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American Experience - Reagan Posters
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Rating:  -
I almost didn't make it through this presention. It got bogged down too much in the protest lines and slow economy that were present in the ealry part of Reagan's administration. During one part of the film, the narrator states " some Americans disagreed with the President's policies"...and as this is being said, it's showing protestors dressed in devil costumes and others wearing skull masks marching in the streets. Excuse me, some Americans ?!! I'm not saying that these marching malcontents weren't Americans, but they certainly aren't normal, common sense kind of people. More like dope-smoking anarchists.
This scene drags out for some time with melancholy music. Other parts of the film show extended scenes of Americans in umemployment lines or many liberal politicians decrying Reagan's policies toward the Soviets. I don't mind some mention of this, but these scenes are much too extended and as we now know.....history has proved these politicians and protestors manifestly wrong.
As George Washington said ' lay your shoulders to the main points and the minutia will follow".....well, all of these protestors and whining politicians ended up being the 'minutia' of history. The main points? Reagan's tax cuts and his policy of peace through strength in dealing with the Soviet empire. Alas, to the film's credit, the success of these policies is eventually explained, documented and admitted to.
The U.S. economy's 'fever broke' so to speak once the effects of Reagan's economic policies kicked in. The result; an unprecedented economic boom resulting in robust employment, economic growth and more tax revenue to the government. The beneficial results of these policies exist to this day. The film does bemoan that spending wasn't curbed much, but that was the fault of the democrat-controlled congress who wouldn't cut unnecessary social programs. The military buildup was necessary to defeat the threat of nuclear holocaust by the Soviets.
As mentioned above, the film chronicles the fact that Reagan's foreign policy was heavily responsible for the USA winning the cold war and the dissolution of communist Russia.
In summary, PBS, known for their leftest viewpoints are dragged kicking and screaming into admitting that Reagan's economic stance grew the economy out of the Carter recession. The film also begrudgingly shows the success of this President's strategy in dealing with the USSR. The facts of history wouldn't allow for it to be rewritten, even by PBS. For facts are, after all, stubborn things.
Rating:  -
This is a somewhat biased story, but the it's PBS, so, what do you expect? Ronald Reagan was an incredible president, and my guess is that if you are a diehard liberal who does not like Reagan, this may actually change you view a bit.
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This video contains such a liberal bias that it sickened me to watch it. If you don't know the truth about this wonderful man, this documentary can only cause you to come to the wrong conclusion about him. I found it disheartening to listen to the emotionally driven, untrue commentary about Reagan and his presidency, all set to dismal, depressing, and gloomy music seemingly chosen to convey the feeling of a funeral or a holocaust movie.
Reagan was a good man. Reagan was a great American. Everyone who knew him liked him. He never talked down to anybody. He was an humble human being who acted in the best interest of this nation. He deserves better.
Rating:  -
Partisans on either side will not be happy with the portrayal of Ronald Reagan. Those on the left will feel that Reagan continues to be held up as some sort of demigod, while those on the right will bristle at any criticism of Reagan's "disengaged" style of presidential leadership. I definitely do not fall into the category of a Reagan supporter & I believe the man is sometimes given more credit than he is due for world events that were unfolding long before he assumed the presidency. Nonetheless, I think that this documentary gives credit where credit is due in regards to Reagan's accomplishments.
In the wake of Reagan's death and the attendent eulogizing, it is important to remember that Reagan's presidency had both its high points & low points, and also that his political record long precedes his occupancy of the White House.
Two main themes run through the documentary: Reagan's unflagging belief in the greatness of the American nation (and by extension, his belief in his own capacity to restore the US to what he saw as its former greatness), and his dogged opposition to the threat of Communism as he perceived it. Again and again, the producers return to these themes, sometimes for the better & sometimes for the worse.
On the negative side (for me at least), this tends to reduce Reagan's foreign policy to a rather one-dimensional approach. Obviously, in this limited format it is impossible to chronicle Reagan's foreign policy day-by-day, but some significant omissions need to be discussed. Not the least of these would be the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Reagan's response to it, and the subsequent invasion of Grenada (which many people believe was an effort to distract the public from Beirut). Additionally, the bombing of Tripoli should have been examined to show that Reagan responded to the threat of terrorism in a variety of ways. One can also point to the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines to demonstrate that Reagan was not uniformly an interventionist. One would have thought that Marcos, a staunch ally of the US in the Pacific Rim and an opponent of communism, could have successfully appealed to Reagan for military intervention. Yet, the Reagan administration (to its credit, I believe) did not intervene and let events unfold on their own.
Some critics of this documentary complain that it gives Reagan too little credit for causing the collapse of the Soviet Union. All I can say to that is that they need to look at the bigger picture, going back to Truman, and realize that the Soviet collapse was a long long time in the making. Actually, very little discussion is devoted to the USSR collapse, which is probably a good thing. It has been less than 13 years since the collapse, and the last card has yet to be played in this game. It needs to be pointed out that the Communist Party in Russia is alive and well --- the legislature is filled with party members, and the Prime Minister is a former member of the KGB. It is hard to argue that Russian communism has done anything other than change its stripes a bit. The Cold War may be over (although with China still firmly communist, how can anyone definitively say that?), but it is still too early to tell. Just remember, the Bourbons in France were out of power from 1791 to 1815 --- 24 years, folks. It is best to wait another generation before making a true assessment of Reagan's legacy regarding this paricular topic.
Thankfully, this documentary avoids doing that. However, it is hard to look at this documentary as being particularly definitive for that very reason. Enough time has not yet passed for us truly to be able to assess Reagan's true legacy. We should accept this documentary as the best that can be produced until another one comes along --- and I suspect that it will be more than a few years before that happens.
Rating:  -
This is a good documentary about an outstanding President. It could have been better, given the subject matter. It betrays some bias, and has some glaring omissions. But until the great Reagan documentary is made, this is the best of what I've seen so far. It does an informative job on Reagan's youth, his Hollywood years through the governorship and finally the White House. The primary focus is Reagan's fight against communism. It has fascinating interviews with major players in the US/Soviet negotations from both sides.
There are several omissions, such as the highly controversial bombing of Tripoli, which history now shows was successful in halting terrorism from Libya - but no mention. No mention of the invasion of Grenada. References to Reagan's faith are sometimes done with at least some mild contempt and derision, by "experts" who smirk very subtley in reference to Reagan's Christian faith.
Most of the family is included: Nancy, daughters Maureen and Patti, and son Ron. A glaring omission: second child Michael Reagan was a conservative talk radio host when this film was made, and had become the best spokesperson for his father's conservative ideals of all the children. But he's excluded entirely.
Remarkably, many of the actual participants in world history are included. James Baker, Margaret Thatcher, Sec of State George Schultz, Mikhail Gorbachev and other Soviet leaders, Natl Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, Michael Deaver, Lyn Nofziger, Donald Regan, Howard Baker, even astrologer Joan Quigley. Many, many more.
Some criticisms of Reagan are major leaps in logic. For example, Reagan's advocacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative, which was key in the final Cold War negotiations, is presented as a fanciful idea, and Reagan is presented as somehow confusing reality with an old movie role he once played that featured a secret space 'ray gun' weapon. The narrator makes the comment that "It was sometimes difficult for Ronald Reagan to distinguish fantasy from reality." On the other hand, James Baker and others who were actually there explain their position that Reagan was actually a clever negotiator.
The documentary misses a great opportunity to present the "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech with the great drama and emotion it deserves. In the midst of the speech - arguably one of the most powerful of the 20th century - the narrator interrupts to say "Ronald Reagan had almost no experience in foreign policy, little knowledge of history, and a capacity to be disengaged that grew worse as he grew older. But he never lost his sense of America's mission." Totally destroys a powerful moment.
Still, there are some powerful and dramatic moments that shine through. It's a selective biography with the fingerprints of a left-wing team that was reluctant to be tasked with this job. It has several great moments - any story of Reagan has to - yet fails to fully present the powerful story of a President who is arguably one of the greatest in American history. If you're interested in Reagan, get it. But don't let it be your only source of knowledge of this great president, and this critical time in American history.
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