News flash, folks: He did NOT "end" the Cold War. I could go on and on and on about how he f**ked over the poor and less fortunate to the benefit of his well-to-do and corporate masters...but that's a story for another night, kids.

GREED isn't on the list of Cardinal Sins for no reason.

Not that there isn't blame to go around, but we're reaping what Reagan sowed.

If  'conservatives' were honest with themselves, they'd acknowlege the fact that the 'conservative revolution' has probably given us President O'Bama.

(Yeah, I know I suck at prognostication, so perhaps President Palin will be the 'reward' instead.)

Against the ERA,
Involvement in S&L will leave our grandchildrens grandchildren in debt.
Involvement in Iran Contra.

Just as shifty as the 2 Bushes and Nixon.

However, i gave him an extra star for the optimism he brought to the country. Also he had a sense of humor and thats important too.

First blaming Reagan for the present financial problems is like blaming the easter bunny because you got sucky christmas gifts! Second the communist terrorists in south america were born during Carters administration not reagans and reagan actual began to bring a halt to their activites. Third the homeless population skyrocketed because of the laws passed by liberals that made it harder to commit or hold mental ill people (who made up a vast majority of the homeless in the 80s). Keep trying to rewrite history and people like Victor will continue to throw it back in your face!

Though I would have to give the all-time #1 spot to the father of our country, George Washington, Reagan is a very close second. Too many people have forgotten the magnitude of the mess he inherited. Too many have forgotten his achievements. Jimmy Carter and the Democrat Congress had left us with double-digit inflation, double-digit interest rates, high energy costs,high taxes, the near-death of small business, the lowest housing starts since before WW2, a decimated military, and humiliation on the world stage. Reagan lowered taxes, built up the military, restored Amrican pride, confronted Arab/ Muslim terrorism, and brought down the USSR. He did it all while presiding over the greatest sustained period of peace-time growth in our nation's history to that point. Was he perfect? No. Did he make some mistakes? Yes. But on balance, he remains one of the greatest leaders in world history. 

UPDATE: I love this mantra from the Reagan detractors that Reagan had nothing to do with the fall of the Soviet Union. It's funny that Mikhail Gorbachev has said, on more than one occasion, the EXACT OPPOSITE.  Gorby: "When he (Reagan) was giving that speech at the gate, we were watching him on TV and laughing. Everyone kept saying 'look at that cowboy'. We aren't laughing now". He went on to talk about how the economic and military pressure Reagan brought to bear caused them to crumble "like a house of cards". Reagan was the first President to abandon the policy of containment, and I think it is safe to say that gorbachev knew what he was talking about here.

UPDATE 2: Blaming Ronald Reagan and his policies for the current economic crisis is like blaming Christopher Columbus for the sinking of the Titanic. Did Reagan sign off on legislation to overturn the Glass-Stegall Act? No. Was it the Reagan justice dept. who threatened lending institutions with lawsuits if they failed to count unemplyment and welfare checks as income for home loans? No. Was it Reagan who got us into Iraq while signing every spending bill that crossed his desk? No. Grab a clue folks.

if you're interested in finding the cause for today's economic clusterfuck, you need look no further than reaganomics. he was also responsible for ilegally selling wmd's to iranians and using the profits to build a terrorist army in central america, which killed tens of thousands of people during the 80's. oh, btw, during reagan's "glory days", the homeless population more than tripled.

Truly America's greatest president, Reagan brought greatness to America, and defeated the Soviet Union.

We could use Ron right now!

overated,his conservative mesage was complete bullshit. The last truly great Republican was Eisenhower, after that it all whent downhill. His stupid eccononic policy caused huge budget deficits and cost George Bush a second tearm. Reagan also turned a blind eye to issues ranging from poverty to the aids epidemic.

Ronald Reagan reshaped the Republican party, gave rise to the modern conservative movement, and altered the political dynamic of the United States.

(updated)

He didn't get the name "Great Communicator" for no reason.  You knew what you were getting.  He was a straight to the people president.  He could connect with the American people,  and the press couldn't stand him for that.   He created millions of jobs by the time he left office.  Re-built our repuation as a military super power, and ended the cold war.   Also one of the best speakers, and had one of the best sence of humors then any other prez!

First president that I cried for when he died. The last real statesman to lead our country. After him there have been nothing but politicians. He had backbone, and did what was needed to help the country along, as well as defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Durning this election year, I really miss him.

Our best President in the past 50 years.

He stood up and strangled Russia economically and militarily forcing Russia to stop the cold war. This enabled the USA to significantly reduce military expenditures in the 90's and ultimately led to much economic prosperity in the 90's (combined with the fact that Clinton put conservative economic advisors in charge and they did a good job of holding the line on spending with the Republican Congress).

America was a great country after Reagan's 8 years which was considerably different than 9/11 after Clinton, the 16% interest rates after Carter and the scandle after Nixon.

Most overrated President. Iran-contras, deregulation of S&L, and so on.

Reaganfailed to curtail the public debt

one of the least-offensive republicans

not a fan at all, though better than idiot we got now.

Great first term, and a so-so second term. I hate to say it but the economy took a turn for the worst in his last few years in office. Whether you should blame a current president or not is debatable, but they could the blame. I like Reagan but will admit he was somewhat overrated.

He was another great president, he defeated the evil empire and shrunk the government.

The most overrated President ever. Let's just say he was a good actor. Tip O'Neill once said of all the Presidents he worked under Reagan knew the least about politics or how the White House worked.

If Reagan didn't bring the USSR down, George Washington didn't win the independence of America. How could anyone be so shortsighted? Reagan (a republican) recovered for America that which Carter (a democrat) lost, that is, international credibility and national pride. As an interesting note: no other President ever has won more states than Reagan did in his second (hello) candidacy. America needs and longs for another Reagan.

The first president to take politics completely out of the realm of reality (JFK had, it was true, began that practice) and instead move it into a hazy realm of television advertising and opinion polling. Most people who love Reagan can't actually name anything he did. Sorry, you can't say he took down the Soviet Union, because it was Nixon's China policy combined with Afghanistan which made that inevitable ... We can say what he actually DIDN'T do: end the great "evils" he needed to keep around in order to flog (abortion and welfare); recognize AIDS as a national tragedy; even stay awake most of the time ...

Reagonomics

my fav ...

He's good, but he lied to people in some areas.

better than hes givin credit for.

did a lot of good things, but why help bring about the fall of the Soviet Union? dint hurt the country's leader any, just the ppl of the country - can't understand that...still were human beings, despite what country they lived in

I'm not a hawk... I'm a dove, but I'm a heavily armed dove.

I actually voted for him. Don't think I would if he were running today.

If your biggest claim to fame is the constant touting of smaller government, while you outrageously overspend, drive huge deficits and force your big global political/economic enemies into defense bankruptcy, you don't get bonus points.

Our country is screwed-up thanks to this guy. He may have been a nice guy in private, but his politics were lame. bailing out corporations, deregulating business so they aren't accountable anymore, "voodoo economics"

Reagan has one of the most mixed bags of results of any President. His greatest positive was his ability to inspire, and this was put to good use by inspiring the Eastern Europeans to send the Soviet Union the way of the dodo bird. On a negative note, he sanctioned deficit spending that spiraled out of control during and since his tenure.

We will long be paying for his bad policies.

ended cold war, Great economy. Strong leader #1 President and we all know it.

Why isn't Reagan top?
I swear he is almost unanimously top of every list-that-doesn't-include-Lincoln.

You're ruining everything by voting a five for people like Washington.

As a conservative i strongly supported many of Raegan's policies. I believe his policies are the main reason why the Cold War ended

The best president ever

most OVER-RATED person in the ENTIRE history of the WORLD!!

Karma's a real bitch when you sell out your country with "I DON'T RECALL" copouts!

Basically, a feel-good steward of the American Presidency often credited with winning the cold war. I have no doubt that Reagan was a decent man, but victor in the cold war he most certainly was not. He was merely the heir of a bipartisan, half century policy that happened to bear fruit on his watch. Mostly he was a telegenic, former B movie actor, whose folksy proclamations of anticommunist rhetoric and unabashed patriotism resonated with the aging voters of his era.

Yes, it is humorous how the young, the ignorant, and a bunch of flat out liars try to change history. Since the fall of the Soviet Union seems to be a popular topic in this list, let's concentrate on that.

First, I find it funny that the same people who credit Bill Clinton for every sunny day and light breeze while he was in office are the same people who want to say Reagan just "happened to be president at the time" when the Soviet Union fell. Especially since Reagan was actually out of office when the wall came down, but that's neither here nor there. As has been mentioned, even Gorbachev gave credit to Reagan for the fall of the USSR, and Reagan did it without firing a shot. Under the previous (and dreadful) administration, the U.S. had a policy of being content with co-existence. Under Reagan, the U.S. openly stood against the Soviets, something that seems so simple now but was bold for the time because of the simple fact nobody dared to do it before. Without Reagan's stance, the USSR would not have fallen, the Berlin Wall would still stand, and families in Germany would still be seperated.

He was for smaller government. He understood that the country was founded on the notion we could better govern ourselves then people thousands of miles away. He rebuilt a military that was skeletonized by the Carter administration. He showed that acting against terrorists when they first raise their ugly heads deters them, rather than letting them build power and passing the problem on to the next administration.

Finally, I see that some have chosen to make childish comments about a man that died after a long battle with a horrible disease. Having lost someone that suffered from Alzheimer's, I can say that obviously none of you have dealt with it. If you had you would not make light of that curse. It is good to see that some of you are sloppy enough to show your true colors while cloaking yourself with the "loving, caring Liberal" tag.

Ronald Reagan was a fine man. May he rest in peace.   

Reagan was a war criminal and a dictator puppet for the right wing he is not a good president or a good person he was a snitch in the 50s and got his jobs by sqweling on so called reds and pinkos he did not destroy communisim it colapsed on itself becuse communism sucks and the Europeans got sick of it Reagan had nothing to do with it other then being the pres. at the time stop glorifing this worm he doesnt desearve it.

Possibly the greatest U.S. president ever

hopeless, this president tried actively to eliminate the energy department because it was pursuing research into alternative energy and conservation after the first oil crunch. So nice guy sure! but stupid and manipulated by western oil interests! The start of the recent trend in corporate dummy presidents.

Had Alzheimer's disease for most of his second term. Ran up the largest deficit ever, until GW ran the country into the ground.

  NANCY!! THEY'RE BACK!
THEY'RE COMING OUT OF MY JELLYBEAN JAR THIS TIME!

-Ronald Reagan on Elves

One of the greatest presidents of all time. His brilliant economic and military policies, denounced by many of the left as "dangerous" and not "nuanced" brought down the evil empire of the Soviet Union within a few years. And, he was not afraid to call a wolf a wolf and referred to the former USSR as an "evil empire," which they were (much like Iran, Syria and North Korea are indeed an Axis of Evil today). Reaganomics brought a booming ecomony after the disaster that was the Carter administration. And, of course, the speech deemed contraversial by all but him urged that Gorbachov "tear down this wall." It's telling that Reagan didn't win a peace price when Gorby did...when Reagan liberated a billion people from the hammer and sickle oppression that was Communism. Simply, a great man and one of the all time greatest presidents.

he was da bomb! I did a report about him and found out about so many good things he did we need another president like him he's my favorite president of all time!!!

That's a pretty bold (and fairly unpopular) stance, but you are dead-on.  I remember Reagan's statement revealing his contempt for "government."  The problem with the statement is that he meant, all, yes all government, and his political scions--the Bushes--have been working diligently to dismantle the government, cheapen labor (and therefore increase profit), and the Constitution...'cause...things are just so much easier to deal with when you rule as Emporer Caesar Augustus Ronnie, Georgius and Dubius and don't really have to comprehend.

I laugh when people rank this president more than a 3 overall.I also laugh at those that rate a 1.Reagan was as amoral as the next president,he may not of had interns that we know of but he was involved in serious lapses of judgement.I commend him on his foriegn policy which ranks up with the greatest presidents of all time,however domestically he set us in motion for hard times.He broke up the labor unions,he increased the national debt to record highs at that time and he cut funds down on nearly every social program available.I agree with Victor 83 on some points that he inherited an office with some large obstacles,I think they were manageable in comparison to what he left for future generations to deal with.I'll give him credit for his part in the fall of the soviet union but not any more than Nixon,Johnson or Kennedy.

Not too intelligent, and besides, he closed down many 'mental institutions', which is disgraceful.  Some of the most needy, sick people in our country were thus let out into the streets to become homeless because of Reagan's insensitive cuts!