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It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 14th 04, 06:14 PM
Edwin Johnston
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Default It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill

Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617


UNTIL last week, the status of Alexander Hamilton appeared not only secure
but on the ascent as one of the central figures of the American Revolution.
However, on the very eve of the 200th anniversary of his death, Hamilton is
now facing the equivalent of decanonization - a congressional act to remove
him from the face of the $10 bill and replace his image with that of Ronald
Reagan. In fact, as Republicans vie to satisfy what is becoming a cult-like
obsession with Reagan memorials, Franklin Delano Roosevelt may be replaced
by Reagan on the dime. The urgent move among Republicans in Congress to
replace Hamilton and Roosevelt may involve some genuine respect, but it
certainly also reflects some opportunism by disciples eager to strike while
Reagan critics are forced to observe a respectful
silence.

If the decanonization of Hamilton and Roosevelt is premature, so is the
canonization of Reagan only days after his death. What is lacking is the
objectivity needed to weigh the relative contributions of leaders such as
Hamilton, Roosevelt and Reagan.

For six centuries, the Vatican employed a priest called the devil's advocate
to challenge any sainthood candidate, arguing his or her flaws and failings
to test the claim of saintliness. In Reagan's case, few in Congress are
eager to question the relative credentials of an American icon in the
aftermath of his death.

At one time, Reagan supporters were content with their stated desire to have
their man on the dime rather than Roosevelt, credited with such small feats
as saving the nation from the Great Depression and the world from fascism.
Roosevelt is long dead, however, and what has he done for us lately?

Hamilton appears doomed by two factors: the declining value of the dime and
the fact that he graces one of the most used bills - making his
decanonization far more attractive for Reagan supporters. Finally, Hamilton
lacks any lobby or constituency beyond a few endomorphic academic geeks.

Reagan, by contrast, has an actual committee - the Ronald Reagan Legacy
Project - which spends all its time trying to get things named after Reagan.

In Washington, it seems, one may soon be able to move from Reagan memorial
to Reagan memorial without touching non-Reagified ground. There is a move to
give Reagan a memorial on the Mall, like Abraham Lincoln. Congress built a
$338 million, 3.1 million-square-foot government complex for Reagan. Then
someone noticed that the capital's airport was named after some president
named George Washington, so it was promptly renamed after Reagan. There is a
mountain in New Hampshire named after Reagan, as well as an aircraft carrier
in the Pacific and thousands of other "legacy" memorials. Congress members
are also pushing to squeeze Reagan onto Mount Rushmore.

At the least, Congress could give us the choice of which prior leader to
discard in favor of Reagan. There are far better candidates for
decanonization. There is William McKinley on the $500 bill and Grover
Cleveland on the $1,000 bill. Former secretary of the Treasury and Supreme
Court Justice Salmon Chase was given the $10,000; he - not such greats as
Chief Justice John Marshall or justices Louis Brandeis or Oliver Wendell
Holmes - is the only jurist on a bill.

Better yet, we could remove Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill. Jackson is
hardly a figure worthy of such an honor. Whereas some of the others did
little good, Jackson did much harm. After the Battle of New Orleans, Jackson
exercised dictatorial powers and engaged in outrageous attacks on his
critics. He later defied the Supreme Court and, in open violation of the
Constitution, ordered the eviction of the Cherokees from their land - an act
that led to the infamous "Trail of Tears" and probably would be defined
today as a crime against humanity.

The effort to replace Hamilton and Roosevelt proves the need to have a
moratorium on any government memorial to a president for 25 years after his
death. There is already such a moratorium for Mall memorials, which some
members are seeking to override. It was a law signed in 1986 - by Ronald
Reagan.

-----

Turley is a law professor at George Washington University and is writing a
book on Alexander Hamilton.



Ads
  #2  
Old June 15th 04, 04:16 PM
Jerry Dennis
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Do any of the "Reagan lovers" remember that the Reagan family doesn't want the
late President's portrait on any money? As much as I think RR will be
remembered as one of the greatest presidents of all time, I happen to agree a
nice silver commem would be sufficient; one year, one coin. Period.

Jerry ----- supports the Reagan family's wishes

"Edwin Johnson" provides:

Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617


Remainder of post snipped for brevity.
  #3  
Old June 16th 04, 11:39 AM
James McCown
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"Edwin Johnston" wrote in message ...
Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617

At one time, Reagan supporters were content with their stated desire to have
their man on the dime rather than Roosevelt, credited with such small feats
as saving the nation from the Great Depression and the world from fascism.
Roosevelt is long dead, however, and what has he done for us lately?


Turley is repeating the greatest myth of the 20th century. FDR took
office in 1933. In 1937 the stock market crashed again and by 1939 the
unemployment rate was at 20%.

Roosevelt's new deal policies exacerbated and prolonged the great
depression. He didn't save anyone from it.
  #4  
Old June 16th 04, 01:11 PM
Edwin Johnston
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"James McCown" wrote in message
om...
"Edwin Johnston" wrote in message

...
Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617

At one time, Reagan supporters were content with their stated desire to

have
their man on the dime rather than Roosevelt, credited with such small

feats
as saving the nation from the Great Depression and the world from

fascism.
Roosevelt is long dead, however, and what has he done for us lately?


Turley is repeating the greatest myth of the 20th century. FDR took
office in 1933. In 1937 the stock market crashed again and by 1939 the
unemployment rate was at 20%.

Roosevelt's new deal policies exacerbated and prolonged the great
depression. He didn't save anyone from it.


Well, it didn't seem to bother the Americans, who kept electing him term
after term.
Any schoolkid knows that it was the war -- war spending (Keynesism) -- that
got us out of the Depression.


  #5  
Old June 16th 04, 03:18 PM
bob peterson
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(James McCown) wrote in message . com...
"Edwin Johnston" wrote in message ...
Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617

At one time, Reagan supporters were content with their stated desire to have
their man on the dime rather than Roosevelt, credited with such small feats
as saving the nation from the Great Depression and the world from fascism.
Roosevelt is long dead, however, and what has he done for us lately?


Turley is repeating the greatest myth of the 20th century. FDR took
office in 1933. In 1937 the stock market crashed again and by 1939 the
unemployment rate was at 20%.

Roosevelt's new deal policies exacerbated and prolonged the great
depression. He didn't save anyone from it.


But he was a master of manipulating the media, and of using the force
of government to do so, in effect FDR was able to rewrite history as
it happened. Few people remember that by the time FDR took office the
economy was actually trending up again. A similar situation is now in
effect where the economy has been trending strongly upward for almost
a year now, yet most people only hear the doom and gloom.

FDR's economic policies, especially the defacto devaluation of the
dollar by 40% caused great economic disruption and only WWII saved the
US economy. I have often wondered if FDR was almost forced into going
to war due to his inability to deal with the economy in a successful
way.
  #6  
Old June 16th 04, 04:12 PM
WinWinscenario
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But he was a master of manipulating the media, and of using the force
of government to do so, in effect FDR was able to rewrite history as
it happened.


Of course, George III (and every other president) do exactly the same thing.
Geroge III does it with unusual crassness. Bob, did you see the State Dept
report on Hannity's show or Limbaugh's show telling how terrorism was down
thanks to the policies of George III? They didn't report that a week later the
State Dept and Colin Powell were forced to admit that it was a pack of lies and
that we were actually less safe under George III, with terrorism up sharply
during his term of office.

Few people remember that by the time FDR took office the
economy was actually trending up again.


Few indeed. No sensible people, no historians--just a few John Birchers who
have no regard for the truth.

A similar situation is now in
effect where the economy has been trending strongly upward for almost
a year now, yet most people only hear the doom and gloom.


It's a legitimate question for the voters. If someone adopts disastrous
policies that eliminate 3 million jobs, should they be reelected if they
recover 1 million in the year before the election or should they be replaced
because of their net loss of 2 million? If the middle class has been ravaged
by tax cuts for the rich. should the proponent of those tax cuts be reelected
because Bill Gates is doing great?

FDR's economic policies, especially the defacto devaluation of the
dollar by 40% caused great economic disruption and only WWII saved the
US economy. I have often wondered if FDR was almost forced into going
to war due to his inability to deal with the economy in a successful
way.


You are right that the economy was very sluggish right up until the war. The
reason for that is very simple. At that time, the dawn of Keynesian economics,
the mechanisms of fiscal policy were poorly understood, and neither party
really knew how to dig us out of the hole.

The difference, and the reason for the confidence of the American people, was
that FDR was willing to relentlessly take action to reverse the effects of the
Great Depression. He legitimately felt the pain of the average American and
was willing to experiment with new means to deal with the problem.

Hoover just sat there and denied there was a problem. His job creation record
was--famously--aboutt as bad as George III.

Regards,
Tom

  #7  
Old June 16th 04, 04:53 PM
Richard L. Hall
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Posts: n/a
Default


"James McCown" wrote in message
om...
"Edwin Johnston" wrote in message

...
Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617

At one time, Reagan supporters were content with their stated desire to

have
their man on the dime rather than Roosevelt, credited with such small

feats
as saving the nation from the Great Depression and the world from

fascism.
Roosevelt is long dead, however, and what has he done for us lately?


Turley is repeating the greatest myth of the 20th century. FDR took
office in 1933. In 1937 the stock market crashed again and by 1939 the
unemployment rate was at 20%.


In 1937, Roosevelt began to worry about the deficit and cut back on
spending. That plunged the economy into a recession. The unemployment rate
which had been as high as 24.9 % in 1933 and had dropped to 14.3%, began to
rise. It reached 19% in 1938. But had started to come down slightly to
17.2% by 1939. With a European War looming on the horizon, Roosevelt again
resorted to deficit spending, borrowing and spending a billion dollars to
rebuild the military. By 1940, the unemployment rate had dropped to the 10%
range.

It's no accident that we haven't seen unemployment rates that high since
then. We haven't had a depression since then, although we had a depression
or a financial crisis every 10-15 years or so before the Great Depression.
The closest we've come was during Reagan's 1st term when, in November 1982,
the unemployment rate hit 10.8% a year and a half after Reagan's tax cuts,
and stayed above 10% for almost a year, Before that the highest was 9% in
May 1975 under Ford. Is it an accident that everytime you get a Republican
president, the unemployment rate goes sky high. These are real people who
are out of work.

Reagan, of course, spent his way out the problem he created running the
highest deficits of any president up to that time. . Roosevelt did the
same with the problem Hoover created.


Roosevelt's new deal policies the great
depression. He didn't save anyone from it.


His change of policies may have exacerbated and prolonged the Great
Depression. Once he got back on course, things began getting much better.


--
Richard
A thought: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body. But rather it's to
skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly
proclaiming, "Wow! What a ride!!!"



  #8  
Old June 16th 04, 08:17 PM
Richard L. Hall
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Posts: n/a
Default


"James McCown" wrote in message
om...
"Edwin Johnston" wrote in message

...
Notice the irony at the end of the following piece:

It's too soon to tell whether Reagan fits the bill
By JONATHAN TURLEY
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2625617

At one time, Reagan supporters were content with their stated desire to

have
their man on the dime rather than Roosevelt, credited with such small

feats
as saving the nation from the Great Depression and the world from

fascism.
Roosevelt is long dead, however, and what has he done for us lately?


Turley is repeating the greatest myth of the 20th century. FDR took
office in 1933. In 1937 the stock market crashed again and by 1939 the
unemployment rate was at 20%.

In 1937, Roosevelt began to worry about the deficit and cut back on
spending. That plunged the economy into a recession. The unemployment rate
which had been as high as 24.9 % in 1933 and had dropped to 14.3%, began to
rise. It reached 19% in 1938. But had started to come down slightly to
17.2% by 1939. With a European War looming on the horizon, Roosevelt again
resorted to deficit spending, borrowing and spending a billion dollars to
rebuild the military. By 1940, the unemployment rate had dropped to the 10%
range.

It's no accident that we haven't seen unemployment rates that high since
then. We haven't had a depression since then, although we had a depression
or a financial crisis every 10-15 years or so before the Great Depression.
The closest we've come was during Reagan's 1st term when, in November 1982,
the unemployment rate hit 10.8% a year and a half after Reagan's tax cuts,
and stayed above 10% for almost a year, Before that the highest was 9% in
May 1975 under Ford. Is it an accident that everytime you get a Republican
president, the unemployment rate goes sky high. These are real people who
are out of work.

Reagan, of course, spent his way out the problem he created running the
highest deficits of any president up to that time. . Roosevelt did the
same with the problem Hoover created.


Roosevelt's new deal policies the great
depression. He didn't save anyone from it.


His change of policies may have exacerbated and prolonged the Great
Depression. Once he got back on course, things began getting much better.


--
Richard
A thought: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body. But rather it's to
skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly
proclaiming, "Wow! What a ride!!!"


  #9  
Old June 17th 04, 03:02 AM
ELurio
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Default

From: James McCown

Turley is repeating the greatest myth of the 20th century. FDR took
office in 1933. In 1937 the stock market crashed again and by 1939 the
unemployment rate was at 20%. BRBR

Actually, it wasn't. The average unemployment rate in 1939 was 12%, which was
where France was at the height of soclialist prosperity in 2000.

eric l.
  #10  
Old June 17th 04, 03:04 AM
ELurio
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Default

Few people remember that by the time FDR took office the
economy was actually trending up again. BRBR

Actually, when FDR took office, the banking industry was collapsing and the
entire economy was shutting down. The depression bottomed out in the spring of
1933.

eric l.
 




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