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Ronald Reagan was a dim hack who did horrible damage to almost everything he touched. Charlie Pierce
The good news is the election is over. The bad news – prepare yourself – Ronald Reagan’s library just burned down. Both books were destroyed. But the real horror – he had not finished colouring the cell. Gore Vidal, cited Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
A triumph of the embalmer’s art. Gore Vidal, Observer 28th April 1981
Debate 2: Tonight the key question for every patriot is can an ageing Hollywood juvenile actor with a right-wing script defeat Richard Nixon, a professional politician, who currently represents no discernible interest except his own. Gore Vidal, second debate with William F Buckley, cited Best of Enemies 2015
The CIA created, armed and financed the Contras. My father backed them with everything he had. It was my father’s war, and almost everyone in Nicaragua has lost somebody as a result of it. I couldn’t go down there, being his daughter, and expect not to feel those people’s wrath. Patti Davis
He has the ability to make statements that are so far outside the parameters of logic that they leave you speechless. Patti Davis
I’d heard my parents [Ronald and Nancy Reagan] read their horoscopes aloud at the breakfast table, but that seemed pretty innocuous to me. Occasionally, I read mine, too – usually so I can do the exact opposite of what it says. But my parents have done what the stars suggested – altered schedules, changed travel plans, stayed home, cancelled appearances. Patti Davis
His style is one of hammy self-effacement, a wry dismay at his own limited talents and their drastic elevation. Martin Amis
Reagan represents a significant advance in capitalist democracy. For eight years, the US government functioned virtually without a chief executive. That is an important fact. It is quite unfair to assign to Ronald Reagan, the person, much responsibility for the policies enacted in his name. Noam Chomsky, Deterring Democracy
Reagan’s duty was to smile, then read from the teleprompter in a pleasant voice, tell a few jokes, and keep the audience properly bemused. His only qualification for the presidency was that he knew how to read the lines written for him by the rich folk, who pay well for the service. ibid.
It is, none the less, important to bear in mind that while the substance of democracy was successfully reduced during the Reagan era, still the public remained substantially out of control, raising serious problems for the exercise of power. ibid.
Reagan also introduced more import restrictions than the past six presidents combined; the percentage of local imports subjected to quota and restraint agreements doubled from 12 to 24 per cent under Reaganite ‘conservatism’. ibid.
Sponsorship of state-guided international terrorism and economic mismanagement designed for short-term gain for the wealthy are the most notable features of the Reagan era. ibid.
With their contributions to the growth and punishment of the underclass, the Reagan-Bush administrations helped to create the current drug crisis, yet another fact that merits headlines. And the current ‘war’ may well exacerbate the crisis. ibid.
After eight years of pretense about the ‘revolution’ that Reagan wrought, no one would dream of asking its standard-bearer for his thoughts on any topic, because it is understood, as it always was, that he had none. When Reagan was invited to Japan as an elder statesman, his hosts were surprised – and, given the fee, a bit annoyed – to discover that he could not hold press conferences or talk on any subject. ibid.
Ronald Reagan’s death: it was treated like a king had died. In fact you can read publications of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University – serious research outfit describing Reagan … a colossal figure whose spirit hovers over us like a warm and friendly ghost. Noam Chomsky, In Conversation with Jonathan Freedland March 2013, Youtube 1.41.34
Take say Ronald Reagan again – he’s called a conservative but that’s ridiculous; he was the most protectionist president in post-war American history … Government actually grew on his watch; he was an advocate of big government but government that serves the rich and the powerful. He left the country with a huge deficit, a major crisis – the savings and loan crisis … He pressed forward the massive programme of incarceration … Reagan drove it that way. Noam Chomsky, Who Controls the World? Link TV June 2009, Youtube 1.29.57
December 1941: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States head-first into World War II. Fought not just against Japan but against Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Over the course of the War sixteen million Americans would serve in active duty in the armed forces. Eight of them would become US presidents. Presidents at War: A Call to Valor I, History 2019
‘He [Reagan] became the face of the fight man, even though he never picked up a gun and had never fought.’ ibid. son
The US had been at war for two years. Among the sixteen million Americans who served in active duty were eight future American presidents: Nixon, Eisenhower, Ford, Bush, Johnson, Carter, Reagan, Kennedy. Presidents at War II: Their Finest Hours
[Reagan’s] contribution to the gaiety of nations included the Evil Empire, Star Wars, the invasion of Grenada, the bombing of Libya, the 1986 Reykjavik summit at which he almost agreed to give away America’s nuclear arsenal, and Irangate. Plus, of course, the steady piling up of the budget and trade deficits; and when they are eventually paid for, the price to the American people will be high. The Financial Times
John Lennon murdered. John Kennedy murdered. Martin Luther King murdered. Gandhi murdered. Jesus murdered. Reagan – wounded. You know, bad fucking choice. Bill Hicks, on stage
Ronald Reagan arrived in Flint and took a dozen unemployed workers out for a pizza. Michael Moore, Roger & Me 1989
1981: Reagan administration trains and funds Contras. 30,000 Nicaraguans die. Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine, 2002
Actually, what Reagan presided over was the wholesale dismantling of our industrial infrastructure. It was done for short-term profits. And to destroy the unions. Michael Moore, Capitalism: A Love Story, 2009
In 1983 Senator Byrd acted in the capacity of a pimp and prostituted me to then president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was heavily involved in the idea of mind control. And I often heard him say that he believed that the only way to world peace is through mind control of the masses. Cathy O’Brien
Holy Moly, I gotta find that brain. If only it weren’t so small. Spitting Image s1e2, Ed at Reagan’s bedside, part of ‘The President’s Brain is Missing’ sketches, ITV 1984
Grecian 2000 Presidential Strength. Spitting Image s1e4
The most important thing is that democracy prevails, Ed. And that whoever gets in does as we tell him. Spitting Image s1e5
Reagan: In small countries like Chile, Guacamole and Pina Colada democracy is being undermined by unscrupulous men who will use any means at their disposal to achieve their ends.
Ed: That’s the CIA, sir. Spitting Image s1e12
You now have only your two basic phones: that one is for room service and that one is the alert hotline to Defcom Command to be used only in the event of a nuclear strike. You got that, sir? Spitting Image: The Ronnie and Nancy Show, ITV 1988