Reagan is possibly the worst President of the last fifty years.
His incredibly backwards, racist policies on drugs - and law & order in general - set minority communities back decades, intensifying the War on Drugs even though he didn't start it. By ramping up uneven, subjective enforcement of drug laws in mostly poor and minority communities he is one of many Presidents who is directly responsible for the fragmented and destructive social fabric that plagues many minority communities as a result of a large number of their young men and women being thrown in prison for non-violent offenses. Popularizing voodoo economics and giving us the false notion of trickle-down success was the beginning of the end for the American middle and lower classes. His tax cuts - and ramped up military spending - destroyed the US budget and led to no long-term economic health in this country. Instead, he rode the wave of a natural boom economy and credited his tax cuts, ushering in an era where the American people watched their wealth transfer from the poor to the rich.
He had a dangerous view on the environment - much like how our current President denies climate change as an issue, Reagan dismissed acid rain as an issue and slashed funding for defeating it because it would hurt jobs. He slashed the EPA's budget by a third and staffed the EPA from enforcing regulation to cooperating with industry to get around any actual regulation. He even rigged Superfund grants to only go to Republican-controlled districts to help Republican elections, thus allowing toxic waste to contaminate poor and minority communities over politics.
He continued the decline of the American education system by halving the federal share of education spending, removing language education, and even attempting to destroy the Department of Education entirely. And let's not forget that he was opposed to gay rights and completely dropped the ball on AIDS.
Reagan's foreign policy set up an increasing number of issues; while he successfully intervened in Angola (which lasted ~20 years until his supported group faded), he gave lip service to fighting apartheid and supported Suharto's terror regime in Indonesia, including drastically increasing arm sales. Let's not forget his disastrous, illegal support of the contras of Nicaragua! Boy, I sure do love Iran-Contra and the treason of American government officials.
Let's not forget supporting the genocide in Guatemala or funding the mujahideen to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
There are very few good things about Reagan's presidency; he did intervene in some countries that ultimately turned out for the better, but the overall cost to America and its foreign interests were far too high.
