New Series - Reagan as the Fulcrum
Introducing a dive into the Reagan mythos. THe good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Three acts, from his acting days, through his performance of a lifetime, to the canonization and saint hood. No shiboleths spared
One of the things that has long troubled me is that when I came of age and learned about politics, even in that naieve 18 year old way, is that during his time in office, Ronald Reagan was viewed with a reverence as a man who transcended politics, who could connect with the common folk, whose charm, warm smile, and similes connected with a generation.
Today, there is plenty of nostalgia for the Reagan era, people like Sarah Longwell, and Tim Miller of The Bulwark will harken back to this as the golden age of conservatism, crediting Reagan as a patron saint that had the rizz.
And at the time, in college, voting for the first time, I likely pulled the lever for him. Honestly, I don't remember, but my first election would have been the Reagan / Mondale cycle. Both my parents did as well.
Yet later on, as, as I began to pay attention, I began to realize that Reagan wasn't the ur-politician – a man of the people – that he was talked about in hushed tones, but instead he was a vessel for the operatives that attached themselves to him like a remora on a shark.
In many ways, Reagan was just a bog standard politician, someone who had a lot of baggage, and who was flexible in his morals and positions. There is a mythology about his greatness, and how he really broke the New Deal Democrats stranglehold on the political machine, yet it all rings hollow.
In this long series (I am already looking at 6 posts before his awakening into a political front-man) it will be broken over three eras: "The Actor", all of his history leading up to the speech that began it all, A Time for Choosing. Next up is his political life, "The Performance" the reaction to A Time for Choosing, how the consultants and power brokers got their talons into him, how that sprung him into the California governorship, and ultimately the White House.
Lastly, it will be "The Canonization" how his story and the hagiography that happened, and what that legacy built, and how it really began the trajectory of the Republican party to what it is today, MAGA chuds, and a rump centrist/elite class that has lost all control.
I am titling this series as "The Fulcrum" because when you stand back and look at the whole shebang, it really is a large lever and Ronald Reagan is standing at the fulcrum point.
I sincerely hope you will join me on this journey. I have been researching this on and off for more than a decade at this point, and I feel that it is now time to finish it off, flesh in the details, and to lay it all out.
- Geoff, AKA Sweaty Spice, September, 2026
