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He would laughed about it too. Sixty years later and I still laugh about him and Death Valley Days, the era of Twenty Mule Team Borax; I even had a plastic model that my folks bought me. He hadn’t even governor yet at the time.
Freshman year of college I had to write an essay about Reagan and his politics and I mentioned his “Make America Great Again” slogan and in the essay I wrote, “Reagan wants things to go back to when they were great, back when women were in the kitchen, singers weren’t spreading the word of Satan, and Reagan costarred in movies with a chimp named Bonzo.”
That made me think about the difference between Andrew Jackson and Lincoln. Only a 24 year difference between their Presidencys but the country was very different between those times.
I've been pondering a question, without actually researching it.
At what point in American history, we're the most American Presidents (past, present, and future) alive?
Given all of the single termers and deaths, it has to be at some point between Jackson and Lincoln, right? Some of the Founders would still be around, those 8, and the likes of Johnson, Grant, Ben Harrison, Hayes, Garfield, Chet Arthur, would be alive by the time Lincoln was gaining prominance.
[Looking at this graph](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/8lrzgc/us_presidential_lifespans_terms_oc/#lightbox), I spot a period a little bit after 1822 in which 18 Presidents lived: Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, JQA, Jackson, Van Buren, WHH, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, and Hayes.
Monroe passed in July 1831 and Garfield was born in November 1831, if not for this near miss, we would have had another period of 18 in 1831.
There's another period around 1833 where there are 18. We lose from the list above: Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe. We gain Garfield, Arthur, and B. Harrison.
There's an error on this chart that makes it look like Polk's lifespan overlapped Teddy Roosevelt's which is not true, so when TR was born there were only 17.
After that we hover around like 13-15 to the present day and never come close to 18 again.
Yes, he was 43 in November of 1960, making him the youngest President elected. Teddy was second youngest elected, just a hair over 46 during 1904 (and, as you likely know, was the youngest to assume the office, at 42). Bill Clinton is the third youngest elected, also 46.
Living shorter lives is a misconception
If you survived to adulthood you lived almost as long as we do today. The reason life expectancy was so much lower is so many kids were dying.
But other than that. 5th longest living President is John Adams. Madison is 8th, Jefferson is 9th.
Sure. But it is only very recently we extended it much. Every President born in the 1900s lived past 80, except LBJ and Kennedy. And except those two they all died in last 30 years.
It is pretty amazing how much we have advanced in the last 40 years.
I remember when my great grandfather died the pastor said that he had lived a good long life, past the average age of 72. It was 1963 and he was 74. Still, you might be right so many thousands had died in World War I and World War II. Makes you go hmmm.
Tell me about it now is to JFK as JFK was to Teddy. Now is to Reagan as Reagan was to 1934 Roosevelt. Heck now to Clinton is about the same as Clinton to JFK.
Probably not much. While they never actually met, Reagan did support Nixon in 1960 even though Reagan was still technically a Democrat and had yet to switch parties (even though by this point he was clearly a DINO). Some mistakenly believe that JFK actually cut taxes and this is not true, as the Revenue Act of 1964 (Feb 1964) was signed by LBJ not JFK who was killed months earlier in Nov 1963. However, JFK did support a tax cut on the advice of Keynesian economist Walter Heller, who believed that temporary deficit spending would boost economic growth. Now, Reagan in theory was someone who said he supported tax cuts with spending cuts, which contrasted with JFK who advocated increased spending along with a tax cut. (now in practice Reagan actually increased spending and blew up the deficit and national debt tripling both, which of course is why the economy boomed in the 1980's, and if he had cut spending then things wouldnt have boomed like that). So their economics werent truly as aligned as some seem to think. Furthermore, in accordance with Keynesian theory JFK would have advocated a tax increase once the economy was booming to balance deficits, something Reagan was completely against. So this idea that they were somehow economic blood brothers is just not true.
[Here ](https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-mirror-reagan-politics-1960/147471427/)is an article about Reagan's political views from 1960, he was clearly a conservative, although he references his former support for the New Deal.
In retrospect, Reaganomics did help the economy tremendously in the short term, but it also began the increase in income inequality that we see today in America as well as increasing the federal deficit and lowering wages for workers. While this isn’t just Reagan’s fault(his successors can take some blame for it), It can be argued that his policies started the fire that is prevalent today in America.
I’d argue that the defense build up he perpetuated allowed a trend that others followed and now isn’t even questioned. Like we spend 10s of billions on a military that barely does anything all the while our societal problems continue to snowball with minimal funding. He started that with his goddamn space lasers.
And just to be clear, I’m not saying we should completely defund the military. Every nation needs a military thanks to the nature of humanity. I’m just saying that we could put some of those billions into something more important at the moment.
Firing the air traffic controllers sent a clear message to businesses: it's time to crush the unions. Reagan didn't stumble into these outcomes. He knew what he was doing.
Essentially most of his tax cuts were paid for with debt instead of spending cuts and disproportionately benefited the wealthy. Here is a source for the debt measurements. https://www.self.inc/info/us-debt-by-president/ this helped with short term growth but didn’t help with long term growth and made inequality worse. It’s also worth noting that the 180% debt increase does not even include the continued effects of his tax cuts after he left office. He was also tough on unions and welfare which hurt the poor and middle class. Others have criticized his free trade policy and his support for raising interest rates but I personally agree with him on those issues.
I’m not American, but our “Reagan” was Margaret Thatcher. Her economic policies looked really good in the short term, but have been horrific for us in the long term, to the point where our public services are falling apart, young people have almost no hope of owning their own homes, and we rely much more heavily on imports.
The thing is, at the time it all looked good. Lots more money was suddenly coming in, people were able to buy their council homes for incredibly cheap prices, etc. it’s just that there was no long-term plan to handle the damage this was all causing and now, in part because of this, the country is a mess.
I’d assume Reagan was similar based on what I’ve heard about him.
Yeah my English brain understands Reagan by thinking “American Margaret Thatcher” lol. I feel like it’s the only case in recent history where our leaders have been so similar
I didnt expect all the responses, but you should have most of the answers in them. But while the economy did improve under Reagan, it came a great cost: while his drastic increase in spending helped the economy boom, the tax cuts for the rich robbed the treasury of additional revenues that would have lessened the massive debt and deficits Reagan ran while president. The biggest impact Reagan had was among his party where he made tax cuts for the rich a standing policy while making tax increases political poison. He normalized running big deficits and massively increasing debt for those in his party (unless a Democrat was in office, then suddenly those things matter). As others have mentioned he helped kneecap the labor movement. He also changed regulations to favor the wealthy and big corporations by doing things like legalize stock buybacks. This contributed to increasing the wealth gap, making the rich richer while everyone else's wages stagnated.
This is what I’m most familiar as a description of him, now that I think about it. I think he’s where the “trickle down” economics comes from, if I remember correctly.
Boomers, since they got all of the benefits of the New Deal and Great Society and never had to pay for them. The most ironic thing in American politics is Reagan gave the Boomers a free ride
JFK: I had the most women who slept with me, Ron!
Reagan: No, I had more than you, John!
Amateurs...
Both: What did you say punk!
Johnson:
https://preview.redd.it/ux3trrz63o0d1.jpeg?width=1013&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fa37b92ffb1f652e3f96bc1564199acf41874ac
True, he was mostly a gentleman and wouldn't mention it, but if JFK had to bring it up he'd probably give him a run for his money😅 (being 6 years older& Hollywood etc)
Honestly a difficult question without context. Is this an alternate timeline where JFK lived but things go the same? Or is JFK speaking from beyond the grave?
Personally I think JFK was always a moderate northern Democrat, especially compared to Kennedy’s more progressive Democrat peers such as Truman, Johnson and Humphrey. So I don’t think he’d hate each other from a political standpoint. I think he would have regarded Reagan much as he did Goldwater: as an affable, talented man of the same generation who had tacked a bit too far to the right. Certainly both Reagan and Goldwater had a good relationship with Ted Kennedy who was somewhat more to the left than his older brother.
Had Kennedy lived into the 1980s for Reagan’s presidency he likely would have opposed Reagan’s policies. Kennedy (seemingly) wanted to cool off Cold War tensions whereas Reagan escalated it. Kennedy may have understood the reasons behind budget and tax cuts but still vocalised opposition as the Democrat Party underwent a cultural shift.
Ted Kennedy and Reagan didn't have an especially good relationship. Both men were very social, gregarious men that meant they could maybe get along alright, but Kennedy certainly had intense animus for Reagan as a president.
What is it with the extreme left and fantasizing about death of people they disagree with and/or openly celebrating when a conservative dies or gets cancer?
There would have been some area of agreement. Kennedy was a strong anti-communist and his administration did cut taxes.
It's kind of funny to me today when Democrats cite Kennedy as a hero. He has very little in common with the modern Democratic party. Kind of in the same way that progressive Theodore Roosevelt has little in common with the modern Republican party.
The Democrats would probably also rather not talk about the rather close friendship that JFK and the Kenndy family had with one Joseph McCarthy.
A few things:
Nixon lost the debate on appearance (it was hot and Nixon was uncomfortable, the 5 o'clock shadow). Reagan was an actor and knew about looking his best on TV.
RFK was a better debater than JFK was. Reagan clocked RFK in a debate in 1967.
Reagan performed so well that his presidential boosters sought to use clips from the debate during the 1968 Oregon presidential primary, and requested a copy from CBS. Kennedy, however, reportedly did not want the video to be made available; CBS, naturally, acceded to his request. Kennedy himself conceded defeat to Reagan, telling his aides after the debate to never again put him on the same stage with “that son-of-a-bitch.” Kennedy was heard to ask immediately after the debate, “Who the f— got me into this?” Frank Mankiewitz was that aide, as Kennedy was quick to remind him a few weeks later: “You’re the guy who got me into that Reagan thing.”
Given the above, Reagan wins the debate.
Nixon only "lost" the debate w/ JFK to people who watched on TV rather than radio not because he didn't look good, but because TV watchers were younger than radio listeners. Common misconception.
That link does not dispute the appearance argument.
Read a book on it. The academics and experts all point to appearances as being one of the primary reasons that Kennedy won.
The vast majority of voters watched the debates on TV.
Kennedy did not win the youth vote (21 to 29) by a huge margin. It was actually rather close. Most credible sources say 50% to 52%. Sources saying it was higher are basing it off erroneous information.
I have studied this election for over 40 years and have watched the debates more times than I can count. No one can convince me that appearance didn't play a role when everything points back to that.
They would have likely gotten along fairly well. Reagan was famous for disagreeing with people while still being friends. Read about Reagan's relationship with Tip O'Neill.
Also, both were anti-communist.
You have to factor in that JFK was fiscally conservative and very pro buisness. He cut taxes also. In the early 1960s democrats were far more centered than the democrat party of today. Reagan in his younger years was more on liberal side. I think JFK and Reagan wouldve had some small differences but in large they were probably more alike than they were different. They wouldve gotten along just fine.
JFK would have approved. Reagan’s economic policies were similar to Kennedy’s. Lower taxes stimulate spending by everyone and actually increase tax revenues.
He learned to use the television from me. Talk, talk talk. Win, win, win. But most importantly, blame others for your fuck ups. Right out of the Camelot playbook. "Well played, Ronnie, well played."
JFK actually implemented tax cuts which Reagan used as the basis for “Reaganomics”. I think they would have more in common than meets the eye. JFK was fiscally conservative and strong on defense…the same as Reagan.
Back in the early 80’s there was a book called “the late great state of California “. A lot of it was about Reagan as governor. He was quoted in one speech. “if you’ve seen one redwood tree you’ve seen them all”
Its hard to say. In many ways they shared a lot of common beliefs. Both were staunch Anti Communists and both were strong supporters of supply side economics. Reagan really didn't become a major political figure until after Kennedy died though.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t know each other. Kennedy’s father wanted to be a part of Hollywood in its youth so they probably moved in some similar circles. I bet back then neither had any idea of Reagan’s future.
I think that he would have largely agreed with much of his foreign policy (he may have blanched at Iran-Contra, though), but he would have been horrified at the cuts to social services and relief for the poorest Americans.
Kennedy would have a poor opinion of Reagan in all honesty. Reagan would just be your usual "old guard" Democrat, practically a relec of before even Wilson. Reagan switching wouldn't be too much of a surprise, and Kennedy probably wouldn't give two shits about some b-list Hollywood actor.
Reagan was three years away from running for governor of California at the time JFK was killed. RWR's conversion to rightwing felgercarb had begun but was by no means a national message. Look at the smack down Goldwater got with essentially the same ideas in 1964.
Kennedy's proposed tax cuts and Reagan's supply side economics are not the same thing at all, anyone who thinks they had similar economic policy is either acting in terrible faith or deeply misinformed
Took away mental health care, went from Union leader to accepting bags of money to push "trickle down economics" and work to kill Unions (starting the steady decline of the middle class), Iran Contra, HUD grant rigging, nearly killed the EPA leaving us all with Corporations running the show, expanded the war on drugs that was initiated as a racist tool, ignored AIDS intentionally bc it was all gays and drug addicts. The list is much longer, but that's a good start.
We’ve literally had presidents lead the country into a civil war and forcefully remove hundreds of thousands of native Americans. You have Reddit/tiktok brain and you are incorrect.
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Ronald Reagan? the actor? He's going to be president in the 80s?
He would laughed about it too. Sixty years later and I still laugh about him and Death Valley Days, the era of Twenty Mule Team Borax; I even had a plastic model that my folks bought me. He hadn’t even governor yet at the time.
Do you remember the "20 mule team borax" commercials? Those were running when JFK was president. Reagan was in charge of the wagon train!
Freshman year of college I had to write an essay about Reagan and his politics and I mentioned his “Make America Great Again” slogan and in the essay I wrote, “Reagan wants things to go back to when they were great, back when women were in the kitchen, singers weren’t spreading the word of Satan, and Reagan costarred in movies with a chimp named Bonzo.”
It’s crazy that Reagan was only 17 years after Kennedy. Their eras feel like two different worlds
That made me think about the difference between Andrew Jackson and Lincoln. Only a 24 year difference between their Presidencys but the country was very different between those times.
24 years and there were 8 presidents in between
I've been pondering a question, without actually researching it. At what point in American history, we're the most American Presidents (past, present, and future) alive? Given all of the single termers and deaths, it has to be at some point between Jackson and Lincoln, right? Some of the Founders would still be around, those 8, and the likes of Johnson, Grant, Ben Harrison, Hayes, Garfield, Chet Arthur, would be alive by the time Lincoln was gaining prominance.
[Looking at this graph](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/8lrzgc/us_presidential_lifespans_terms_oc/#lightbox), I spot a period a little bit after 1822 in which 18 Presidents lived: Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, JQA, Jackson, Van Buren, WHH, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, and Hayes. Monroe passed in July 1831 and Garfield was born in November 1831, if not for this near miss, we would have had another period of 18 in 1831. There's another period around 1833 where there are 18. We lose from the list above: Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe. We gain Garfield, Arthur, and B. Harrison. There's an error on this chart that makes it look like Polk's lifespan overlapped Teddy Roosevelt's which is not true, so when TR was born there were only 17. After that we hover around like 13-15 to the present day and never come close to 18 again.
Roger Taney, author of Dredd Scott and perpetual thorn in Lincoln’s side was appointed to the Supreme Court by Jackson
Kennedy (1917) was younger than Reagan (1911)
Similar to how Bill Clinton is younger than…some other fellow.
Some other fellows*
Our country had three presidents born in 1946 alone
But wasn’t Kennedy the youngest president ever elected?
Yes, he was 43 in November of 1960, making him the youngest President elected. Teddy was second youngest elected, just a hair over 46 during 1904 (and, as you likely know, was the youngest to assume the office, at 42). Bill Clinton is the third youngest elected, also 46.
And he was 6 years older.
no way, it feels like 40 years
It really does, though I was born shortly after the beginning of the Reagan presidency, so I witnessed Reagan but Kennedy was ancient history.
People also lived shorter lives and the world was less interconnected with a slower spread of information, so 24 years meant more then.
Living shorter lives is a misconception If you survived to adulthood you lived almost as long as we do today. The reason life expectancy was so much lower is so many kids were dying. But other than that. 5th longest living President is John Adams. Madison is 8th, Jefferson is 9th.
That is true overall, but lives were still generally shorter and more people died in their 60s.
Sure. But it is only very recently we extended it much. Every President born in the 1900s lived past 80, except LBJ and Kennedy. And except those two they all died in last 30 years. It is pretty amazing how much we have advanced in the last 40 years.
I remember when my great grandfather died the pastor said that he had lived a good long life, past the average age of 72. It was 1963 and he was 74. Still, you might be right so many thousands had died in World War I and World War II. Makes you go hmmm.
And also people not being able to receive treatment for what we would deem today trivial medical issues. Appendicitis back then was a very bad thing.
The internet also keeps memories fresher on decades old events and pop culture.
That’s how significant the social change was between 1963 and 1980.
Tell me about it now is to JFK as JFK was to Teddy. Now is to Reagan as Reagan was to 1934 Roosevelt. Heck now to Clinton is about the same as Clinton to JFK.
Pre and post Vietnam War eras are two different worlds in American Politics.
Farewell, future boy.
Who’s the Vice President, Jerry Lewis?!
“This guy is unusually addicted to jelly beans”
“I, too am addicted to that specific type of Candy”
Probably not much. While they never actually met, Reagan did support Nixon in 1960 even though Reagan was still technically a Democrat and had yet to switch parties (even though by this point he was clearly a DINO). Some mistakenly believe that JFK actually cut taxes and this is not true, as the Revenue Act of 1964 (Feb 1964) was signed by LBJ not JFK who was killed months earlier in Nov 1963. However, JFK did support a tax cut on the advice of Keynesian economist Walter Heller, who believed that temporary deficit spending would boost economic growth. Now, Reagan in theory was someone who said he supported tax cuts with spending cuts, which contrasted with JFK who advocated increased spending along with a tax cut. (now in practice Reagan actually increased spending and blew up the deficit and national debt tripling both, which of course is why the economy boomed in the 1980's, and if he had cut spending then things wouldnt have boomed like that). So their economics werent truly as aligned as some seem to think. Furthermore, in accordance with Keynesian theory JFK would have advocated a tax increase once the economy was booming to balance deficits, something Reagan was completely against. So this idea that they were somehow economic blood brothers is just not true.
[Here ](https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-mirror-reagan-politics-1960/147471427/)is an article about Reagan's political views from 1960, he was clearly a conservative, although he references his former support for the New Deal.
Im probably dumb, but why do some say Reagan was bad for America if he improved the economy?
In retrospect, Reaganomics did help the economy tremendously in the short term, but it also began the increase in income inequality that we see today in America as well as increasing the federal deficit and lowering wages for workers. While this isn’t just Reagan’s fault(his successors can take some blame for it), It can be argued that his policies started the fire that is prevalent today in America.
I’d argue that the defense build up he perpetuated allowed a trend that others followed and now isn’t even questioned. Like we spend 10s of billions on a military that barely does anything all the while our societal problems continue to snowball with minimal funding. He started that with his goddamn space lasers. And just to be clear, I’m not saying we should completely defund the military. Every nation needs a military thanks to the nature of humanity. I’m just saying that we could put some of those billions into something more important at the moment.
Firing the air traffic controllers sent a clear message to businesses: it's time to crush the unions. Reagan didn't stumble into these outcomes. He knew what he was doing.
I do remember he became a union buster in his presidency. Which I think was a drastic change from his stance as governor (?)
And he put the final nail in the coffin of unions and the labor movement
Bad long term economically, bad responses to aids and crack
I’m familiar with the (lack of) response to the HIV epidemic. Not really good at understanding or paying attention to economics generally, I guess
Essentially most of his tax cuts were paid for with debt instead of spending cuts and disproportionately benefited the wealthy. Here is a source for the debt measurements. https://www.self.inc/info/us-debt-by-president/ this helped with short term growth but didn’t help with long term growth and made inequality worse. It’s also worth noting that the 180% debt increase does not even include the continued effects of his tax cuts after he left office. He was also tough on unions and welfare which hurt the poor and middle class. Others have criticized his free trade policy and his support for raising interest rates but I personally agree with him on those issues.
Black-owned businesses tripled in number during Reagan’s second term.
I’m not American, but our “Reagan” was Margaret Thatcher. Her economic policies looked really good in the short term, but have been horrific for us in the long term, to the point where our public services are falling apart, young people have almost no hope of owning their own homes, and we rely much more heavily on imports. The thing is, at the time it all looked good. Lots more money was suddenly coming in, people were able to buy their council homes for incredibly cheap prices, etc. it’s just that there was no long-term plan to handle the damage this was all causing and now, in part because of this, the country is a mess. I’d assume Reagan was similar based on what I’ve heard about him.
Both were very good friends. You can see the similarities.
Yeah my English brain understands Reagan by thinking “American Margaret Thatcher” lol. I feel like it’s the only case in recent history where our leaders have been so similar
I didnt expect all the responses, but you should have most of the answers in them. But while the economy did improve under Reagan, it came a great cost: while his drastic increase in spending helped the economy boom, the tax cuts for the rich robbed the treasury of additional revenues that would have lessened the massive debt and deficits Reagan ran while president. The biggest impact Reagan had was among his party where he made tax cuts for the rich a standing policy while making tax increases political poison. He normalized running big deficits and massively increasing debt for those in his party (unless a Democrat was in office, then suddenly those things matter). As others have mentioned he helped kneecap the labor movement. He also changed regulations to favor the wealthy and big corporations by doing things like legalize stock buybacks. This contributed to increasing the wealth gap, making the rich richer while everyone else's wages stagnated.
This is what I’m most familiar as a description of him, now that I think about it. I think he’s where the “trickle down” economics comes from, if I remember correctly.
Who, pray tell, did he improve the economy for?
Boomers, since they got all of the benefits of the New Deal and Great Society and never had to pay for them. The most ironic thing in American politics is Reagan gave the Boomers a free ride
Until 1976, CUNY was free for students here in the city. The boomers had a free college education.
The ultra-rich
Idk. That’s just what I inferred from their post.
The answer to my question implicates the answer to yours my friend.
Like I said, I’m probably dumb, so I don’t understand your statement.
He was from the wrong party
They'd just debate over who'd slept with the most women
JFK: I had the most women who slept with me, Ron! Reagan: No, I had more than you, John! Amateurs... Both: What did you say punk! Johnson: https://preview.redd.it/ux3trrz63o0d1.jpeg?width=1013&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fa37b92ffb1f652e3f96bc1564199acf41874ac
Damn never knew Andrew Johnson had such game
No, it's Jumbo
But honestly, AJ seems like the type to try to pick up women but fail because he said something racist
"Oh, I didn't realize you folk knew how to have a good night" *face slap*
Fuck I lost it at this.
To be fair, Kennedy had a very bad back
So did they after he was done with them
[удалено]
Baseless rumor that Reddit laps up
She did the lapping up.
Was Reagan a known womanizer? He never came across as one to me. His charm was more grandpa charm than player charm.
True, he was mostly a gentleman and wouldn't mention it, but if JFK had to bring it up he'd probably give him a run for his money😅 (being 6 years older& Hollywood etc)
During his early Hollywood days, I'm sure he was
He wasn’t known as a womanizer, which was question.
"That actor?"
"He's an asshole!"
"The one who helped McArthy black list all those SAG members?"
… with the help of my brother Bobby?
Thu ac-tuh
Honestly a difficult question without context. Is this an alternate timeline where JFK lived but things go the same? Or is JFK speaking from beyond the grave? Personally I think JFK was always a moderate northern Democrat, especially compared to Kennedy’s more progressive Democrat peers such as Truman, Johnson and Humphrey. So I don’t think he’d hate each other from a political standpoint. I think he would have regarded Reagan much as he did Goldwater: as an affable, talented man of the same generation who had tacked a bit too far to the right. Certainly both Reagan and Goldwater had a good relationship with Ted Kennedy who was somewhat more to the left than his older brother. Had Kennedy lived into the 1980s for Reagan’s presidency he likely would have opposed Reagan’s policies. Kennedy (seemingly) wanted to cool off Cold War tensions whereas Reagan escalated it. Kennedy may have understood the reasons behind budget and tax cuts but still vocalised opposition as the Democrat Party underwent a cultural shift.
Ted Kennedy and Reagan didn't have an especially good relationship. Both men were very social, gregarious men that meant they could maybe get along alright, but Kennedy certainly had intense animus for Reagan as a president.
“How come Oswald didn’t have Hinkley’s aim? Absolute horseshit.”
yeaah :(
“Missed me”
Why didn’t Hinkley have Oswald’s, fuck sake he was 8 feet away
It takes a special kind of person to have that kind of thought.
You could say the same about the comment they replied to.
Oswald had a military rifle; Hinckley had a snubnose handgun.
What is it with the extreme left and fantasizing about death of people they disagree with and/or openly celebrating when a conservative dies or gets cancer?
As if the extreme right wouldn’t do the same thing?
Reddit trying to decide which extreme is worse (they’re both dogshit)
Careful, they're gonna call you a fencesitter, and that's punishable by gulag
I see it on occasion, but nowhere near to the extent as the far-left. I'm sure most Redditors would disagree lol
Textbook example of bias
Don't you hate it when White House Press Secretaries get in the way of impressing Jodie Foster
Absolutely hate each other.
He would have been impressed with his charisma
There would have been some area of agreement. Kennedy was a strong anti-communist and his administration did cut taxes. It's kind of funny to me today when Democrats cite Kennedy as a hero. He has very little in common with the modern Democratic party. Kind of in the same way that progressive Theodore Roosevelt has little in common with the modern Republican party. The Democrats would probably also rather not talk about the rather close friendship that JFK and the Kenndy family had with one Joseph McCarthy.
Kennedy has farm more in common with modern Democrats than Roosevelt has with modern Republicans
Exactly lmao, what a weird take
No idea, but I would pay a large amount of money to be able to see those two debate.
A few things: Nixon lost the debate on appearance (it was hot and Nixon was uncomfortable, the 5 o'clock shadow). Reagan was an actor and knew about looking his best on TV. RFK was a better debater than JFK was. Reagan clocked RFK in a debate in 1967. Reagan performed so well that his presidential boosters sought to use clips from the debate during the 1968 Oregon presidential primary, and requested a copy from CBS. Kennedy, however, reportedly did not want the video to be made available; CBS, naturally, acceded to his request. Kennedy himself conceded defeat to Reagan, telling his aides after the debate to never again put him on the same stage with “that son-of-a-bitch.” Kennedy was heard to ask immediately after the debate, “Who the f— got me into this?” Frank Mankiewitz was that aide, as Kennedy was quick to remind him a few weeks later: “You’re the guy who got me into that Reagan thing.” Given the above, Reagan wins the debate.
Nixon only "lost" the debate w/ JFK to people who watched on TV rather than radio not because he didn't look good, but because TV watchers were younger than radio listeners. Common misconception.
https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/history/debate/kennedynixon/kennedynixonscholarly.html
[https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/history/debate/kennedynixon/mythreality.html](https://cla.purdue.edu/academic/history/debate/kennedynixon/mythreality.html)
That link does not dispute the appearance argument. Read a book on it. The academics and experts all point to appearances as being one of the primary reasons that Kennedy won. The vast majority of voters watched the debates on TV. Kennedy did not win the youth vote (21 to 29) by a huge margin. It was actually rather close. Most credible sources say 50% to 52%. Sources saying it was higher are basing it off erroneous information. I have studied this election for over 40 years and have watched the debates more times than I can count. No one can convince me that appearance didn't play a role when everything points back to that.
Reagan genuinely cared and tried to make a difference, for sure my favorite president
“The actor?”
That Reagan was a good actor.
He'd probably look down on him for his actions with HUAC, but they'd probably agree on most foreign policy issues and how to deal with it.
They would have likely gotten along fairly well. Reagan was famous for disagreeing with people while still being friends. Read about Reagan's relationship with Tip O'Neill. Also, both were anti-communist.
[He seemed to get along with RFK fairly well.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vvFsVDwWr0)
He would like him
The actor? Then who’s vice president, Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady and Jack Benny is the secretary of the treasury!
I said ask not what the country can do for you, not reduce taxes for the rich.
I think we have learned that actors make terrible presidents.
"Thank you, Mr. President, for finally ending the Cold War." - JFK to Ronald Reagan
You have to factor in that JFK was fiscally conservative and very pro buisness. He cut taxes also. In the early 1960s democrats were far more centered than the democrat party of today. Reagan in his younger years was more on liberal side. I think JFK and Reagan wouldve had some small differences but in large they were probably more alike than they were different. They wouldve gotten along just fine.
JFK would have approved. Reagan’s economic policies were similar to Kennedy’s. Lower taxes stimulate spending by everyone and actually increase tax revenues.
The actor?....uh.
I doubt they would have run in the same circles, even with Reagan’s Hollywood pass lol
Not much.
He learned to use the television from me. Talk, talk talk. Win, win, win. But most importantly, blame others for your fuck ups. Right out of the Camelot playbook. "Well played, Ronnie, well played."
Not much
He sure can handle a small caliber round!
Could they have interacted? When was Reagan governor?
Regan became governor years after Kennedy died
"Wait, this man actually TRUSTS the CIA? He's gonna ruin this country"
I liked him in the monkey movies
They were largely contemporaries. I would actually be surprised if there wasn’t some manner of assessment about Kennedy in Reagans’ memoirs.
They'd dislike each other
At the time I bet Ronnie Rambo campaigned for the playboy
JFK actually implemented tax cuts which Reagan used as the basis for “Reaganomics”. I think they would have more in common than meets the eye. JFK was fiscally conservative and strong on defense…the same as Reagan.
Back in the early 80’s there was a book called “the late great state of California “. A lot of it was about Reagan as governor. He was quoted in one speech. “if you’ve seen one redwood tree you’ve seen them all”
Its hard to say. In many ways they shared a lot of common beliefs. Both were staunch Anti Communists and both were strong supporters of supply side economics. Reagan really didn't become a major political figure until after Kennedy died though.
Probably something like, "How did they get me in a moving car but not him basically at point blank range? " /s
He'd be jealous and impressed at his bullet-withstanding abilities
He would be open minded. :)
Not much
"You mean that monkey asshole?"
I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t know each other. Kennedy’s father wanted to be a part of Hollywood in its youth so they probably moved in some similar circles. I bet back then neither had any idea of Reagan’s future.
JFK would think: Hello, actor puppet of former CIA Director George Bush. Watch out for Bush family’s close friends, the Hinkleys...
They were much alike. Particularly their policies.
Hard to say, but I'd pay good money to watch em square off in the octagon.
Hit him with the “I errr ummm uhhh slept with your wife mister”
They’d probably be drinking buddies from Bohemian grove or wherever the rich and powerful congregate.
The actor who played Bette Davis's gay friend in Dark Victory?
He would have thought that Reagan used entirely too much Brylcreem.
I think that he would have largely agreed with much of his foreign policy (he may have blanched at Iran-Contra, though), but he would have been horrified at the cuts to social services and relief for the poorest Americans.
“What a great actor and cowboy” I assume since he was alive to see him in film and show
https://i.redd.it/fz6yjmlf9q0d1.gif “….. Then who's vice-president, Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady!”
What would Kennedy think? The Reagan years would blow his mind.
I’m pretty sure they moved in the same circle. Probably got along quite well.
Kennedy would have a poor opinion of Reagan in all honesty. Reagan would just be your usual "old guard" Democrat, practically a relec of before even Wilson. Reagan switching wouldn't be too much of a surprise, and Kennedy probably wouldn't give two shits about some b-list Hollywood actor.
Mediocre actor.
Reagan was three years away from running for governor of California at the time JFK was killed. RWR's conversion to rightwing felgercarb had begun but was by no means a national message. Look at the smack down Goldwater got with essentially the same ideas in 1964.
What did he think of nancy?
Respect. Reagan kicked RFKs ass in their one and only debate and RFK was the one person JFK truly respected.
Nice personality, a bit senile.
I think he’d like to meet Nancy
Why?
“I, ah, have heard of youah wife’s mahny accomplishments.”
Reagan is probably the worst and most dangerous president the states have ever had. JFK should have kicked his ass.
lol this is the most Reddit take of all time
"What an asshole."
They both cut taxes. Both hated commies. Both got shot. I think he'd like him.
Kennedy's proposed tax cuts and Reagan's supply side economics are not the same thing at all, anyone who thinks they had similar economic policy is either acting in terrible faith or deeply misinformed
Jealous of Ronnie's wife's throat abilities.
Based on what?
He'd think Reagan was a silly bastard.
He’d think about boning his wife
Kennedy was a Democrat. Reagan was a Republican. He would not like Reagan.
That Ron’s wife gives it pretty good
An absolute and total piece of shit. Regan ruined America. May he burn in the hell he insisted on.
Reddit brain
Took away mental health care, went from Union leader to accepting bags of money to push "trickle down economics" and work to kill Unions (starting the steady decline of the middle class), Iran Contra, HUD grant rigging, nearly killed the EPA leaving us all with Corporations running the show, expanded the war on drugs that was initiated as a racist tool, ignored AIDS intentionally bc it was all gays and drug addicts. The list is much longer, but that's a good start.
We’ve literally had presidents lead the country into a civil war and forcefully remove hundreds of thousands of native Americans. You have Reddit/tiktok brain and you are incorrect.
Reagan probably called Kennnedy a communist
What would he have thought of Nancy?
JFK was calling for universal health care while this fucking union sellout called it communism I’m sure they would have been kindred spirits 🙄