[Superman]

I liked Reagan, like everyone else. I did not agree with some of his policies but he had some leadership quality, which is very unusual for a statesman. Pretty goofy, that.

At the time of his presidency, and while I liked his countenance and demeanor, I strongly disagreed with many of his policies. And even in retrospect, some of the questions about his policies' effectiveness are still unanswered. Some of my conservative friends here probably think he single-handedly ended the Cold War, revitalized the economy with his tax cuts, etc. They would probably also suggest that Bill Clinton somehow just got lucky.

My humble view is that Clinton was an excellent president, and that perhaps Mr. Reagan got lucky. Reagan served just after the worst of the energy crisis and runway inflation of those times. A nice setup. Indeed, I'd argue that Dubya has had the absolute most perfect luck any "president" could possibly have. A vital economy to start, then a terrible terrorist attack. Any problems for the next 1.5 years can be blamed on that. And then, almost no matter what you might do to screw it up, the economy is going to rebound very strongly. He's done his best to pi$$ away all that world sympathy and support, and keep the economy down by starting a new and unnecessary war, but the economy is going to rebound no matter what.

Clinton come into office when financial markets were still very very busy, but pretty volatile and with a stunning national debt (Thanks, Ronnie) to deal with. At the end of his terms the economy had been robust all along, and the national debt problem was under control finally. It is also my observation that President Clinton knew how to run government and was very vigorous about that. When I've gotten specific information about how he and his staff dealt with specific problems, it appears as though he was pretty aggressive about those matters. And there were a great many. Kind of a political genius, at least from my perspective. Sure, he was narcisistic as they all are, and that primping is detestable to me too, but that's our American political game. He seemed to be good at the primping, and also very skilled at administering a government. But then, like I've said before, the democrats like government and know how to run it. the republicans hate government and are rather clumbsy when they chair committees. It's comical really, at least in Washington State.

Yeah, I think history will report Reagan's curb appeal. His charisma. It will recall Clinton's blowjob, and perhaps his charisma. But on objective points, I think Clinton will be remembered as a skilled administrator of the office.