Did you find Reagan "likeable?", "affable?", did he have "charisma"?

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

I see this is a common expression about Reagan, that he was likeable, affable, that he had some sort of charimsa.

To be honest, I never really saw that. Aside from photo-ops where he shown smiling and waving alot (and all presidents and political leaders do that), I always thought he was sort of on the grouchy or sorehead side. He seemed to be pissed-off alot.

In fact I think the first Bush and Clinton seemed to be more likeable and pleasant than Reagan.

So, I was wondering if you agree with this assessment about Reagan..do you agree with me, or do you think Reagan did have some sort of charm.

[mike_c]

1. no....

He was a doofus who learned to exploit his own dooficity.

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. I found him to be smarmy.

The "charm" he allegedly had nauseated me.

And I was 30 when he was first elected.

[latebloomer]

3. As I posted before, in a thread that was locked

yes, he was charming-- he was an amiable meat puppet. He wasn't a President, he just played one on TV- much like our present misleader. Both were controlled by fascists who want to rule the world and destroy all the social progress of the 20th century. And both are all twinkly-eyed and "aw shucks" for the cameras, deluding the masses into thinking they mean well.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

6. Thats interesting....

I know what you say about Bush, but somehow that "aw shucks" style seems fake or phony somehow, or its just grating.

I guess I did'nt see Reagan enough on TV back then, so really cant say. Just what I recall from his speeches and such that I did see he didnt seem too pleasant.

[libhill]

20. Hmmm -

isn`t that supposed to be a trait of the Anti-Christ that all the religion nutters fear?

[Union Thug]

4. laughable buffoon..

but evil to the core. Hated every molecule in his body..

[Sportndog]

9. reply

I have to agree with you. I thought that he helped elevate lies and deceit to a new level. He was a horrible Governor and brought repression in California. Remember when he was President how they brought in Astrologers before he could make decisions. He was terrible. It shows you how delusional Republicants are to elevate this President only because he got elected.

[libhill]

5. No way -

I never liked the man, never even liked his funky old movies they used to show on tv, for that matter. This country started going to shit when Ray Gun won the Presidency.

[Nay]

7. My DH and I always thought he seemed old and senile. When

It was revealed that he had Alzheimer's, we looked at each other and shouted, "We were right!"

I also was immune to his "charm," probably because I knew he was an actor, and I never trusted that I was seeing the real person. During the Reagan years, I kept a scrapbook of all the horrible things he had done. I was scared of him. Now I'm terrified of what we have in the White House.

[salin]

8. He rather made me cringe... said things in such simplistic ways

didn't seem to know what was going on in the big picture, and was prone to sounding completely out of touch with the issues at hand. Of course with the benefit of relative comparisons... he now sounds coherent, articulate, and even... intelligent (thanks to jr.)

However, he really did seem to connect with and charm a whole lot of people.

[libhill]

11. Well -

only if sitting on your ass gobbling jelly beans is considered "charming".

[Kurt Remarque]

15. i never got that "great communicator" deal

also, remember when he "won" the debate with mondale merely because he was semi-coherent?

[WindRavenX]

10. I was born during his second administration so I can't say much...

BUT from what I have seen and read about the guy, I find him to be qutie simplistic and a nationalistic a*sshole.

[Lori Price CLG]

12. No, no, and no.

My shortest post, ever!
Ronald Raygun was a Reichwing terrorist.

-Lori Price
http://www.legitgov.org/

[Skittles]

13. ABSOLUTELY NOT

I saw through his phoniness from day one, just like I did with Dubya.

[moondust]

14. Reagan was all about Reagan.

Nobody else existed. Contrary to "liberal" media hysteria, he was not a communicator. Everything was scripted.

[PurityOfEssence]

16. Ever see the movies of Hitler playing with kids and with his dog?

He's a cheery guy. Kids loved him, and he could be a very gregarious host.

This all means nothing.

America always has had a love of affability, and it's some kind of trump card. Whether Reagan was charming and personable or not is immaterial; besides that, this is one of the signs of a narcissist, and lest we forget, he WAS an actor.

[Marymarg]

17. He was great

as host of General Electric Theater. That was on TV a loooonnnngggg time ago, when I was a child. I think that was the zenith of his career.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

19. That was before my time....I began to notice Reagan in the 70s..

When he ran as the right wing candidate agains Gerald Ford in the primarys....I heard he used to be this right wing California Governor who fought the student radicals. ...

I didnt know about his TV or movie career, though I do remember Death Valley Days from TV in the 60s.

[scrotim]

18. Nope, I never got that whole "likeable" Reagan thing.

of course, the SCLM has been telling us for three years the same thing about Shrub, and I don't buy that either.

[Zookeeper]

21. Only in the "Bedtime for Bonzo" movie...

As president, he never struck me as charming or authentic.

[linazelle]

22. RayGun was an airhead, I guess most airheads are likeable

For some unknown reason, the press fawned over his every word, even though that one word was usually "Well..."

I remember a time of strife when RayGun was in office. The economy was not good, union busting was unprecedented. I was not into politics because I was too interestd in boys then but I knew enough to know I did not like what he was doing to the country. I never really knew what Iran Contra was about--and I'm sure most people don't. But I've learned more at DU in the past year and a half than I've ever known about politics and with that knowledge, in hindsight,
Raygun was despicable.

[Rex]

23. He was a puppet POS that deserves to be spat when talked about.

Fuck him, it's just a crying shame it wasn't Bush that croaked.

[libhill]

24. Don`t say that -

look who`s standing behind Bush- Dickhead Cheney, the mother of all anus cavities - that dude sends shivers down my spine, pure fukkin` evil.

[Rex]

25. Doh! How right you are!

I take it back! Ack!

[Walt Starr]

26. He was an evil old fuck

He didn't give a shit about anybody but himself.

[arwalden]

27. I Switched To CNN... And I Heard The Word "BELOVED" At Least 10 Times In

15 minutes. BARF-ity BARF-BARF-BARF!

Click! No TV for me until they bury the SOB!

DVD's ONLY for the next week!

-- Allen

[Rabrrrrrr]

28. I always thought he had a lot of charisma

Whenever he spoke I was riveted, even though I knew it was all lies. Partly because he was a fantastic orator (IMO) but also something about his presence. He really seemed genuine and honest (meaning, he came across that he sincerely believed everything he was saying, and I don't doubt that he did) when he was speaking.

He had a certain charm, and a spell on me, even though I despised just about everything that came out of his mouth, and out of the oval office when he was president.

I imagine that Hitler must have had the same kind of charisma and charm. it's too bad both of them used it for evil.

[Arugula Latte]

29. To be honest, just seeing Reagan's face

made me sick, much like Shrub's does. An evil man, he was. Affable? I always thought it was a cover, an acting job.

[Neecy]

30. oh god no

I've never found hearthless bastards affable.

It's amazing to me how the cable channels keep speaking for the vague entity known as 'the people'....you know, he was so loved by 'the people', 'the people' found him so likeable, ad nauseum. These blanket statements seem to forget that there was quite a bit of opposition to his policies while he was in office. 'The people' didn't universally love this dunce.