The Death of Ronald Reagan

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ronald Reagan, the cheerful crusader who devoted his presidency to winning the Cold War, trying to scale back government and making people believe it was "morning again in America," died Saturday after a long twilight struggle with Alzheimer's disease, a family friend said. He was 93.

He died at his home in California, according to the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The White House was told his health had taken a turn for the worse in the last several days.

Five years after leaving office, the nation's 40th president told the world in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's, an incurable illness that destroys brain cells. He said he had begun "the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life."

Reagan body was expected to be taken to his presidential library and museum in Simi Valley, Calif., and then flown to Washington to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. His funeral was expected to be at the National Cathedral, an event likely to draw world leaders. The body was to be returned to California for a sunset burial at his library.

Reagan lived longer than any U.S. president, spending his last decade in the shrouded seclusion wrought by his disease, tended by his wife, Nancy, whom he called Mommy, and the select few closest to him. Now, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton are the surviving ex-presidents.

Although fiercely protective of Reagan's privacy, the former first lady let people know his mental condition had deteriorated terribly. Last month, she said: "Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him."

Reagan's oldest daughter, Maureen, from his first marriage, died in August 2001 at age 60 from cancer. Three other children survive: Michael, from his first marriage, and Patti Davis and Ron from his second.

Over two terms, from 1981 to 1989, Reagan reshaped the Republican Party in his conservative image, fixed his eye on the demise of the Soviet Union and Eastern European communism and tripled the national debt to $3 trillion in his singleminded competition with the other superpower.

Taking office at age 69, Reagan had already lived a career outside Washington, one that spanned work as a radio sports announcer, an actor, a television performer, a spokesman for the General Electric Co., and a two-term governor of California.

KK EDIT: This thread is going nowhere now. I MAY reopen it tomorrow after the funeral, but not if this sort of fighting continues.

KK EDIT 2: Let's try this again.

 

America lost a great man today. Goodbye, Mr. President.

 

I, Triple B, am hereby breaking my voluntary solitude from THE FORCE.NET message boards on this 5th Day of the month of June, in this year of the Lord 2004, and the 227th year of the Age of the United States of America, on the news that one of my icon's, Ronald Reagan, has died.

THere is a reason why liberals don't like Americans to be reminded of what it was like before Ronald Reagan was president. Liberals don't like Americans to be reminded of the disaster the 1970's were upon the National Spirit of this Country. What it was like to have left wing judges imposing their wills with impunity upon the rest of the people. What it was like to be at the mercy of Arab Oil Producing nations. What it was like to have the gas lines. What it was like to NOT be the #1 nation on this earth. To have left wing whacko's potrayed as 'centrist'.

I remember how dark the days were before Reagan took office. I honestly, aside from the days I went to go see STAR WARS and those are the only genuine days I can ever remember where the sun shined on America. The rest of those days were dark, cold, and uncertain. My parents had problems making ends meet under the Carter Administration (Boy, do Libs love to not have him brought up), problems that probably played a role in breaking up their marriage. We had to walk alot- with gas lines and such, it was the only way, even on hot days. The entire atmosphere in America that was Pessimistic, there was no national spirit.

ANd the situation around the world was similarly dark. The SOvet Union was at the height of it's power in those days. Around the world, the forces of Evil and Communism were on the march, in Western Europe, in my ancestral homeland in Central America. I remember hearing on TV all the time, about what I would later learn as left wing whacko's, the ones whom wanted to disarm all nucleur weapons because if we did, the Soviets would do the same (I think one of them now plays a president on some stupid TV Show on NBC). Or when most of the rest of my family started to emigrate from Central America to the US, out of the fear of the evils that would be visited upon us by Communism would happen to them.

Those were some of the darkest days for the United States of America, no matter what the left wing forces of this world will try to claim.

I remembered being really depressed one day when I was young, about all the pessimism and the darkness that seemed to be around me. It was around that time that my mother got me my first Captain America comic books, where there would be the AMerica I believed in respresented by all that Captain America was. I think I got my first SuperMan comics too.

So when Ronald Reagan first started to run for president, it was like seeing something that I had already believed in, jump out of my Captain America comics and out onto my television screen. Here was someone whom believed America was the greatest nation in the world, the most powerfull force of good that God had ever put upon this world. It was like everything I had ever wanted to believe in, was not coming to head. I started to call him the President as early as early 1980, months before he even won the Presidency from Jimmy Carter (yes, I know you libs don't want to be reminded of him......)

The United States did not have the most powerfull military when Reagan took office. After Vietnam, our national spirit was damaged. The Soviets were on the march thru out the world and had a larger army, was more well equipped, the Dark Side of the Force was strong in those communist nations back then.

That changed when Reagan took office. Almost overnight, it seemed like the prestige and power returned back to the United States. Waving the flag again was back. The all-voluneer US Army was going to stand up and stand down the Soviets across this world and Reagan was going to lead us to that. We can have the arguments all we want about who built the current military. Make no mistake: It was Reagan. The Weapon systems develop

 

I was only born when Mr. reagan took office; I was seven when he left. Looking back, it's amazing the things we accomplished during the eighties. Defeated an evil Empire, brought optimism back to our country..

Godspeed, Mr. President.

 

TripleB, you make it sound like your soul purpose in life is to be 'better' than anyone else on this planet, and of course to knock left wing people. Maby right wing America can't stand the thought of equality. I personally believe Britain to be the greatest nation. So there.
oh wait,*sees sig, sighs*

Anyway, RIP Reagan, I have the utmost sympathy for anyone to have suffered from Alzheimer's.

 

Well, I would like to express my sympathy to everybody from the US, about the death of your Former President Reagan. As somebody who live's in the UK and is old enough to remember the close relationship he and Mrs Thatchar shared, I understand that Ronald Reagan was a true friend and ally to the UK.

His economic ideology transformed the US, just as Mrs T transformed the UK, and whilst there were many things that were wrong with this time, the benefit's of both leaders far outweighed the con's. It's a telling fact that without Reagan and Thatchar's transformation, the UK would never have seen Tony Blair and New Labour (is the same true for the Demorcat's and Clinton?)

The greatest thing Reagan will be remembered for, of course, is his relationship with Gorbachov (s?) and in being instrumental in ending the Cold War. Though we are now faced with Global Terror, nobody can deny that the world is a much safer place, thanks to the end of the Cold War, and for that, we must thanks Ronald Reagan.

 

Since the Senate doesn't allow news-only threads, you might check out my JCC thread.

 

Reagon was undoubtably a great man and a great leader. His flaws, of which he had many, and his mistakes, of which he made many, do not compare to the enormity of his great success. There will be the usual political debates about his economic and social policies, both supporters and oponents have some strong ground but history will judge Reagon by his one great acomplishment. His leading role in ending the cold war far outweighs anything else, good or bad, that happened during his presidency.

 

We have lost a great American today, one of the greatest leaders in the world. So long my fellow American.

 

Darkgloom,

There is a Great Britian today because of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan is the GREATEST U.S. President. God bless "the Gipper".

 

Goodbye Gipper

"Mr Gorbachev ... tear down this wall"

 

THere is a reason why liberals don't like Americans to be reminded of what it was like before Ronald Reagan was president. Liberals don't like Americans to be reminded of the disaster the 1970's were upon the National Spirit of this Country. What it was like to have left wing judges imposing their wills with impunity upon the rest of the people. What it was like to be at the mercy of Arab Oil Producing nations. What it was like to have the gas lines. What it was like to NOT be the #1 nation on this earth. To have left wing whacko's potrayed as 'centrist'.

I'm so glad you were able to use this opportunity to offer a petty propagandist attack, TripleB. Truly you represent all that makes the US great. I'm sure Ann Coulter and Goebbels are proud.

 

Let's keep the political garbage out of here, please. We should honor a man who did great things for this country and the world at-large. This is a man who did more to bring about the collapse of communism in the U. S. S. R. than anyone, with the exception of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. This is a man who made it cool to be a patriot again. This is a warm and loving man who led this country with courage and integrity. These are things we can ALL celebrate today.

 

Please. Everything is political. And if you don't think so take a good look at your own post. And if it's not political, what's it doing in the Senate anyway?

 

Actually, there is nothing partisan about my post. I made no comments about policy or politics. I'm not even a Republican. I simply wanted to honor a good man. Way to be an ******* and show such disrespect in a thread that is meant to show respect to a man who just died.

 

There is a Great Britian today because of Ronald Reagan.


Seriously.. this is a joke right?

Ok, You know I really don't want to 'disrespect the dead' before the body is even cold but I really think that is one of the most acinine comments I've ever seen on the entire JC.

That being said, I would respectfully suggest a referendum be placed on this thread for a few days. Let those who greive do so in peace and then let's open up Reagan's presidency to debate. Right now, any 'discussion' feels too ghoulish.

 

Alderaan_Viceroy:

What the bloody hell are you talking about?

Please, explain to me exactly how Great Britain was on the verge of being destroyed before Reagan took office.

I don't mean "on the verge of being taken over by Communists", although I don't think that's the case either--in fact, far from it. I mean on the verge of being annexed to the Soviet Union, something that would make it no longer its own country.

And I mean PPOR. I want to see newspaper articles, magazine articles, etc. from the era that show that Great Britain was on the verge of no longer being a nation.

*about to PM a few English friends to show them this--one English-born friend has already seen it and posted above me*

TripleB: You and I are about the same age, but I think it must be our different backgrounds that make our viewpoints of the 70s so different.

Carter's administration had its faults, but I don't remember living in massive fear that the Russians were going to blow us up. Was there some fear? Yes. But that fear actually got worse when Reagan took office and started multiplying the size of our nuclear arsenal. I was afraid that other countries would find out what we were doing, assume we were going to blow them up, and then blow us up before we had the chance.

I was especially frightened when he started selling nuclear weapons to the Iranians, who just five years earlier had kidnapped several Americans and held them hostage and tortured them. I vividly remember this event in 1979, as my father is a journalist. Try explaining to a seven-year-old girl that her Daddy is not going to be one of the ones captured and beaten. It took awhile for "He's not in Iran" to sink in.

Liberals don't like Americans to be reminded of the disaster the 1970's were upon the National Spirit of this Country. What it was like to have left wing judges imposing their wills with impunity upon the rest of the people.

Right wingers do it now--seems like a fair tradeoff (if indeed that's what was happening).

What it was like to be at the mercy of Arab Oil Producing nations.

*coughIraqcoughOsamacough*

What it was like to have the gas lines. What it was like to NOT be the #1 nation on this earth. To have left wing whacko's potrayed as 'centrist'.

I'll ignore the name-calling and get to your other points. Amazing that you're allowed to say "left-wing whacko" but we're not allowed to say "bigot".

As far as gas lines--if we Yanks would bloody learn to take public transportation, it wouldn't be an issue. Gas is around the equivalent of $6.50 a gallon right now in the UK, and they don't have problems getting around.

My parents had problems making ends meet under the Carter Administration (Boy, do Libs love to not have him brought up)

Doesn't bother me to bring it up.

problems that probably played a role in breaking up their marriage.

I'm sorry your parents' marriage broke up, but I wouldn't blame it on Jimmy Carter if I were you.

We had to walk alot- with gas lines and such, it was the only way, even on hot days.

Europeans do it all the time.

And the situation around the world was similarly dark. The SOvet Union was at the height of it's power in those days.

The Soviet Union was at the height of its power when Nikita Khruschev was their premier. We might think the 70s were "scary" for Communism, but my mother remembers seeing an airplane fly over her head when she was a little girl in the 50s and wondering if the Communists were about to drop a bomb on her.

I was never that frightened of them.

Around the world, the forces of Evil and Communism were on the march, in Western Europe, in my ancestral homeland in Central America.

Not sure which Central American country you're from, but given that you're from that area, I can't blame you for liking Reagan for kicking Sandinista ass. I think selling weapons to the Iranians in order to do it was wrong though.

Those were

 

Stop the politics please. Reagan himself was once a Democrat. And although nobody's a greater critic of Reagan than I am, I don't think he'd approve neither sabre-rattling at democrats, nor lauding him as the sole reason an entire other world power exists today.

He was a good, kind man, perhaps like Jimmy Carter he can be said to be at least on a personal level a better man than those that came before or since.

I don't think he was a great president -- I don't even think he was a particularly GOOD president. But I have no doubt he was a fantastic human being. And you can't say that about every world leader, nor every American President, Republican or Democrat. Heck, taking a look at the nature of the sort of people that get into politics, you can't say it about very many people at all.

 

TheFoolWhoFollowsHim

Actually, there is nothing partisan about my post. I made no comments about policy or politics. I'm not even a Republican. I simply wanted to honor a good man. Way to be an ******* and show such disrespect in a thread that is meant to show respect to a man who just died.

I'm not showing disrespect, and I think calling me an ******* is definitely flaming, but I suppose that's between you and the mods. As for your post not being political, you wrote, and I quote, "This is a man who did more to bring about the collapse of communism in the U. S. S. R. than anyone, with the exception of His Holiness Pope John Paul II."

Again, in case you missed it: "This is a man who did more to bring about the collapse of communism in the U. S. S. R. than anyone, with the exception of His Holiness Pope John Paul II."

Sounds political to me. If you wrote "Bush is a war criminal," wouldn't that be political? The fact is, we can debate the merits of Bush's record and the same goes for Reagan. It's not disrespect to do so just because he died. If Ronald Reagan did not want to be the subject of political debate, he should have stayed in Hollywood. Period. About the only way discussing Mr. Reagan would be disrespectful is if you shout it at his family members when they walk down the street.

DarthBreezy

That being said, I would respectfully suggest a referendum be placed on this thread for a few days. Let those who greive do so in peace and then let's open up Reagan's presidency to debate. Right now, any 'discussion' feels too ghoulish.

To be honest (and I always try to be), I think it's no more ghoulish for strangers to grieve about some guy they didn't know personally over an internet message board. If you want to grieve in peace, the best way to do it is in private. Mr. Reagan was a political figure and as such is inseparable from politics. People wouldn't even be honoring him if he weren't a political figure. And either way, the Senate is for debate. There's a YJCC thread that's more appropriate for "grief," though I don't see how stifling anything related to Mr. Reagan is justified there either. And if you're going to stifle anyone critical of the man, you ought to also put a muzzle on anyone who praises his political accomplishments. That way people could only write "" and "OMG! i am sooo sad he died." And isn't that sort of enforced blandness the death of an internet community?

And I haven't even spoken of the politics of it (besides calling TripB on the propaganda). It's just that I believe anyone should be allowed to write about that.

 

Europeans do it all the time.

This isn't Europe. And for one, there are no superpowers in Europe.

 

And for one, there are no superpowers in Europe.

So? That doesn't mean we Americans should be gas hogs.

Also, remember what the lust for power did to Anakin Skywalker.

 

Yeah, made him a hero of the CLONE WARS!

 

Let's try to keep this from just being a news-related thread. Let's try to give the discussion a bit more substance.

Kimball Kinnison

 

So? That doesn't mean we Americans should be gas hogs.

Also, remember what the lust for power did to Anakin Skywalker.

Americans shouldn't be gas hogs. But, the point is, that we can AFFORD to be gas hogs. Not for long, though. :\ We REALLY need fusion or something.

 

In the rightful spirit of adding substance to the discussion: We're all sure to hear one account of his presidency in weeks to come. Here's another.