONTRIBUTORA President Who ListenedBy MIKHAIL GORBACHEV OSCOW — I have just sent to Nancy Reagan a letter of condolence for the passing of Ronald Reagan. The 40th president of the United States was an extraordinary man who in his long life saw moments of triumph, who had his ups and downs and experienced the happiness of true love.It so happened that his second term as president coincided with the emergence of a new Soviet leadership — a coincidence that may seem accidental but that was in effect a prologue to momentous events in world history.Ronald Reagan's...

June 7, 2004OP-ED CONTRIBUTORForever the OptimistBy BOB DOLE ASHINGTON — When he said goodbye to the country during his last public appearance at the 1992 convention, Ronald Reagan said he wanted to be remembered as someone who "appealed to your greatest hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts."A modest request for The Great Communicator, but Reagan believed that if he could accomplish that feat for free people anywhere, particularly in America, he had changed the world. That's how powerful he understood basic human liberties, respect for human life and democracy to be. The Reagan...

He began his tenure in the White House as one of the nation's most underrated presidents. Just an aging actor, playing the part of president, his critics insisted. But Ronald Reagan left the White House as its most beloved occupant, beloved because he came to personify the best of this nation's spirit. Even when tragedy struck, his words lifted us up and gave us hope. As they did in the wake of the Challenger disaster when he spoke directly to the school children of America: ``It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons,'' he said. ``The future...

As Ronald Reagan leaves office, the nation still has not quite taken his measure. Even his critics like the guy, and even his friends often sound disappointed. Someone ought to say that his is likely to prove the most epochal presidency since Franklin D. Roosevelt's. Not the least of Mr. Reagan's accomplishments is how much the nation has forgotten. He took office in the very shadow of a hostage crisis, remember? Remember gasoline lines? Remember double-digit inflation and interest rates twice today's? Remember Watergate? Remember Vietnam? As Ronald Reagan hands over the reins tomorrow, the first President since Eisenhower to...

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One day during the 1984 reelection campaign, a television correspondent, Andrea Mitchell to be exact, shouted a question across the Rose Garden to President Reagan: "What about Mondale's charges?" Without missing a beat, the President paused as he was returning to the Oval Office and replied, "Tell him he should pay them." Ronald Reagan brought a lightness and benevolence to the serious business of the Oval Office that few have been able to match. He had inherited a dysfunctional economy and dealt with global dangers, but his spirit never wavered. Though such one-liners and anecdotes were indeed humorous, many also...