Reports indicate that President Reagan died this morning after his health took a turn for the worse. 10 years ago he was diagnosed with Alzheimers and his health has been steadily in decline since. His wife Nancy has largely kept him out of the public eye since, maybe for the better, she wanted to preserve his legacy after all. Reagan was the last truly strong President to serve in office, meaning that he was able to find consensus, enact his agenda, and have strong sustained support from the general public. Reagan was best known as the first actor to ever achieve the Presidency. Throughout his career he was denounced as a lighweight who didn't have any intellectual depth. Most who have read his journals get a sense of his true capabilities, he was a President who was engaged and thought long and hard about the issues. Granted he wasn't right about everything. He was elected in 1980 with a mandate to decrease the size and scope of government. He wasn't really successful in that goal, but he did bring politics more towards the right. One of his biggest initiatives was to increase funding for defense, but there was a downside to this strategy. Many of Reagan's biggest supporters claim that deficits don't matter. They do, a government that spends more than collects weakens the structural integrity of the national economy in the long term. Sometimes during times of economic crisis it is necessary to run deficits, but the deficit during the Reagan presidency was simply too much. Reagan was correct to lower taxes however, it indeed did have a stimulative effect on the economy, but there were also other factors at play here like the Federal Reserve taking control of high inflation and interest rates. Reagan was also able to effectively end the Cold War peacefully by essentially cornering the Soviets, whose economy was literally rotting from the inside, but they were still nonetheless armed to the teeth with nuclear weaponry. He used the Strategic Defense Initiative to outdo the Russians who simply could not compete with the US. He wanted to deter the Soviet threat by outspending them on defense. His zeal in fighting communism also led to scandal, as was demonstrated in Iran-Contra, where funds from arms sales to Iran were diverted to funding anti-communist guerilla's in Central America. Many of the people we dealt with there were of questionable character to say the least, but he probably didn't have any direct knowledge As was mentioned earlier, the downside was increased deficits, but there was a historic opportunity at hand to checkmate the Soviets. In retrospect, Reagan spent more on defense than was necessary, but he accomplished his goal of defeating Soviet communism. Politically, he was popular primarily because of his optimism, which is necesssary in that field in order to be successful. It helped that he was able to communicate himself almost poetically. Many argue that Reagan left America in worse shape than how he found it, but I don't agree. Reagan may have increased the deficit and may have cut too many social programs, but all of that was outweighed by his trust but verify foreign policy with the Soviets which allowed for the fall of communism peaceably throughout Russia and Eastern Europe. in many ways this was one of the greatest foreign policy feats of the 20th Century. Many of his economic policies, however unbalanced they were, overall lead to very strong economic growth during the 1980's and the 1990's. All would have agreed that the tax burden needed to reduced at the time, which stood at nearly 70% at the top marginal rate when he found it. Many people don't connect conservatism with being forward looking and having vision, but Reagan truly did have it. He was actually far more liberal than most claim, in today's Republican party, Reagan would be considered a moderate. He knew his place in history and took advantage of it, that was what made him a successful President. I send my condolences to his family today.

Definetly most likely...since he's dead.

It's hard to say how he's actually doing since the family doesn't divulge much information. I'm betting that since he probably has the best round-the-clock care he'll last a few more years. It's a lot like the situation with Rose Kennedy a few years ago. If nature had been allowed to run its course she never would have lasted as long as she did.

Sad, but true. The world will mourn this man when God calls him home.

Ronnie Raygun is dead already.He has been replaced by an automaton for the last ten years.

He's alive? Who could tell.

For all the public knows he could be dead already. Nancy might be keeping his corpse around to keep her company.