bearfan
Ancient Mariner
Reagan did many great things for the US (though I agree that Presidents in general get too much credit/blame for the economy in general).
The bottoming out up to 1982 was too soon to be an affect of his policies, he did not take office until January 1981, and the economy was bouncing back by 1982 and really kicking into gear by mid 1983. The lowering of some excessive tax rates is what was needed to pump more money into the economy at the time. The majority of the deficit was defense related and needed at the time after years of neglect.
There are plenty of scholors that give Reagan credit for the Cold War, he policies towards the Soviet Union were correct and hastened their decline. The fall of the USSR is clearly one of the great moments of the 20th Century. A quick search comes up this this article, he was the right man at the right time.
http://www.slate.com/id/2102081/
The other factor where he deserves credit is turning the US mentality around from the 1970s, which were clearly a low point in the US with a horrible economy, gas shortages, Iranian hostages, price fixing, and the "Days of Malaise".
FDR goes well beyond court packing, though if you want to talk about credit where it is not due, crediting FDR with ending the depression is a clear case of rewriting history (WWII was a much bigger factor than anything he did).
The bottoming out up to 1982 was too soon to be an affect of his policies, he did not take office until January 1981, and the economy was bouncing back by 1982 and really kicking into gear by mid 1983. The lowering of some excessive tax rates is what was needed to pump more money into the economy at the time. The majority of the deficit was defense related and needed at the time after years of neglect.
There are plenty of scholors that give Reagan credit for the Cold War, he policies towards the Soviet Union were correct and hastened their decline. The fall of the USSR is clearly one of the great moments of the 20th Century. A quick search comes up this this article, he was the right man at the right time.
http://www.slate.com/id/2102081/
The other factor where he deserves credit is turning the US mentality around from the 1970s, which were clearly a low point in the US with a horrible economy, gas shortages, Iranian hostages, price fixing, and the "Days of Malaise".
FDR goes well beyond court packing, though if you want to talk about credit where it is not due, crediting FDR with ending the depression is a clear case of rewriting history (WWII was a much bigger factor than anything he did).
