Ronald Reagan was not popular in Europe.

[denem]

Just a note after reading about the political "it" factor: JFK, Reagan, Obama, and arguably Clinton; Whatever Reagan had, "it" did not translate outside the United States. Reagan was not widely liked in Europe, not even in Thatcher's Britain. With chatter about evil empires. star wars, tactical nukes, neutron bombs, Ronny was greeted the man most likely to thaw the cold war by a nice hot one. Only when the summits with Gorbachev commenced, did he gain stature.

There was one other thing. Being an actor, Reagan was not seen as representing the character of the American People. A year on two into GWB's reign, riding waves of RW hysteria and a compliant media, that line became more muddied.

[dflprincess]

1. Sometiimes I'm not that sure that Reagan wal all that well liked here

we were just told he was by the MSM.

[denem]

3. He had snappy one liners, and could read a speech competantly,

sometimes more than competently. Beyond that, I don't know. I was in Australia. We didn't get "it".

[izquierdista]

4. Try dispised

Ask any Californian over a certain age, and they will tell you how took the University of California from the best state university system in the nation to merely so-so.

[Drunken Irishman]

7. He had average approval ratings and an inept candidate in 1984.

Reagan spent most of his time hovering around 50% nationally and lucked out with having to run against Mondale in 1984.

[Uzybone]

2. Reagan was HATED around the world

not GWB levels, but he was a hated man.

[denem]

5. By the time he got around to "Mr Gorbachev tear down this wall"

his standing was higher than in the early days.

[Hawkowl]

8. Indeed

He was hated and feared. The Europeans were terrified that Reagan was a crazy war monger that was going to plunge the world into WWIII. When he ordered the deployment of the Pershing intermediate range nuclear missiles in Germany, the Europeans took to the streets burning him in effigy.

[lucretia54]

6. I remember feeling so sad

that my kids were growing up in the Reagan years...I had to tell them why we didn't admire our president.

Everyone I knew hated him!

[LooseWilly]

10. I grew up in the Reagan years.

Maybe it's his fault that I hate the government and have anarchistic tendencies...

[HopeOverFear]

9. Nobody hated him more than black Americans nm

[caraher]

11. As I left high school in the early Reagan years I mulled this over:

where do I want to be when the imbecile sets off a nuclear war? My thinking was to be someplace that got nuked early, opt for the quick death.

I think we muddled through the first 5 years or so of Reagan through pure, dumb luck. Eventually he figured out that it didn't have to be 100% "Peace through Strength"/"Evil Empire" rhetoric... not that this improvement (which eluded *) made him any less of a disaster domestically.

[obiwan]

12. Ronald Reagan was a brain-dead walking corpse.

[smalll]

13. No duh.

Of course he wasn't popular in Europe. Us oldsters remember that. But that point is actually one the righties love to make a lot -- you're not a rightie, you're probably just young.

[Drunken Irishman]

14. Yeah, well, freepers were born with their umbilical cord wrapped around their necks.

[old mark]

15. He was never all that popular here either. He became a sort

of GOP cult figure after he died.


mark

[uponit7771]

16. RayGun hated black people, he wasn't well liked in this country

[Rosa Luxemburg]

17. he was a friend of the Thatcher and was hated in the UK

[LeftishBrit]

18. I can confirm that he wasn't well liked in the UK

He was generally seen as unintelligent, a bit senile, too likely to blow the world up, and having too much influence on the UK via Maggie Thatcher. I remember a few people who liked him because he was tough on the Soviet Union; but not very many.