November 04, 2005

Political Milestones

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Via the Corner we are reminded that today is the 25th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's electoral defeat of Jimmah Carter.

This is one of the first political moments that I remember clearly. My family had gone out to dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday. It was a pretty nice French restaurant in San Antonio called La Provence which, according to a quick google search, doesn't seem to be there anymore.

Anyhoo, we were in the middle of dinner when somebody came into the room and announced that Carter had conceded. And I distinctly remember a woman sitting at a nearby table saying, "Thank God."

I was fifteen at the time and really just beginning to get my own political legs. Vietnam and Watergate were more or less blurs, things that the Grown Ups had talked about when I was younger. But by the latter part of the 70's, I was well aware of the country's malaise and the world's threat. Reagan's election was like a blast of fresh, morning air, a call that we didn't have to let ourselves be smothered anymore, a genuine - if you'll pardon the expression - revolution.

Hats off to the Gipper. A great day in history, indeed.

UPDATE: Taranto puts it all in perspective:

The assassination of John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, marked the end of an American political era: the age of confident liberalism. Lyndon B. Johnson carried forward JFK's legislative legacy, cutting taxes and pushing through landmark civil rights laws. But LBJ's overambitious wars in Vietnam and on poverty were damaging to America and shattering for liberalism. The late 1960s and the 1970s saw skyrocketing crime and illegitimacy, American humiliation in Vietnam, and the tragedy of Watergate.

Finally, with the presidency of Jimmy Carter, the country hit rock bottom: malaise, gas lines, the Soviets in Afghanistan, the invasion of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Blessedly, 25 years ago today, it came to an end with the election of Ronald Reagan and the dawn of the age of confident conservatism. The ensuing two decades saw unprecedented economic growth, victory in the Cold War, and a gradual diminution of the timidity about employing U.S. military force overseas that is known as the "Vietnam syndrome." By the mid-1990s, a Democratic president was even undoing the worst excesses of LBJ's Great Society.

We're inclined to view the presidency of George W. Bush, and especially his muscular foreign policy, as a continuation of the Reagan era. There is an argument to be made on the other side: that conservatism is now in its LBJ phase, having produced swollen government at home and overextended America's capabilities abroad. The left, meanwhile, is as weak, angry and paranoid as the right was in the heyday of the John Birch society--but perhaps one day it will reconnect with reality and resurge politically.

History will reveal itself in due course, but for today let us remember how, on Nov. 4, 1980, America began to reverse its decline by electing a man who shared the country's faith in itself.

YIPS from Steve:

Let me only add these:
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Posted by Robert at November 4, 2005 04:39 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Yes, a great time. Until he committed treason...

Posted by: LB buddy at November 4, 2005 06:18 PM

Funny who enamored the left has become of "treason"...

Posted by: Steve the LLamabutchers at November 4, 2005 10:24 PM

Hasn't it been clearly proven that Reagan only won because of massive voter fraud? Ok, really massive voter fraud, but there's no way he could have won legitimately -- he's like Reagan and stuff.

Posted by: Leopold Stotch at November 5, 2005 01:19 AM

President Reagan famed optimism was grounded in his staunch belief in freedom, at home and abroad, and of the unique qualities place of the American people. That faith helped America see herself as he did, and as some have said, rescued the country from a period of dangerous self doubt.

Posted by: KMR at November 5, 2005 12:36 PM

"Funny how enamored the left has become of "treason"..."

Sometimes you've gotta call a spade a spade. Iran-Contra can't be spun any other way as far as I can tell.

Posted by: LB buddy at November 5, 2005 08:56 PM

"Treason against the United States shall consist only of levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." (US Constitution, Article III, Section 3).

That is the clear definition of Treason in America. We were not, in the mid 1980s at war with Iran, nor are we now. Regional competitors for influence? Yes. Treason? No.

From hind sight, the Reagan administration's attempt to free the Middle East hostages by trading weapsons (Hawk missiles if I remember correctly)in exchange for Iranian influence with the hostage takers, resulted in a foreign policy blunder, but not treason, and the use of the term cheapens its meaning.

Posted by: KMR at November 6, 2005 02:44 PM

I was thinking more along the lines of sending weapons to the Contras against the direct expressed wishes of congress. The hostage stuff was bad form, but the selling of weapons to Iran to fund an illegal war in central America was criminal. Fortunately Bush I was there to pardon up the mess.

Posted by: LB buddy at November 6, 2005 06:04 PM

remember BED TIME FOR BONZO? reagan had experience with monkeys especialy JIMMY CARTER

Posted by: BIRDZILLA at November 7, 2005 03:41 PM

Wow. I can actually see some hotness out of Nancy... never saw it before (sorry N!).

Posted by: Troll at November 7, 2005 06:16 PM