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There were little invisible strings attached to his body, so you could see him walk and ride his horse. They were even attached to his lips. He was the perfect spokesman for the powers that be. It was just another role for Reagan. They would write the script and he would say it. And people believed him.
There was the morning in America and the shining city on the hill speeches that he gave. There were the "tear down this wall" and the "bombing begins in 5 minutes" speeches also. By the end of his Presidency, as his son Ron Reagan wrote, he was probably under the influence of Alzheimer's Disease, knowing what we now know about the disease.
But Ronald Reagan was the leader in preaching lower taxes and less government. Deficits were never a problem until Reagan ran them through the roof. He believed in the superiority of the American military, also. Until 246 Marines were blown up in Beirut...it was tragic.
And there was the Challenger accident. The rumors were that the White House at the time wanted the Challenger to go up - even though in terrible cold weather - for political purposes. It was never investigated so remained only rumors.
But the people bought his snake-oil, which really wasn't his snake-oil at all. It was the establishment and the big corporations for whom he spoke. He had moved up very nicely from the 20-Muleteam Borax that he used to sell on TV...
And it wasn't just Republicans that bought into the marketing of Ronald Reagan, there were "Reagan Democrats" also. They believed in the bright and rosy and optimistic pictures that Reagan would paint.
We thought Clinton had actually pulled the country back from the mirage of Reagan but we were mistaken. When Bush, Jr took power, he put Reaganomics on steroids and finished the job that Reagan had begun. Huge deficits and taxcuts for the wealthiest and removing all regulations. Then they handed off their handiwork to a black man...
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