Here are some of my thoughts about what Ronald Reagan meant to my generation of Americans:
When Ronald Reagan was running for re-election in 1984, political commentators wondered about the reasons for the strong popularity among young people of this man old enough to be their grandfather. Having lived through that time as a young adult, I think I know why.
My generation grew up under the negativism of urban riots, the Vietnam War, Watergate, economic stagflation and the threatening spectre of Soviet aggression. My high school years were spent under President Jimmy Carter, and consisted of increasingly threatening developments at home and overseas. A very bleak picture of the future was painted for us at this time, with skyrocketing inflation, declining US power and economic downturn. Our whole lives were spent in a period of decline, so much so that we thought that was the only way conditions could go. It was only a question of how fast. The icing on the cake was the seizure of the American hostages by radical Islamic fanatics and Iran, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, within weeks of each other. The talk at the time was of economic collapse and world war.
Against the backdrop of these developments, Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980. I cast my first vote ever for him that year, mainly because I thought anybody would be better than Carter. But Reagan did so much more than I expected. Almost as if by magic, the gloomy atmosphere that pervaded over a decade starting to lift once Ronald Reagan took office. For those of my generation, we learned for the first time that things can get better, and that we could have a bright future. By 1984, Reagan was talking about "Morning in America" and that really was how we felt, for the first time in our lives.
Many in my generation have prospered in the ensuing years beyond what we could have ever expected back in the dark days that preceded Ronald Reagan, as we were entering adulthood. I have always appreciated, and will always appreciate, the positive effect that Ronald Reagan has had upon the lives of my generation.
Rest in peace, Ronald Reagan. You're in God's care now.
Dazzleman,
I've been trying my best to avoid posting on this forum, or any of the forums that I used to frequent because my blood pressure and overall mental health can longer tolerate the "foam at the mouth" Democrats I encounter these days, but I had to come out of my self-imposed exile to read what people were saying about Ronald Reagan's death. And then when I read this, I had to comment...
Thank you for writing what you did in this thread. I could not have summarized Reagan and what he meant to people in our generation any better than you did here.
I truly hope some of the pathetic teenage and college age left wingers on this forum actually take the time to read what you have posted. Some of these people complaining about the current economy should have actually lived through the mid to late 1970's the way we did and seen first hand what this country had become before Reagan. Double Digit Inflation....nearly double digit unemployment....20% PRIME Interest rates....gas prices when adjusted for inflation that were 2.5 times what they are now....etc, etc, etc....
