Reagan's Legacy

Former President Ronald Reagan is shown above. He was the 40th president and served from 1981 to 1989.

At the end of Ronald Reagan's Presidency in 1989, he hadn't accomplished much in the face of other American leaders such as Franklin D. Roosevelt or George Washington. His economic policies created huge speculation and caused job losses and harms to communities. He furthered economic instability while also widening the income gap between the poor and the rich. Moreover, his reputation at the time was tarnished by scandals such as the Iran-Contra affair. Nevertheless, today, Ronald Reagan is known as conservative hero, being mentioned hundreds of times during the last Republican Presidential Election. The question, however, remains: why?

While many Presidents gain greater popularity once they leave office, Reagan's jump is nothing but impressive. During his presidency, one in three people believed he should resign early, but after leaving office his popularity jumped a gigantic 11 percent. Historians have pointed out a few reasons for this jump:

1) First, Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimers Disease after leaving office. As a result, many of his critics softened their tone and much of his legacy, which might have been scrutinized after he left office, was left in-tact.

2) Extremely old when took office, Reagan died soon after he left. Thus, he wasn't able to ruin or harm any of the reputation he had created in office.

3) Reagan's rhetoric was extremely different than his actions. Calling for many conservative policies such as tax cuts, smaller regulation, and social conservatism, Reagan was able to masterfully convince audiences of his dedication to these causes. While his actions may not have always been in line with these policies, politicians today instead refer to his rhetoric.

4) Republicans need a hero. While Democrats have had not only successful, but moreover game-changing Presidents such as Obama, Republicans need a former President to latch onto and to frame as the symbol of their party. Both of the Bushs's have low popularity and thus Reagan is the last president to be able to serve as this symbol.

Indeed, Reagan has and will continue to serve as the Republican Party's paragon of conservatism in the near and far future. He certainly has played a huge role in the last few elections. In 48 Republican debates, Reagan was mentioned more than five times as often as his democratic counterparts such as Kennedy and Roosevelt. 

Sources:
Give Me Liberty
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/05/when-did-republicans-become-obsessed-with-reagan.html