>Ok I need to ask this, I was still a young man(10)when Reagan left office in '88 What made him such a great president? I know this answer alone could fill a forum but I consistently hear on how great a president he was and just studying his policy does not give me any good answers. TIA

Well, you can start with when he took over for Jimmy Carter. Carter may have been one of the "nicest" presidents ever, but he was too indecisive. Reagan came in with a plan. He selected capable people to run the government and then took a high level management style - staying out of their way.

He gave us back our esteem. When Carter was president the country seemed to question it's greatness.

When Reagan left, we were once again proud to say we are Americans. I believe the single biggest thing you can say about Reagan is that he was the author of the fall of Communism in Russia. He negotiated with Gorbachev and won him over. It is still inspiring to see him standing in front of the Berlin wall saying "Mr. Gorbachev, ... tear down this wall!" We also had prosperous times in the '80s under Reagan and it could have been even more so, if he could have kept the congress from spending the money.

I see George W. trying to emulate him and that's a good thing. Clinton has talked about what a great leader he was, but he never really attempted to lead like him. I agree with W. that Clinton dropped the ball (to put it mildly). He had a golden opportunity and allowed his passion for other things to consume him. He will forever be know as the licentious president. Reagan's legacy is "Mr. Gorbachev, ...tear down this wall", Clinton's is "hey baby, come over here!"