***(Editor’s Note: In conjunction with the Inauguration of America’s 44th President, “The Thirsty Quill” is publishing a series entitled “Ranking The Presidents.” There is no ‘exact science’ to these rankings other than personal opinion based on such factors as policy, performance, popularity, perseverance, integrity, and legacy. Aside from those Presidents ranked in the top 25% and the bottom 25%, there is a great deal of ‘wiggle room’ for discretionary placement and movement. These rankings are strictly the personal opinion of the Editor of ‘The Quill,’ and should not be regarded as an academic survey of any type. Debate of these rankings is highly encouraged and appreciated.)***

#4: Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

He was a living legend, he was “The Great Communicator,” and he was undoubtedly one of the most successful and popular Presidents that our nation has ever known. “The Gipper” was the first example that I remember, as a young boy growing up in the 1980s, of who (and what) a United States President was supposed to be:

Charismatic, a great speaker, humorous. Comforting, stern, and a visionary. Bold, decisive, and respected. Ronald Reagan was all of these, and yet he was also the same man who blushingly admitted that he wrote daily “love notes” to his wonderful wife Nancy (most on Presidential letterhead, no less). He did it all.

Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois in 1911, but often considered California as his “home.” Having moved there in the 1930s to pursue an acting career, Reagan would later enjoy being one of the only Conservative Republicans to ever experience success in the extremely Liberal and Democratic state of California.

Appearing in over 50 films and movies through the years, Reagan also made his early career in sports broadcasting for the University of Iowa and the Chicago Cubs. He even did some radio work, and later was a spokesman and pitch-man for several big corporations. His popularity and well-known voice served as the perfect springboard for a political career.

During World War II, Reagan served in the Army and helped produce countless training films for the Armed Services. He was ultimately promoted to the rank of Captain, and had been recommended for the rank of Major, before leaving the service after the conclusion of the war.

Reagan was actually a Democrat during the early stages of his life. He endorsed F.D.R. and his “New Deal” in the midst of the Depression. However, Reagan began to shift in his ideology, and became a registered Republican by 1962.

By the mid-1960s, Reagan was seen as a strong candidate to run for office by many Republican insiders. In 1966, he ran for Governor of California, and was elected over incumbent Pat Brown. Reagan’s platform of limitations to welfare and reducing the government were very popular, despite his Conservative views in a very Liberal state.

During his two terms as Governor of California, Reagan developed strong positions in regard to the Pro-Life movement. He was also a supporter of tougher punishments for convicted criminals, and held true to his views on limited government. Such ideology helped propel him into the national spotlight in the 1970s.

Although he had had two unsuccessful runs previously, Reagan finally won the Republican nomination for the 1980 Presidential Election. Running against then-President Jimmy Carter, Reagan famously asked Americans “are you better off than you were four year ago?” Considering the economic crisis gripping the nation, an energy shortage, skyrocketing unemployment and inflation, and a general lack of national pride and confidence, Americans answered at the ballot box with resounding approval for Reagan.

In the all-important Electoral College, Reagan defeated Carter by a crushing count of 489-49. Reagan outpaced Carter by nearly 10% in the Popular Vote as he became the oldest man ever elected President at 69 years of age. The famed “Jelly Belly” brand even created a special blueberry-flavored bean in his honor so that red, white, and blue jellybeans (his favorite candy) could be served at his Inauguration.

Reagan’s first four years in office got off to an amazing start, as the longstanding hostage crisis with Iran came to a close with the release of the 52 American prisoners just moments after Reagan’s Inauguration. The “Reagan Revolution” was then well underway, and the next eight years ushered in a period of prosperity and reaffirmation of confidence in our country.

Cutting taxes (the biggest in U.S. history) and putting money back into the hands of the people, a policy commonly termed as “Reaganomics,” helped stimulate the wavering economy. Despite the recession (that peaked in 1982), Americans could already see the positive effects of Reagan’s economic plans, and that resurgence helped stimulate corporate growth and output, which ultimately snowballed into a boom of new job opportunities.

For the remainder of Reagan’s years as President, the economy would grow, coupled with a drop in unemployment and inflation. There would be one exception however, as the market took a huge hit in 1987 due to the S&L crisis. Reagan also cracked down on those who abused government benefit programs such as Medicaid and welfare-generated Food Stamps. One failure that Reagan readily admitted was the expansion of the federal deficit during his tenure.

Just two months after taking office, Reagan was shot by a would be assassin. Although he took a lighthearted approach to the attack, Reagan came very close to dying as the bullet ended up about an inch from his heart.

Reagan instituted new policies that at first heated up (and later achieved victory in) the Cold War with the Soviet Union. While this spanned across his two terms, it cannot be denied that Reagan was the sole reason that America emerged victorious in a “war without shots fired” against the Russians, and ultimately led to the downfall of Communism across much of the globe. This helped end decades of hostile words and the threat of nuclear war between the United States and the “Evil Empire,” as Reagan put it, and brought democratic ideals to people who had only hoped for such since the end of World War II.

After a highly successful first term in which America regained confidence in itself, its economy, and its ideals, Reagan ran for reelection in 1984 against Democratic candidate Walter Mondale. Despite Mondale’s selection of Geraldine Ferraro, the first female to run for Vice-President on a major party ticket, the election was even more lopsided than the 1980 contest. Reagan won the Electoral College by a count of 525-13, leaving only the state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia in Mondale’s corner. Mondale was a native of Minnesota, yet he only won the state by a mere 4,000 votes. Reagan defeated the Democratic ticket by nearly 20% in the Popular Vote. It was one of the most lopsided elections in our history, and a testimony to Reagan’s resounding popularity and success.

The remainder of Reagan’s years in office were spent fighting Communism abroad, and crime and drugs at home. The U.S. engaged in multiple military operations aimed at defeating dictatorial regimes and those governments that harbored terrorists. In 1986, Reagan was called upon to comfort the nation in the wake of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. He is also remembered for appointing the first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor (back in 1981).

The two “black eyes” on Reagan’s legacy were the 1987 stock market tumble and the infamous Iran-Contra Affair, in which the United States was engaged in some ‘backroom bargaining’ on arms deals with Iran to fund an anti-government uprising in Nicaragua. Although Reagan himself was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Iran affair, it was determined that his administration had been negligent in not catching what was unfolding. In the end, 11 convictions were carried out as a result of the affair. It was this blunder that brought the name Oliver North into the national spotlight.

Reagan gave a very gracious and heartwarming Farewell Address several days before leaving office. If you have 15 minutes, you really should read his Farewell Address (link below, in the quote). It will arouse the patriotism of even the most skeptical American.  In 1994, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, the illness which ultimately took his life in June of 2004.

In the end, Reagan’s legacy has grown to rank him among the greatest of all U.S. Presidents. His overwhelming popularity was buoyed by his down-to-earth personality and sense of humor. He always knew exactly what to say, exactly when it needed to be said. Under his watch, America found itself again. Many have claimed that Reagan “made the world a safer, and freer place for all.” A revival of patriotism, a rebirth of our economy, the recession of government interference with “the people,” the end of Communism and the Cold War, and America’s return to leadership among the world powers, can all be attributed to Ronald Reagan. The list of awards and accolades continue to be granted to him, even in death, and some 20 years after his Presidency.

Heading into the 1980s, America needed a man like him, with his wit and wisdom, and candor and compassion, to boot. We could only be so lucky to find a man of his fortitude and conviction ever again. 

Notable Quotations: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” (in front of the Berlin Wall, and calling for an end to Communism)

“Excellence does not begin in Washington.”

“I’m proud to be called a ‘pig.’ It stands for Pride, Integrity, and Guts.”

“I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

“Governments have a tendency not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.”

“Government exists to protect us from each other. We can’t afford the government it would take to protect us from ourselves.”

“What I’d really like to do is go down in history as the President who made Americans believe in themselves again.”

“Even Albert Einstein reportedly needed help on his 1040 form.”

“Government is not the solution. It’s the problem.”

“America is too great for small dreams.”

“Education is not the means of showing people how to get what they want. Education is an exercise by means of which enough men, it is hoped, will learn to want what is worth having.”

“This fellow they’ve nominated claims he’s the new Thomas Jefferson. Well, let me tell you something. I knew Thomas Jefferson. He was a friend of mine. And, governor, you’re no Thomas Jefferson.” (on Bill Clinton)

“Since I came to the White House I got two hearing aids, a colon operation, skin cancer, a prostrate operation, and I was shot. The damn thing is, I’ve never felt better in my life.”

“I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.” (Address to the nation after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; read the full speech by clicking here)

“Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: “We the people.” “We the people” tell the government what to do, it doesn’t tell us. “We the people” are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which “We the people” tell the government what it is allowed to do. “We the people” are fee. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I’ve tried to do these past eight years…

…And how stand the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

We’ve done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan Revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.” (Farewell Address to the nation, January 11, 1989; read the full speech by clicking here)

#4: Ronald Reagan

PRESIDENTIAL RANKINGS & REVIEWS SO FAR: 

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4: Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

#5: James Madison (1809-1817)

#6: Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

#7: Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

#8: Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (1901-1909)

#9: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

#10: James Monroe (1817-1825)

#11: Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)

#12: John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

#13: Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

#14: James K. Polk (1845-1849)

#15: Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)

#16: George W. Bush (2001-2009)

#17: John Adams (1797-1801)

#18: William McKinley (1897-1901)

#19: William Taft (1909-1913)

#21/20: Grover Cleveland (1885-89/1893-97)

#22: George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)

#23: Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

#24: Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

#25: John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

#26: Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

#27: Gerald Ford (1974-1977)

#28: Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

#29: Zachary Taylor (March 1849-July 1850)

#30: Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

#31: Chester Arthur (1881-1885)

#32: Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

#33: John Tyler (1841-1845)

#34: Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

#35: Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

#36: Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

#37: James Buchanan (1857-1861)

#38: Richard Nixon (1969-1974)

#39: Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

#40: Warren Harding (March 1921-August 1923)

#41: Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

#42*: James Garfield (March 1881-September 1881)

#43*: William Henry Harrison (March 1841-April 1841)