[jyl]

Who passed away at age 93, about an hour ago.

I remember what a compelling, personable figure Reagan was - although a Democrat and opposed to many of his policies, I voted for Reagan in his second term simply because I liked him and considered Mondale incompetent.

To me, Reagan left an overall positive legacy.

On the positive side, he broke the Soviets' economic back and then reached out to Gorbachev, thereby ending the Cold War. His economic policies, along with the Federal Reserve, helped end stagflation. These are huge accomplishments, and are why I think his legacy is on the whole positive.

On the negative side, he was a deeply ideological man and a skilled actor, and thereby accelerated two trends I really dislike in US politics - social and religious polarization, and form-over-substance "sound bite" politics. I'm not sure this wouldn't have happened anyway, though.

It is interesting that one of his major political accomplishments - the creation of "Reagan Democrats" - is being unwound by his Republican successors. Recall that "Reagan Democrats" are socially liberal but economically conservative. I was one in the 1980s, and Reagan's appeal was broad enough that we voted for his economic policies even though we leaned Democrat on social issues (ecology, religion, abortion, etc). Today's Republican party is so dominated by extreme conservatives / fundamentalists that there is little room for an old-fashioned "Reagan Democrat" to vote Republican.

R.I.P., Ronald Reagan.