Barack Obama is weak and Ronald Reagan exuded power, Republicans say. But while conservative White House hopefuls revere the 1980s president as a foreign-policy icon, oversimplifying Reaganism may mask nuances of his diplomacy.Appreciation for the ex-president, who died in 2004, is nothing new. Buttons and posters bearing his countenance are
By our correspondents
April 20, 2015
Barack Obama is weak and Ronald Reagan exuded power, Republicans say. But while conservative White House hopefuls revere the 1980s president as a foreign-policy icon, oversimplifying Reaganism may mask nuances of his diplomacy. Appreciation for the ex-president, who died in 2004, is nothing new. Buttons and posters bearing his countenance are common at conservative gatherings. Nostalgia peaks at the launch of each presidential campaign, as candidates jostling for prime position invoke his popular legacy. Reagan is the most admired Republican leader of the post-Second World War period. According to pollster Gallup, 61 percent of respondents in 2013 rated him as outstanding or above average, behind only Democrat John F. Kennedy who received 74 percent. “Reagan’s election and my grandfather’s allegiance to him were defining influences on me politically. I’ve been a Republican ever since,” wrote Marco Rubio, who last Monday launched his presidential campaign along themes emblematic of the man long known as “the Gipper.” “Ronald Reagan was... arguably one of the best presidents for foreign policy,” opined Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who is exploring a White House run. Ex-Florida governor Jeb Bush, who could become the third Bush to win the White House, said when he cut his political teeth in the 1980s it was the Reagan doctrine of “peace through strength” that dominated. Bush, Rubio, Walker and 2016 candidates Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul all use — and sometimes overplay — the Reagan card, calling for a return to the “shining city on a hill” that Reagan invoked a generation ago. Unconcerned with sounding anachronistic, they say they want to counter Iran, push back against Russia and defeat the Islamic State extremist group much like Reagan brought the Soviet Union to its knees. The Reagan who entered the White House during the Cold War was an unrepentant anti-Communist. He pledged a strong military, sweeping aside the “detente” strategy embraced by predecessors in order to repel the Soviet threat in nations like Nicaragua and Afghanistan, where his administration financed the Contras and the mujahideen, respectively.
