Ronald Reagan, Restless Polymath

Below is an extremely important reappraisal of Ronald Reagan's presidency by Mike and myself. (Mostly Mike.)

Everybody knows that Ronald Reagan was responsible for the collapse of Communism and the end of the Cold War. That’s obvious, and anybody who denies it is blinded by their own partisan hate. Of course he did it—it happened on his watch.

But the more important question, the one that all the eulogies dodge, is this: was Reagan a truly great man? To find this out, we must remember what else Reagan did while in office.

In 1981 President Reagan…
…caused severe earthquakes in Peru, Iran, and Pakistan.
…produced a cable-tv version of Penthouse.
…made the Chinese a force in international competitive bridge.
…discovered monkeys in Kenya which use a rudimentary language.
…dug the world’s largest hole, about 35,500 ft. deep.
…killed Hoagy Carmichael, the 82-year-old composer of “Stardust.”

In 1982 President Reagan…
…led violent disorders in Miami, over the shooting of a black man by police.
…threw Sophia Loren in jail for 17 days for tax fraud.
…killed Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union.
…caused the longest lunar eclipse since 1736.
…beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4 games to 3, to clinch the World Series.

In 1983 President Reagan…
…celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Opera by spending eight hours singing selections from over 40 operas.
…awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature to William Golding.
…whipped through southern Texas, leaving 17 dead and causing $1.3 billion in damage.

In 1984 President Reagan…
…killed Yuri Andropov, leader of the Soviet Union.
…agreed to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.
…won eight Grammy awards, on his way to the biggest-selling album of all time.
…released toxic chemicals into the air over Bhopal, India, killing over 3500 people.
…became the first woman to walk in space.

In 1985 President Reagan…
…installed Mikhail Gorbachev as Chairman of the Communist Party of the USSR.
…won his third Tony award, for Biloxi Blues.
…clashed with Italian soccer fans, killing 38.
…introduced tampons to China.

In 1986 President Reagan…
…exploded the Challenger, in America’s worst space disaster.
…urged the use of condoms and abstinence to prevent the spread of AIDS.
…elected Jacques Chirac Prime Minister of France.
…circled the globe without refueling.

In 1987 President Reagan…
…landed a small plane in Red Square, and was sentenced to four years in a Soviet labor camp.
…won best film at Cannes for Under Satan’s Sun.
…took four straight races from Australia’s Kookaburra III, winning back the America’s Cup.

In 1988 President Reagan…
…laid the first fiber-optic cable across the floor of the Atlantic.
…marked the centenary of Britain’s notorious “Jack the Ripper.”
…declared a new Soviet policy of glasnost, or “openness.”

In 1989 President Reagan…
…tore down the Berlin Wall, ending the Cold War.

What a man! Clearly Reagan was a restless polymath possessed of Herculean energy, always struggling to achieve, but like the rest of us, never quite sure of the outcome of his actions. Was Ronald Reagan a great man? Yes, we think so. Yes.