I had a lengthy post put together about Reagan, his presidency, and his place in history — and then I scrapped the whole thing. It was a long and hostile tirade about how the man we’ve been hearing about since Saturday morning bears no resemblance to the controversial 40th president, but I’ve decided it’s probably inappropriate for the time.
Instead, there’s just one thing I feel compelled to point out, which I haven’t seen emphasized elsewhere. Over the last 48 hours, I’ve lost count of how many times Reagan has been portrayed as leading a moral administration worthy of respect. It’s worth noting, therefore, that 32 Reagan administration officials were convicted of crimes in various political scandals under Reagan’s watch, including the most serious White House scandal since Watergate that nearly led to Reagan’s impeachment. (Two of the convictions were overturned on appeal and another was pardoned by H.W. Bush)
As Doonesbury’s Garry Trudeau noted two years ago:
* Number of Reagan administration era convictions in the Iran-contra scandal: 14 (two overturned on appeal).
* Number of Reagan officials convicted for illegal lobbying: 2 (Michael Deaver; Lyn Nofziger, overturned on appeal).
* Number of Reagan officials convicted in Housing and Urban Development scandal: 16.
* Total number Reagan era convictions: 32
No president before or since oversaw a White House with so many criminal convictions. In fact, by way of comparison, there have been large organized crime families that have had far fewer convictions that the Reagan administration.
What’s worse, these convictions don’t even begin to include the dozens of other Reagan administration officials who narrowly avoided prosecution, but nevertheless left their positions in disgrace.
Over 30 additional Reagan appointees resigned or were fired following charges of legal or ethical misconduct, including Secretary of Interior James Watt, Secretary of Interior Raymond Donovan, CIA Director William Casey and EPA Administrator Anne Burford. Many dozens more were investigated.
Morally superior? A model for future presidents? A standard the nation can be proud of? I’m afraid not.
And, as long as I’m on the subject, let’s take a moment to compare Reagan to Clinton on this point.
Number of Clinton officials indicted or convicted in Whitewater, Travel Office, FBI files, Monica Lewinsky, Bruce Babbit, Michael Espy investigations: 0
In you came to The Carpetbagger Report looking for a more detailed analysis on why Reagan worship is misplaced, I’d like to recommend a couple of terrific items that I noticed over the weekend, including Tim Noah’s item in Slate and Paul Waldman’s piece in The Gadflyer.
And beyond this weekend, there are several must-read articles for those hoping to get a more realistic assessment about Reagan. Michael Kinsley’s two–parter in Slate from 2001 is flawless; David Corn compiled a great list of things to remember about Reagan in The Nation; and Josh Green had a tremendous article in the Washington Monthly three years ago about Reagan’s “liberal legacy.” For book lovers, Garry Wills’ “Reagan’s America” is a classic.