Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Real Reagan?
We had an interesting discussion today at the magazine with Jacob Heilbrunn--who wrote the major review essay on Reagan and his legacy that appears in the current issue (and who did a fireside chat" after the diaries were published).
One point in the discussion (which should be covered also on NI online shortly) that puts the whole Reagan-as-democracy-crusader versus Reagan-as-pragamtic-and-realistic into context is the famous 1987 quote, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." The wall should come down--but there is also no follow-up that says, "or I'll do it for you".
One point in the discussion (which should be covered also on NI online shortly) that puts the whole Reagan-as-democracy-crusader versus Reagan-as-pragamtic-and-realistic into context is the famous 1987 quote, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." The wall should come down--but there is also no follow-up that says, "or I'll do it for you".
