Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Learning about Ronald Reagan

On my recent trip to Washington during the election we had tons of meetings with different people representing different views and standpoints on American politics and the election. However most of them all mentioned Ronald Reagan as a reference point in US politics from some aspect (either for or against). I have never realized how much of a defining point in US politics he was and I felt a bit lost in listening to these references.

I can honestly say politics have been one of my least interests in life and even though I keep myself updated - Ronald Reagan was before my time. I can discuss my way around the Presidents since the early 90s - but anything before that is more of a white spot on the map part from the names and basic politics.

I never took political science at university (I was a communications major) and my main association of Ronald Reagan was that Alex P Keaton, played by Michael J. Fox in the TV-series "Family Ties" (I think it was called "Fem i familjen" in Sweden), was a major fan of him which was upsetting to his liberal democratic parents causing a lot of fun tension...

So - now I have ordered a Ronald Reagan biography DVD to learn more about this obviously dynamic president and what it was that made Americans love - or hate him. Considering that I'm still not in phase with the only (!) show I follow, House, I might get to this DVD sometime in time for the next election.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hej!
Jag skriver en kommentar till det tidigare I love you- inlägget, om det är ok :-) .
Väldigt intressant reflektion och diskussion. Jag tror det är skillnad mellan språken, men jag tror också det är en generationsfråga. Jag tror inte våra far- och morföräldrar generellt gick runt och sa Jag älskar dig så ofta, men jag tror att våra barn kommer att göra det. Vi är väl lite mittemellan.
Jag såg statistik om det här med att kramas när man träffas. Tjejer kramas generellt oftare, men på män syntes generationsfrågan tydligt. Män över 50 kramas ALDRIG om de träffas, män under 30 och speciellt om de bor i storstad kramas ganska ofta.
Tyvärr vet jag inte om dessa faktum med kramar och Jag älskar dig är ett tecken på mera kärlek mellan oss människor :-) .
Ha en bra dag!

JaCal said...

Ingrid - ja, det kan nog helt klart vara en generationsfråga och en bra utveckling i så fall. Inte så att det får gå inflation i uttrycken - men så att alla blir bättre på att uttrycka kärlek! ;-) Haha - ja, jag kramar glatt alla svenskar - mer reserverad med amerikaner - men japp, ju äldre männen är desto mer "stela" blir det, även inom nära familjen.. ;-)

Ally said...

I've tried to write a response now three times about Reagan. He's so complex (and his presidency as well) that I'd be curious how the DVD documentary talks about him, how it views his international and domestic legacy.

I couldn't tell you much about Swedish politics from the 80's back but a fantastic podcast series through sr.se called P3 Dokumentär is helping that.

Unknown said...

Not a Reagan fan, I will be interested if they show the damage he did to the mental health system when he was Govenor of California.

JaCal said...

Ally - we'll see.. I wanted to find something "neutral" just to learn - but I'm figuring that is kind of hard. I think I finally ordered the History Channel DVD. I'm not sure I can tell you anything about 80s politics in Sweden either *blushing*... maybe I have to check into that podcast...

Christine - well, there seems to be many opinions and I'm not sure I will get a very detailed view from just a DVD - but right now I feel a need to know at least some more basic facts on what he did (or didn't). Hopefully the History Channel dvd is interesting.

Ally said...

I am a life long Democrat and even I can see that Reagan wasn't a demon or anything but it will be interesting to hear what you took away from the video. :-)

Umepojk i Tråvad said...

Flyttade till USA 1974, och när Reagan var presidentkandidat sa jag att jag skulle flytta tillbaka till Sverige om det amerikanska väljarna skulle vara idiotiska nog att välja honom. Det gjorde jag ju inte, men jag har mer och och mer insett att det inte går att underskatta det politiska tänkandet i det här landet. Har äntligen anledning att se på den politiska framtiden här med en viss förhoppning.

JaCal said...

Ally - I will tell you - in 2012, which is probably when I've had a chance to watch... ;-)

Umepojk - ja, då har du ju mycket mer hands-on erfarenhet och referensramar. Intressant att ha varit här både nu och då!