2008 Woodie Awards
"The Reagans": Cloudy Skies for the Gipper
Mike Meno
Issue date: 11/12/03 Section: Opinion
On November 4, CBS decided not to broadcast the miniseries "The Reagans", citing "reaction to seeing the final film", and not to the firestorm of criticism portions of the script have received. The film is now set to air on Showtime.
A great deal has already been said about the implications of a major network submitting to the protests of "Right-Wing Thought Police", as People for the American Way chose to phrase the phenomenon. Regardless of the ramifications CBS's concession may have, one thing is certain: this controversy has done nothing to tell the story of Ronald Reagan.
Fourteen years after "The Great Communicator" stepped down from office, the time has come to examine his legacy. Yet today, as the world grapples with the complexities of the post Cold War era, little is said about the man most responsible for shaping it. How it is sad to know, that CBS could produce nothing more dramatic than factually baseless scenes depicting a pill-popping Nancy Reagan and an Iran-Contra weary President declaring himself "the anti-Christ." Like previous biographers, the film's producers failed to chronicle Reagan's achievements, choosing rather to obsess over his personal mannerisms. A continuation of this trend would be nothing short of a travesty.
When Ronald Reagan entered the presidency in 1981, the United States was in the throes of national self-doubt. An ineffective and embarrassing Carter presidency had caused our economy and global influence to come crashing down. The most serious problem was inflation, which by 1980 had reached 12% and threatened to double the price of basic goods. That same year, interest levels also peaked at their highest mark (21%) since the Civil War, making it nearly impossible for most families to buy homes. Worse still, the ongoing fuel shortages of the energy crisis had quadrupled the price of gas in less than a decade.
Reagan changed all of this. Inflation plummeted during his first term, and came to rest around 3% during his second. Following the recession of 1982, the economy entered a seven-year period of growth that was unparalleled in peacetime history. Between 1983 and 1989, 20 million new jobs were created, the stock market doubled, poverty rates dropped and the oil crisis ended. But his greatest achievements came in foreign policy.
Under Reagan's predecessors, capitalism and democracy had declined to the ever-expanding tide of Marxism. For the first time ever, Soviet arsenals surpassed those of the United States, and between 1976 and 1980, nine countries fell into the Soviet orbit. Once again, it was "the Gipper" who steered us in the right direction.
Unlike presidents before him, Reagan understood the true nature of Communism, and foresaw its demise at a time when the very notion seemed absurd. Rather than pursue policies of containment, he sought to reverse Soviet gains. This hope was realized in the 1983 invasion of Grenada, the first time a communist regime was ousted from power.
Nine other countries moved towards democracy in the eighties, and dictatorships in Chile, Haiti and Panama collapsed under American pressure. In two of these cases (Chile and the Philippines), Reagan challenged long standing American policy by forcing the removal of pro-American dictators. The Soviets' 1988 withdrawal from Afghanistan (the first time they voluntarily pulled out of a puppet regime) was a direct result of Reagan's doctrine of aid to anti-communist guerillas.
For years, revisionists have sought to discredit Reagan with the inner collapse of the Soviet government. Many would rather award this feat to the "reform" mindedness of Mikhail Gorbachev, who in 1987 described that his intentions were "not retreating from socialism, but are moving toward it."
Instead, it was Reagan's pursuit of policies like the Strategic Defense Initiative that forced the Soviets back to the negotiating table and compelled them to dismantle their SS-20 missiles aimed at Western Europe. The dwindling Communist economy could not compete in an arms race. Reagan knew this, and he exploited it to the point of victory. Alas, Reagan does not receive due praise.
In the Philadelphia Daily News, Ellen Gray wrote "If Hitler had more friends, CBS wouldn't have aired [its Hitler miniseries] either." Of course she's right, but completely misses the point: Reagan has friends because he deserves them. Hitler does not because he doesn't deserve them, and for the obvious reasons: he murdered millions of people and ignited the costliest war in history. He brought no good to anyone.
Reagan, on the other hand, instilled prosperity and patriotism into a country plagued by economic turmoil and national insecurity while injecting democracy and capitalism into a world he himself saved from the threat of total annihilation at the hands of the Communists. He brought endless amounts of good to this world, yet is barely appreciated anywhere outside the confines of the RNC. Is this just treatment?
Hopefully someday, history will look on Ronald Reagan with great reverence. Unfortunately, the outright hostility endured by the makers of "The Reagans" (whether just or not), will discourage any near future attempts to summarize his tenure, and postpone the chances of a more enlightened and popular view of this great American president.
A great deal has already been said about the implications of a major network submitting to the protests of "Right-Wing Thought Police", as People for the American Way chose to phrase the phenomenon. Regardless of the ramifications CBS's concession may have, one thing is certain: this controversy has done nothing to tell the story of Ronald Reagan.
Fourteen years after "The Great Communicator" stepped down from office, the time has come to examine his legacy. Yet today, as the world grapples with the complexities of the post Cold War era, little is said about the man most responsible for shaping it. How it is sad to know, that CBS could produce nothing more dramatic than factually baseless scenes depicting a pill-popping Nancy Reagan and an Iran-Contra weary President declaring himself "the anti-Christ." Like previous biographers, the film's producers failed to chronicle Reagan's achievements, choosing rather to obsess over his personal mannerisms. A continuation of this trend would be nothing short of a travesty.
When Ronald Reagan entered the presidency in 1981, the United States was in the throes of national self-doubt. An ineffective and embarrassing Carter presidency had caused our economy and global influence to come crashing down. The most serious problem was inflation, which by 1980 had reached 12% and threatened to double the price of basic goods. That same year, interest levels also peaked at their highest mark (21%) since the Civil War, making it nearly impossible for most families to buy homes. Worse still, the ongoing fuel shortages of the energy crisis had quadrupled the price of gas in less than a decade.
Reagan changed all of this. Inflation plummeted during his first term, and came to rest around 3% during his second. Following the recession of 1982, the economy entered a seven-year period of growth that was unparalleled in peacetime history. Between 1983 and 1989, 20 million new jobs were created, the stock market doubled, poverty rates dropped and the oil crisis ended. But his greatest achievements came in foreign policy.
Under Reagan's predecessors, capitalism and democracy had declined to the ever-expanding tide of Marxism. For the first time ever, Soviet arsenals surpassed those of the United States, and between 1976 and 1980, nine countries fell into the Soviet orbit. Once again, it was "the Gipper" who steered us in the right direction.
Unlike presidents before him, Reagan understood the true nature of Communism, and foresaw its demise at a time when the very notion seemed absurd. Rather than pursue policies of containment, he sought to reverse Soviet gains. This hope was realized in the 1983 invasion of Grenada, the first time a communist regime was ousted from power.
Nine other countries moved towards democracy in the eighties, and dictatorships in Chile, Haiti and Panama collapsed under American pressure. In two of these cases (Chile and the Philippines), Reagan challenged long standing American policy by forcing the removal of pro-American dictators. The Soviets' 1988 withdrawal from Afghanistan (the first time they voluntarily pulled out of a puppet regime) was a direct result of Reagan's doctrine of aid to anti-communist guerillas.
For years, revisionists have sought to discredit Reagan with the inner collapse of the Soviet government. Many would rather award this feat to the "reform" mindedness of Mikhail Gorbachev, who in 1987 described that his intentions were "not retreating from socialism, but are moving toward it."
Instead, it was Reagan's pursuit of policies like the Strategic Defense Initiative that forced the Soviets back to the negotiating table and compelled them to dismantle their SS-20 missiles aimed at Western Europe. The dwindling Communist economy could not compete in an arms race. Reagan knew this, and he exploited it to the point of victory. Alas, Reagan does not receive due praise.
In the Philadelphia Daily News, Ellen Gray wrote "If Hitler had more friends, CBS wouldn't have aired [its Hitler miniseries] either." Of course she's right, but completely misses the point: Reagan has friends because he deserves them. Hitler does not because he doesn't deserve them, and for the obvious reasons: he murdered millions of people and ignited the costliest war in history. He brought no good to anyone.
Reagan, on the other hand, instilled prosperity and patriotism into a country plagued by economic turmoil and national insecurity while injecting democracy and capitalism into a world he himself saved from the threat of total annihilation at the hands of the Communists. He brought endless amounts of good to this world, yet is barely appreciated anywhere outside the confines of the RNC. Is this just treatment?
Hopefully someday, history will look on Ronald Reagan with great reverence. Unfortunately, the outright hostility endured by the makers of "The Reagans" (whether just or not), will discourage any near future attempts to summarize his tenure, and postpone the chances of a more enlightened and popular view of this great American president.
Be the first to comment on this story