|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 6:39:36 GMT -5
What You Can Learn From Ronald Reagan
By The Editors of New Word City
INTRODUCTION
Of all American presidents, few match Ronald Wilson Reagan in the art of leadership. He knew America. Reagan came into office in 1980 -- when the national mood was glum and the future looked problematic -- and he lifted the country's spirits on a wave of hope, purpose, and unabashed patriotism. In the years that followed, productivity and prosperity increased at home, the Berlin Wall came down, and the Soviet Union collapsed, making the United States the de facto winner of the Cold War. Reagan's policies played a part, of course, but it wasn't just his management style that captured the nation's heart. He brought something intangible to the national stage, an innate optimism that simply made Americans feel better. The former film actor's handsome, weathered face, his wry smile, and straightforward style all worked to make his audiences feel as if they were being taken into his confidence. Known as The Great Communicator, Reagan didn't rely solely on his likeability and communication skills and worked hard at being an effective leader. Like few presidents before him, he understood the power of symbolism, stagecraft, and the cutting, eloquent, or elegiac sound bite. Put it all together, and here was a man who was able to unite Americans behind his agenda and recast a nation to fit his mental image. Simply put, here was a man who knew how to lead. Chapter 1: AWED BY FDR
Ronald Reagan was born at home on February 6, 1911, in the village of Tampico, Illinois. His parents, John and Nelle, and their older son, Neil, lived in an apartment over a bank. John worked as a clerk in a general store. John Reagan was Irish Catholic, outgoing, ambitious, and a drinker. Nelle was a devout Scotch-Irish Protestant, who enjoyed acting in amateur theater productions. Money was scarce in the Reagan household, but there was no sense of deprivation. The future president would remember his childhood as "a rare Huck Finn idyll." A series of jobs in a number of small Illinois towns landed the family in Dixon in 1920, where John managed a shoe store. "Dutch," as his father nicknamed him, was popular in school, having learned at an early age that his charm and smile could disarm teachers and enchant girls. He wasn't particularly interested in academics but was helped along by his sharp memory. His interests were sports -- he played on his high school football team -- and acting in school plays. For seven summers, Reagan worked as a lifeguard at the small lake in Dixon's Lowell Park, earning a mention in the local paper for performing his twenty-fifth rescue. Reagan attended Eureka College, a small, liberal arts school near Peoria, Illinois. The school was one of the first in the country to admit women, its progressiveness was a catalyst, perhaps, for Reagan's early liberalism. In any event, neither politics nor scholarship eclipsed his love of football and acting during his college years. When he graduated in 1932, the nation was in the middle of the Great Depression. Unsure about what he wanted to do with his life, Reagan moved back to Dixon. In the fall of 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president and began his famous "fireside chats" to reassure and inspire a dispirited nation. Deciding to try his own hand at radio, Reagan landed a job at a station in Davenport, Iowa. He began by broadcasting University of Iowa football games and quickly moved up to the position of announcer. It was here that he honed his communication skills, reading scripts and delivering commercials in a voice that sounded sincere and spontaneous. He was soon promoted to an NBC affiliate in Des Moines, where he became known for his colorful, play-by-play accounts of Major League baseball games. Reagan didn't actually see the games he so vividly described; rather, he recreated them from teletype reports coming from Chicago. Then came the day the wire went dead. "I had a ball on the way to the plate, and there was no way to call it back," Reagan later recalled. To fill the airtime, he invented a series of long, slow foul balls, even describing a scramble by a redheaded boy to snag a souvenir ball. On a 1937 spring-training trip with the Chicago Cubs, Reagan visited Southern California for the first time. He was smitten by the sunshine and the sense of possibility. After arranging a meeting with an agent who set up a screen test, he came home to a telegrammed offer from Warner Brothers -- a seven-year contract at $200 a week. He left Des Moines and never looked back. In Hollywood, Reagan was largely cast as the good guy, moving up from B-pictures initially to working with the likes of Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Lionel Barrymore. In 1940, he was cast in Knute Rockne -- All American as Notre Dame's legendary football star, George Gipp. The Gipper dies tragically at age 25, and on his deathbed utters a line that Reagan used throughout his political career to inspire his supporters: "Win one for the Gipper." That same year, Reagan married actress Jane Wyman, with whom he had a daughter, Maureen, and an adopted son, Michael (another child died shortly after birth). Poor eyesight kept him out of harm's way during World War II, but he joined the Army and spent the war making training films. Increasing involvement with the Screen Actors Guild led to Reagan becoming its president in 1947, and he was subsequently reelected for five one-year terms. He was a passionate Democrat and unionist at this time, though his rightward turn began during the era's Red Scare, when rooting out Communists became a national obsession. In 1952, with film roles dwindling, he took a job as the host of television's General Electric Theater. Television was in its infancy, and having his handsome, friendly face beamed into millions of living rooms helped to establish a comfort level with the American public that would prove invaluable to Reagan's political career. When GE made him company spokesman, he began touring its facilities around the country, making speeches and boosting morale. His talks focused on the glories of free enterprise and the dangers of government regulation and wasteful spending. So adept was he at persuading others, he even persuaded himself -- in 1962, he switched his allegiance to the Republican Party. His political conversion may have been helped along by his marriage in 1952 to actress Nancy Davis, three years after his divorce from Wyman. The daughter of a prominent and conservative Chicago surgeon, Nancy Reagan was every bit her husband's equal. The Reagans made a formidable team, and their deep and mutual love was unmistakable. They had two children, Patricia and Ronald.
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 6:40:27 GMT -5
Of all American presidents, few match Ronald Wilson Reagan in the art of leadership. He knew America. Reagan came into office in 1980 -- when the national mood was glum and the future looked problematic -- and he lifted the country's spirits on a wave of hope, purpose, and unabashed patriotism. In the years that followed, productivity and prosperity increased at home, the Berlin Wall came down, and the Soviet Union collapsed, making the United States the de facto winner of the Cold War. Reagan's policies played a part, of course, but it wasn't just his management style that captured the nation's heart. He brought something intangible to the national stage, an innate optimism that simply made Americans feel better.
Unfortunately as some conservatives have said more eloquently than me...."we will never see his like again".....and none of the Republicans in the Presidential Race for 2012 could hold a candle to President Ronald Reagan nor can the current resident in the White House President Barrack Hussein Obama, one of the worse of the worst presidents in our nation's long and proud history. As a matter of fact some areas in the once Golden State of California; Reagan's Country are as bad off as they were in the 30's Great Depression with unemployment, home vacancies, homeless, and crime as a way of life each and every day.
P.I. ( CA. Unhappy Camper)
|
|
ugonow
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 10:15:55 GMT -5
Posts: 3,397
|
Post by ugonow on Jun 28, 2011 6:54:31 GMT -5
But now dems are proposing some of the same things Reagan did to combat his quickly rising defecit.Closing some loopholes for the wealthy and cutting some tax credits for business and republicans are accusing them of being the devil....go figure. P.S...the Cold War was won by outspending the Soviet Union.....
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:00:56 GMT -5
Ketchup is a vegetable.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:02:04 GMT -5
The distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:07:36 GMT -5
Cheney said that Reagan proved deficits don't matter... another nugget learned.
(ie. How to triple the federal deficit.)
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:09:54 GMT -5
The appropriate was to arm Iran.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:10:53 GMT -5
How to give amnesty to illegals.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:11:40 GMT -5
How to sustain Apartheid.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:14:43 GMT -5
Lets see... what else can we learn from Reagan?
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 7:16:43 GMT -5
But now dems are proposing some of the same things Reagan did to combat his quickly rising defecit.Closing some loopholes for the wealthy and cutting some tax credits for business and republicans are accusing them of being the devil....go figure. P.S...the Cold War was won by outspending the Soviet Union..... What i learned from Reagan was that it felt good to be an American again and work for the Defense Dept when he became our Commander in Chief after those God awful Carter four years. And we saw raises and promotions again which boosted our morale along with new and improved weapons systems and training. P.i. (Reagan Democrat)
|
|
cme1201
Junior Associate
Tennis Elbow, Jock Itch, and Athletes Foot, every man has a sports life!
Joined: Apr 6, 2011 13:55:07 GMT -5
Posts: 5,503
|
Post by cme1201 on Jun 28, 2011 7:24:58 GMT -5
But now dems are proposing some of the same things Reagan did to combat his quickly rising defecit.Closing some loopholes for the wealthy and cutting some tax credits for business and republicans are accusing them of being the devil....go figure. P.S...the Cold War was won by outspending the Soviet Union..... What i liked about Reagan was that it felt good to be an American again and work for the Defense Dept when he became our Commander in Chief after those God awful Carter four years. P.i. (Reagan Democrat) P.I, If all you see is what Reagan did for the military you will only have warm fuzzies. Oped, Everything you have noted are things we did learn from Reagan, 1.The distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters. A freedom fighter is an enemy of my enemy, a terrorists is My enemy. 2. How to give amnest to illegals. And we have learned since he did this that we went from 3 million illegals then to 12-15 million today. We learned that blanket amnesty doesn't work if you do not control entry points. You didn't learn lessons from Reagan? Any lesson learned can be what to do right, another lesson is what doesn't work and how to improve it, also you can learn the lesson of what should never be done. Lessons learned are at a personal level, when you stop learning you start dieing.
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 7:25:27 GMT -5
Lets see... what else can we learn from Reagan? when the national mood was glum and the future looked problematic -- and he lifted the country's spirits on a wave of hope, purpose, and unabashed patriotism.Can you say the same about President Barrack Hussein Obama??? If you can then pls post it; instead of just a lot of nonsensical fluff that adds nothing to this thread...
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 7:27:26 GMT -5
If all you see is what Reagan did for the military you will only have warm fuzzies.
Not only that but he had the deep respect and admiration of our military and they enjoyed his visits to our military bases.
Reagan also had the respect of a grateful nation after the Carter years and not just in the military or Defense Communities. and I think that is solely missing today with Obama ..IMHO
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 6, 2024 11:00:20 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2011 7:30:45 GMT -5
You might want to check that freedom fighter one again... pretty much the same players... we just funded/armed them back then...
Let see... i'd say we learned that you can drop taxes once, and then even if you raise them 7 times, everyone will still remember you as lowering taxes... but Obama actually has dropped taxes once... and no one even seems to acknowledge that?
cme... my main purpose is to point out that Reagan was not a saint... he was not perfect... no matter how people want to cast him in their 'good ole days' revival...
And i do not think what PI meant was that we all can learn from Reagan's mistakes...
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 7:32:39 GMT -5
And i do not think what PI meant was that we all can learn from Reagan's mistakes...
Not sure I know what you are referring to?? Reagan made mistakes and admitted them. Mistakes were made when we went into Lebanon, Granada, and Panama which I know something about..and as our Commander in Chief he admitted his mistakes and the Defense Dept and our State Dept also should take some of the blame especially for Lebanon....IMHO I was NOT a big fan of Cap Weinberger as our SecofDef but Reagan stood by him...
I also think it is somewhat disingenuous for those to lambaste Reagan when they were not even born or too young to recall the Reagan Years.. he came into office 30+ years ago and inherited a mess left over from the Peanut Farmer who went back to Plains Georgia when he never should have left..
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 7:48:32 GMT -5
I also know full well our Liberals friends here will not only try to discredit Reagan but also anyone who says anything good about Reagan and his eight years in the White House....now watch all the innnuendos, veiled insults and personal attacks from the Left begin...but remember after nine years here I have seen them all before so come up with some new ones...now let the games begin again and may the best man or woman win.. Btw: FYI, I just bought a new USMC baseball hat from Medals of America. The label is marked "PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA".
|
|
cme1201
Junior Associate
Tennis Elbow, Jock Itch, and Athletes Foot, every man has a sports life!
Joined: Apr 6, 2011 13:55:07 GMT -5
Posts: 5,503
|
Post by cme1201 on Jun 28, 2011 8:13:47 GMT -5
You might want to check that freedom fighter one again... pretty much the same players... we just funded/armed them back then... Let see... i'd say we learned that you can drop taxes once, and then even if you raise them 7 times, everyone will still remember you as lowering taxes... but Obama actually has dropped taxes once... and no one even seems to acknowledge that? cme... my main purpose is to point out that Reagan was not a saint... he was not perfect... no matter how people want to cast him in their 'good ole days' revival... And i do not think what PI meant was that we all can learn from Reagan's mistakes... I'm middle age, as we get older we look back on time through the fog of age. Seeing what was once our youth when we were bolder, more confident, more self sure, we look upon the changing times with a deep sense of loss for what was a simpler time, in our minds eye, simply because you didn't like someone really doesn't mean that those who view them differently, in a more personal way is wrong. It seems all some people wish to do is knockdown those who do not share the same world view, it goes on on each side of the aisle, neither right nor left have bothered to put away it's broad brush it wishes to paint the otherside with. Perhaps when the blinders some ideologies wear get taken off, we as a country can actually move forward, with slightly more liberal social policies and some fiscal sanity.
|
|
cme1201
Junior Associate
Tennis Elbow, Jock Itch, and Athletes Foot, every man has a sports life!
Joined: Apr 6, 2011 13:55:07 GMT -5
Posts: 5,503
|
Post by cme1201 on Jun 28, 2011 8:15:41 GMT -5
Since when does intent matter? Just because he may not"mean" for it to be taken that way doesn't mean I can not interpret it that way.
|
|
chiver78
Administrator
Current Events Admin
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 13:04:45 GMT -5
Posts: 38,575
|
Post by chiver78 on Jun 28, 2011 8:20:15 GMT -5
You might want to check that freedom fighter one again... pretty much the same players... we just funded/armed them back then... Let see... i'd say we learned that you can drop taxes once, and then even if you raise them 7 times, everyone will still remember you as lowering taxes... but Obama actually has dropped taxes once... and no one even seems to acknowledge that? cme... my main purpose is to point out that Reagan was not a saint... he was not perfect... no matter how people want to cast him in their 'good ole days' revival... And i do not think what PI meant was that we all can learn from Reagan's mistakes... I'm middle age, as we get older we look back on time through the fog of age. Seeing what was once our youth when we were bolder, more confident, more self sure, we look upon the changing times with a deep sense of loss for what was a simpler time, in our minds eye, simply because you didn't like someone really doesn't mean that those who view them differently, in a more personal way is wrong. It seems all some people wish to do is knockdown those who do not share the same world view, it goes on on each side of the aisle, neither right nor left have bothered to put away it's broad brush it wishes to paint the otherside with. Perhaps when the blinders some ideologies wear get taken off, we as a country can actually move forward, with slightly more liberal social policies and some fiscal sanity. I humor the elders in my family as they wax poetic about how much better the world was "in their day" but I don't think it does the world a favor to do so day in and day out. if there's something wrong, fix it. don't just sit back and talk about how much better things used to be. if you think you can do a better job, why don't you?
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,484
|
Post by billisonboard on Jun 28, 2011 8:24:48 GMT -5
How to oversee a corrupt administration. In his 1991 book "Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years," journalist Haynes Johnson came up with an unflattering statistic: "By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations." dir.salon.com/story/opinion/conason/2004/06/08/reagan/index.html
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 8:42:11 GMT -5
How to oversee a corrupt administration. In his 1991 book "Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years," journalist Haynes Johnson came up with an unflattering statistic: "By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations." dir.salon.com/story/opinion/conason/2004/06/08/reagan/index.html And there are also books written about Reagan that were not similar to what Haynes Johnson wrote about Reagan so what is your point if there is one?? George Schultz who worked for Reagan and has held seminars out here at Stanford Univ tells a much different story about his boss than Mr Johnson
|
|
ugonow
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 10:15:55 GMT -5
Posts: 3,397
|
Post by ugonow on Jun 28, 2011 8:42:26 GMT -5
Don't push your son into dance classes?
|
|
|
Post by Mkitty is pro kitty on Jun 28, 2011 8:46:32 GMT -5
"10 Things Conservatives try to forget about Reagan" so don't forget these lessons! www.sodahead.com/united-states/10-things-conservatives-try-to-forget-about-reagan/question-1492787/1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. 2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. 3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. 4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. 5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to chose. 6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” 7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. 8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. 9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. 10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden.
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 8:47:37 GMT -5
Don't push your son into dance classes? C'mon now is that the best you can do?? How about Reagan's daughers or his other adopted son?? Go for it..
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 8:52:07 GMT -5
"10 Things Conservatives try to forget about Reagan" so don't forget these lessons! www.sodahead.com/united-states/10-things-conservatives-try-to-forget-about-reagan/question-1492787/1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. 2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. 3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. 4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. 5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to chose. 6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” 7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. 8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. 9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. 10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Source:What is SodaHead? SodaHead is a dynamic discussion community where you can discover, debate and discuss issues that get you fired up. Over 1.5 million SodaHeads share their unique views on hot topics, breaking news and controversial issues and a diverse panel of staff writers provide original and exclusive content daily. With that many angles, the discussions on SodaHead will open your eyes to a panoramic view of your world that you won't get anywhere else, allowing you to see the big picture and discuss About as credible as your cutting and pasting comments by your othere source: Rosie O'Donnell ...http://www.rosie.com/askro/default.aspx
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,484
|
Post by billisonboard on Jun 28, 2011 8:53:03 GMT -5
How to oversee a corrupt administration. In his 1991 book "Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years," journalist Haynes Johnson came up with an unflattering statistic: "By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations." dir.salon.com/story/opinion/conason/2004/06/08/reagan/index.html And there are also books written about Reagan that were not similar to what Haynes Johnson wrote about Reagan so what is your point if there is one?? George Schultz who worked for Reagan and has held seminars out here at Stanford Univ tells a much different story about his boss than Mr Johnson People can tell all the "stories" they wish to tell. People can talk all they wish about how Reagan made them "feel". I, and others on the thread, are talking about the cold hard reality of the Reagan Administration.
|
|
|
Post by privateinvestor on Jun 28, 2011 8:58:14 GMT -5
People can tell all the "stories" they wish to tell. People can talk all they wish about how Reagan made them "feel". I, and others on the thread, are talking about the cold hard reality of the Reagan Administration.
Yea right posting a link to a book by Haynes Johnson is the cold hard reality of the Reagan Administration..?? That makes a lot of sense..NOT!!
Who is more knowledgeable about the Reagan years Mr Schultz or Mr Johnson?? I will go with the former...in case you are wondering..
|
|
ugonow
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 10:15:55 GMT -5
Posts: 3,397
|
Post by ugonow on Jun 28, 2011 8:59:51 GMT -5
Read some Bruce Bartlett.He was Reagans top economic advisor,and has bashed many Reagan myths.
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,484
|
Post by billisonboard on Jun 28, 2011 9:02:10 GMT -5
People can tell all the "stories" they wish to tell. People can talk all they wish about how Reagan made them "feel". I, and others on the thread, are talking about the cold hard reality of the Reagan Administration. Yea right posting a link to a book by Haynes Johnson is the cold hard reality of the Reagan Administration..?? That makes a lot of sense..NOT!! I didn't post a link to a book. I quoted a fact from a book. Are you saying that there were not "138 Reagan administration officials ...convicted, ... indicted, or ... subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations"?
|
|