Howard Dean says Ronald Reagan had no accomplishments 'for the ages'
| Washington
Fans of Ronald Reagan are preparing a variety of festive occasions to mark the 100th anniversary of the 40th president鈥檚 birth Feb. 6.
But when former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean was asked to assess Mr. Reagan鈥檚 legacy, he was restrained in his praise, saying 鈥淚 think it is hard to point to particularly singular accomplishments that are for the ages.鈥�
Dean, who was also Vermont鈥檚 longest serving governor, began by noting that 鈥淚 think Reagan was a great leader, had leadership attributes. I do think he put a roadblock in terms of the Roosevelt revolution. I don鈥檛 think he reversed it,鈥� he said, referring to the path set by Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.
In explaining why he thought Reagan did not have accomplishments 鈥渇or the ages,鈥� Dean noted that 鈥渢here was no civil rights bill or Medicare or Medicaid established. I attribute the collapse of the Soviet Union much more to Gorbachev than I do to Reagan 鈥� the peaceful transition away from the evil empire to a less evil empire.鈥�
A different view comes from the Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library. proclaims 鈥渂ecause of his legacy, captive nations were freed, a Cold War was ended, economic freedom flourishes, and Americans were made proud again.鈥�
While Dean, a former Democratic presidential candidate, was restrained in his praise, he seemed to understand why Republicans take a different view. 鈥�The Republicans are right to revere him, in the sense that he did represent kind of the end of the progress in terms of where Roosevelt was taking the country and the reassessment we have been fighting ever since. I think we have sort of fought to a standstill. But he put a stake in the ground and stopped the kind of progression to a more communitarian country,鈥� Dean said.
