My perspective on this topic is somewhat limited due to my youth at the time. After Carter was defeated, what was the dominant impression of Reagan, up through say 1983? And how high-profile/common was outright criticism of him (beyond simple parody of any affectations he’d already displayed)?
Impressions, anecdotes, and links to more thorough analysis are all welcome.
He was sworn in with a big electoral college majority, and a lot of the first polls on approval rating came out after his assassination attempt (which happened very early in his Presidency.) The assassination caused a spike to > 65% in some polls, over the course of his first term the economy soured and his approval ratings gradually went down.
However, when they were at their lowest point, at 41% just going off my own personal memory I remember a lot less “man in the street” complaints being leveled at Reagan in comparison to say, Obama when he had similar approval ratings awhile back.
In the run-up to re-election his approval ratings mostly took an upward trend that never really abated and he left office with 60% approval rating. The only real diversion from this was when Iran-Contra broke, and his approval crashed into the 40s again…but it was short lived and he earned the “Teflon” nickname during this time because the scandal had little lasting impact on his approval ratings during his Presidency as he was back up around 60% within a year.
During and after Iran-Contra I remember some hardcore lefties had started to demonize Reagan, whereas a lot of other people I knew mostly made excuses for Reagan and blamed underlings for orchestrating Iran-Contra dealings.
That jives completely with my recollections.
Just my memories and I didn’t and don’t like Ronnie Raygun. He came in with a flurry of activity and a new energy that wasn’t there before. He (sort of) got the hostages out of Iran. He very visibly worked hard to contact and pressure (persuade? invite?) congressmembers to get on board with his plans, most of which I don’t remember now. Anyway, he was clearly moving and shaking in Washington DC, in stark contrast to Carter’s hang wringing and failure to get things done.
Even disliking the guy it was hard to say he wasn’t getting things done. He was clearly a great speaker and leader (two important attributes of a pres. IMO), even if I really didn’t like the directions he led us.
He got the hostages out of Iran just by being sworn in. They were released that same day. I remembering even hearing that the Iranian authorities were watching the inauguration to make sure there were no last-minute hitches, because they did not want to release them to a Carter-led america.
Yes, but the public perception was that HE got them out. Not a bad way to start out your term. Those evil Iranians who thumbed their noses at Carter were falling all over themselves to appease Reagan, all the had to do was be sworn in. Plus he told Gorby to tear down the wall, and he did! He was like a stern but fair dad, arriving home and setting the messes to right. If you believe in that kind of stuff.
Since the OP is asking for personal recollections, this is better suited to IMHO than GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Ah! Sorry… I’m new :smack:
Good responses so far though; thanks everybody.
Less likely because of their politics and personalities than the coming of the internet.
Reagan’s approval rating plummeted during his first few years in office, to a low of 35% in January 1983.
This was due mostly to a relatively slow economic recovery. In the fall of 1982, Republicans lost most of the Congressional seats they had gained in 1980… largely a referendum on Reagan.
His fortunes changed by the end of 1983, prompted (IMO) by some economic gains and a more aggressive foreign policy. By the fall of 1984, Reagan was riding high.
The left hated him long before Iran-Contra. He was the cowboy who was going to start WWIII.
He was “lucky” in getting shot when the economy was going bad, so he got a lot of sympathy that buoyed him along until the economy took off and from that point on he could coast to some extent.
There was always a core of fanatical Reagan-haters, many of whom persist to this day, but their difficulty was persuading the average Joe in the street that things were really awful right in the midst of the longest peacetime expansion of the US economy in history.
Reagan was about as popular as Obama would be, if Obama had been able to turn the economy around as Reagan is perceived to have done. Both Reagan and Obama are likable, personable guys. Reagan spent the first two years of his tenure with his party in control of the Senate. Obama spent the first two years of his tenure with the Democrats in control both of the Senate and the House. Reagan succeeded in what he set out to do. Obama, on the other hand…
Regards,
Shodan
I thought at the time that he was the greatest charlatan ever imposed at the head of the United States government and I was dismayed that few others were unable to get past his “feel good” rhetoric.
In retrospect I not only still believe that but also now think that he was the fortunate beneficiary of the gigantic productivity gains when the country’s small businesses were able to computerize their operations.
The OP makes the question interesting by asking about 1983. In 1982, Reagan was tremendously unpopular. Unemployment had jumped from 7.1% to 9.7%. The GOP lost all the gains they’d made in the house. He would not have been re-elected if he had to run in 1982.
By 1984, the economy was rolling. Inflation had dropped from about 12.5% on election day 1980 to 4% in 1984. He won re-election by a huge margin.
Most presidents start with a high approval rating and go down hill. Reagan was relatively unique in that he had a sharp upward slope.
I don’t recall that perception. I remember it as a final humiliation for Carter, but not as a victory specifically for Reagan.
I also remember kids in school being joyous when he got shot. There was a strong perception that he was a hawk and would inevitably get us in a war, which his detracters tried to play up as much as possible. When he won the election, I remember small children crying because they didn’t want to die in the inevitable nuclear war that he was going to lead us into.
As I recall, he was the Hollywood gunslinger ready to ride roughshod to get things done. I think the Hollywood glamour added to his “Teflon.” He was a very good speaker without being obviously slimy, seemed very earnest. Occasionally he would (prevaricate?) not tell the whole truth but gosh darn ya still had to like him.
There was a flap with Nancy and her astrologers possibly making decisions for him, I think he got credit for putting up with that but lost some in the manliness department.
Overall, USA improved under him so I see him as a positive even though his terms were a little nutso.
I was in 5th through 12th grade in a school where many of the students were children of corporate slimeballs, but the teachers were a motley bunch of well-educated folks, many of them left-leaning. So there was something of a divide between the majority of students who liked Reagan and what he stood for (when they showed any political awareness), and the majority of teachers, who thought (along with a sizeable minority of lefty students) that he was a fake, dumb warmonger.
At the time I thought he was a delusional fool, already borderline senile, who didn’t realize he was a figurehead and honestly believed he was leading the country. He was good at delivering prepared statements, but “The Great Communicator” was little more than an MC, in a position that made him dangerous. Thirty years haven’t changed my opinion of him.
Correct.
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Although I’m old enough to have voted for George McGovern for President, I was relatively apathetic politically up to and beyond the Reagan era. However, he had been Governor of California, and most progressives and certainly most U.C. students and alumni had a very negative impression of him. Progressives were especially appalled when he turned mental patients into homeless people to save tax dollars:
Yes. Back when he was Governor of California, we all thought he was a bad joke. Then he became President & the joke was on us.
A sudden shock to the health can worsen dementia–the assassination attempt could have been that shock. But his acting training helped him keep up a good front.
Was he really implicated in Iran-Contra or was he too far gone by that point? Bush the Smarter’s pardons, given as he slunk out of office, covered up a lot of crimes…
You do realise that the economy - the flow of labour and capital - has a large psychological element? Making people feel good and confident actually does boost the economy; if people aren’t confident or happy they won’t spend - they’ll save for the rainy day that they think is around the corner - and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Perhaps you missed Obama’s own “feel good” rhetoric? You know, “Yes, we can.” Unfortunately he appeared to stop it when he won the election.
