Reply #15: The life of Ronald Reagan was an illusion, he was completely

[rasputin1952]

entranced by the whole Hollywood dream factories, he fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Reagan may well have been an affable personality, but it is difficult to get to that early personality, he began believing the illusion that is built around those in Hollywood, especially in the heydays of the early years.

All things considered, he was a "B" actor, never quite making it to "superstar", (not many actors are upstaged by a chimp). With the outbreak of WWII, Reagan, like many others, joined the Army. He was a Captain in the Army, but unlike some others, Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart come to mind, he never saw action. While Gable was flying missions over Europe, as was Stewart, Reagan worked with the Army Signal Corps making training films, mostly about STD's and other innocuous items. All of my male relatives who went through the war remembered howling at the films and the "moral code" they supposedly depicted...they found it funny that a "Hollywood Stud" would be telling them how to abstain from sexual encounters...:D

Reagan, got caught up in the "Red Scare" of the McCarthy era. He "gave up" some of the actors, directors, and writers that were supposedly Communist. He fell for the whole "inevitable Communist world-wide takeover" in spades. He wanted to make sure he wasn't implicated, which would destroy whatever chance he had to remain employed.

He was one of the "Family Values" crowd as well, conveniently overlooking the fact that he abandoned Jane Wyman and his children for Nancy. Wyman had talent, a decent actress. Nancy on the other hand was another "B" actor, and the story is she was the "best" at oral sex in Hollywood circles. Regardless, handlers of Reagan made sure this aspect of his life was played down.

As governor of California, he began his "War on the Poor". Oddly, he "demanded" hard work of everyone else, but found ways to avoid any work himself. He was notoriously lazy, and had the air of privilege. This was most likely fostered by all of the previous years of Hollywood spin of him being a "model male" and the other illusions that come from living and working in the film industry. he began believing the things he knew were nothing more than hype.

As president, he was disconnected from the day to day items that came across his desk. Often napping through meetings, he became even more detached, opening doors to those under him that led to decisions that were detrimental to the nation as a whole. Deregulation of the S&L's led to a financial disaster of profound proportions, and the push for deregulation of other entities ensured that greed would be the rule of the day. Because of his lack of oversight and desire to not be involved in the serious business of Foreign Affairs, we got ADM Poindexter and LTC North coming close to, if not actually guilty of treasonous activities.

During his second term, it had become obvious that there was a disease process involved. I am sure that he had been seen by physicians and diagnosed, but this was obviously kept from the public. The public though could see changes, and speculation about Alzheimer's was spoken of softly. As long as he could read the script, he was an asset for the RW.

Corruption was the norm in the Reagan Administration. When there is little oversight from the top, those that are prone to abuse the system will do so. There were allegations, but most were covered up. There were a few actions taken, and some people went to prison. Nancy protected Ronnie like a she-bear w/a cub, running a tight-lipped ship was her goal.

In the end, just about everything about Reagan's life was about creating the illusion he was a "great leader". The fact of the matter is, he was little more than smoke and mirrors. Just another item that came out of Hollywood designed to make people feel good and forget about the troubles they face, if even for a short time.