No one can argue that Reagan is one of the greatest presidents of all time... also, he was an actor, making him even cooooler! But age shouldn't affect how you act in office unless you croak...
"I am No Man."
-Odysseus
Reagan was bright, yes, but I would not by a long shot consider him 'one of the greatest presidents'. Let's look at what he did:
Reagan fixed the economy.
By doing what? Jimmy Carter may have f'ed the country up, but did it take a genius to fix it? What was Reagan's brilliant strategy? Reganomics. Which is a fancy word for laissez-faire. Which is a fancy word for
doing nothing. America will recover on its own, assuming no more government action is preventing it. Oh, and what about the stock market crash of '87? You know, the
largest single day drop in history? He might not have been able to prevent it, but his solution hiked the national debt from $700 billion to $3 trillion.
Reagan cracked down on illegals.
The Immigration Reform and Control act made it a crime to knowingly employ or assist an illegal immigrant. It also automatically granted amnesty to over 3 million illegals already in the country.
Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union.
There are two ways of looking at this: either the SU was an "Evil Empire" whose destruction was just, or the SU was being forced into capitalism by financial disaster and the collapse of the power base was an inevitable result of such an economic shift. The first view is childish; the second, debatable.
And to top it all off is the Iran-Contra Affair, where the Reagan administration was found to be
selling arms to Iran to finance an illegal war in Nicaragua
specifically forbidden by the Senate. Reagan denied any involvement, but hey, if the guy couldn't keep his own people under control he deserves the blame.
P.S. to Animaldude: WTF is up with your avatar!?!