Ronald Reagan: Difference between revisions
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{{Useful Notes}}
{{presidents|[[Jimmy Carter]]|[[George H. W. Bush]]}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Pride in our country, respect for our armed services, a healthy appreciation for the dangers beyond our borders, an insistence that there was no easy equivalence between East and West — in all this I had no quarrel with Reagan. And when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, I had to give the old man his due, even if I never gave him my vote."''
|'''[[Barack Obama]]''', ''The Audacity of Hope''}}
Yes, he's the actor who became President. The thing is, a lot of these jokes don't work because he was only the "former actor who's running for Governor of California"; after that, he was "two term Governor of California who's running for President." [[Arnold Schwarzenegger|Which is a kind of scary concept]], if you're unfamiliar with the clause which excludes [[American Political System|all foreign-born people from becoming President]].
'''Reagan's Political Career'''
Actually, '''Ronald Wilson Reagan''' is better known as the conservative guy who was President in [[The Eighties]]. You [[Love It or Hate It|either love him or you hate him]]: If you see someone in a film or TV show talking about how great Reagan was, then it's a sure-fire indication that the character (or the script writer) is a Republican. In fact, most Republicans will couple him with [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] as their favorite presidents. Conversely, if you see someone in a film or TV show disparaging Reagan, it's a guarantee the character (or the script writer) is on the left ([[Periphery Demographic|though he does have his Democrat fans]], known as "Blue Dogs" or "Reagan Democrats", and there are self-described conservatives that dislike him, mostly for pushing policies that [[No True Scotsman|they do not think are conservative]]). British media substitute [[Margaret Thatcher]] for Reagan to precisely the same effect. Reagan's other use in popular culture is to evoke [[The Eighties]], so expect him to be referenced in anything set in a [[Popular History]] version of that decade.
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Reagan's era saw [[Peace Through Superior Firepower]] reach its greatest apex which helped end of the [[Cold War]] (although it is still hotly debated how much his influence hastened the collapse of the already wobbling USSR); he got essentially everything he wanted in the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty and [[The Great Politics Mess-Up|liberation of Eastern Europe]], followed years later by the collapse of the Soviet Union. How much of it was a direct result of his actions is debatable (see above).
Appropriately enough for a former actor, Reagan was very much in touch with the popular culture of the time, and became known as the "Great Communicator" for his speaking skills. He called the Soviet Union an [[Star Wars|evil Empire]], and quoted ''Back To The Future'' (he reportedly found the above lines from that movie quite amusing) in a State of the Union Address. His favorite television show was ''[[Family Ties]]'', which may or may not be related to the fact that one of the show's lead characters admired Reagan. Ironically, in private, he and Gorbachev became good friends, and this helped thaw U.S.-Soviet relations leading into George H.W. Bush's term. Gorbachev himself was present during Reagan's funeral, among other current and former world leaders at the time.
He has an aircraft carrier, as well as quite a few other things, named after him. He is the first former President to benefit from an organized project to polish his presidential legacy after the fact. Grover Norquist's "[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Reagan Legacy Project]]" lists, among its goals, getting at least one major landmark in every state named after him; and at one point launched a campaign to get his image on the $10 bill, until it was discovered that legislation (signed into law by Reagan himself!) requires a person to have been dead for 50 years before they can appear on U.S. currency. He passed away in June 2004 and, thus, is currently (until June 2054) ineligible. However, in 2005, the Presidential Dollar Coin act provided for the release of dollar coinage featuring all the presidents who were in office up to that point and died at least two years before the issuing of their coinage. Reagan's coin is scheduled for 2016. (This maybe considered less valuable since one-dollar coins have never been particularly popular in the United States). Humorously Republican Reagan, the oldest man ever elected president was one of two fully Irish-American presidents, the other being Democrat John. F. Kennedy, the youngest man ever elected President.
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Reagan appeared in quite a number of movies between 1937 and 1964, but nothing especially famous. Because he was extremely near-sighted, he could not go overseas and so spent [[World War II]] making training films.
In 1940, he played real-life American Football Player George "The Gipper" Gipp in the movie ''[[Knute Rockne, All American]]'' (about a Notre Dame football coach), which
His most famous role was probably in the 1942 film ''Kings Row'', which contains the famous line: "Where's the rest of me?" (his character had [[An Arm and a Leg|lost both of his legs]].) ''Where's The Rest Of Me?'' was the title of his 1965 autobiography. He had a memorable [[Playing Against Type]] role as a brutal crime kingpin in his last film, ''The Killers'' (1964).
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Though often smeared by those who hate him as being involved in [[Blacklist]]ing, Reagan said at the time "As a citizen, I would hesitate to see any political party outlawed on the basis of its political ideology. However, if it is proven that an organization is an agent of foreign power, or in any way not a legitimate political party - and I think the government is capable of proving that - then that is another matter. But at the same time I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment." He also made a number of statements critical of McCarthyism as being un-American. He did, however, during the Red Scare in the late 1940s provide the FBI with names of people whom he believed to be communist sympathizers within the motion picture industry.
'''Reagan's Reputation'''
He is the [[Ur Example]] of many recent examples of [[Our Presidents Are Different|President Buffoon]], most notably, a recurring list a statements such as "more of our imports come from overseas", "how hard it is to put food on your family", ''etc''. These are often immediately redistributed to [[George W. Bush]] or [[Dan Quayle]], who are actually the source of some of them. Unfortunately, much of this kind of humor, and above all the quite real statements of "do not recall" during the Iran-Contra affair, became a [[Funny Aneurysm Moment|Funny Alzheimers Moment]], i.e. not so funny any more (and the "imports" knee-slapper misses that [[Did Not Do the Research|two of America's largest importers are Mexico and Canada]]. D'oh.). He was also the [[Trope Namer]] for [[The Capital of Brazil Is Buenos Aires]].
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Please remember the [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment]].
{{creatortropes}}
* [[Actually Pretty Funny]]: During the second debate, Reagan was pretty much on the defensive after he made a poor showing in the first. His tired look in the first debate was the subject of a question whether he was too old for the Presidency (being, at the time, 73). Reagan immediately fired back:
{{quote|"I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. [[Gentleman Snarker|I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.]]"}}
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* [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]]: Especially in his speeches, his idealism about freedom [[Eagle Land|and the American way of life]] shows though (see the slogans "it's morning in America", "this Wall will fall" etc). As his actions on Grenada and Nicaragua show, he was capable of being much more hard-headed in private.
* In the ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' series, Ronald Reagan demanded a [[Humongous Mecha|giant robot]] force to go with the Star Wars project, hence the presence of [[A Mech by Any Other Name|Arm Slaves]].
* In ''[[Japan Inc]]'', a manga about economics, hence more realistic than other examples.
* Reagan appears in ''[[Batman]]: [[The Dark Knight Returns]]'' as a disturbingly shrunken and senile wretch who's stayed in office 20 years longer than is legal.
* In [[The DCU]], wannabe superhero Michael Jon "Booster" Carter, calling himself Goldstar, traveled back in time to 1986 and managed to save Reagan from an assassination attempt. When Ronnie asked him his name, he responded "Boost... er, Gold...," and was forever more known as [[Booster Gold]].
** Also, in the [[Crisis Crossover]] ''Legends'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130714080232/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=798:president-reagan-bad-ass&catid=30:frames-and-panels-index&Itemid=34 Reagan apparently faces down a group of armed gunmen breaking into the Oval Office]. "You have five seconds to surrender yourselves!" (Gunfire to Reagan's chest ... with no effect beside [[Clothing Damage]].) "Now you have two seconds!" It's revealed to be a disguised Martian Manhunter acting as a decoy.
* Issue #344 of ''[[Captain America (comics)]]'' had The Viper using a serum she got from Slither (a minor ''[[X-Men]]'' villain) turning Ronald and Nancy into [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] serpent-men with the rest of Washington, DC in an earlier stage of the transformation. The Captain (as he was known at the time because of a dispute with the government) didn't manage to stop the plot before throwing down with the suddenly scaly Commander-In-Chief who was clad only in his underwear. Reagan even used old glory as a weapon during the fight. While Cap was preoccupied with the president, Viper was able to make a [[Villain Exit Stage Left]] but she was not able to get very far before she was stopped and defeated by Cobra (who is usually an enemy of [[The Mighty Thor]]). He said it was payback for Cap helping Sidewinder retake control of the Serpent Society and had nothing to do with his political affiliation.
* In the 1980's Action Comics ran a Deadman storyline in which at one point Deadman and the Devil drop in at a Washington soiree, possess Reagan and Gorbachev, respectively, then switch to Mrs. Gorbachev and Mrs. Reagan, respectively. [http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4735401341_490b2a2b3a_b.jpg And then] [http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4736048912_eefddf6eb1_b.jpg they fight].
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'''Reagan:''' (holding up American Express card) Will ''this'' do? }}
* A ''[[Strontium Dog]]'' story in 1987 involved Johnny and Durham Red rescuing Reagan from alien [[Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters|freedom fighters]] from the future who were threatening to kill him in order to create a [[Time Storm]] if all humans did not leave their planet. It's clear that Alan Grant was not fond of Reagan.
{{quote|'''Alien 1:''' So this is he--The Reagan? [[Puny Earthlings|A puny specimen]], even for a human. Just like [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|the defilers]] to worship such a one! Do you suppose [[Humans Are Ugly|ugliness is a virtue to them]]?
'''Alien 2:''' [[Humans Are Morons|Or stupidity]]? Have you ever seen eyes so vacant? }}
* In ''V for Vendetta'', neo-fascist dictator Adam ''Susan'' is intended as a reference to Ronald ''Reagan'' (and to Margaret Thatcher as well)
* ''[[Give Me Liberty]]'' has President Rexall, a Reagan [[Expy]] who ends up as a [[Brain In a Jar]] and goes on to serve three terms.
* The opening quote is from the first ''[[Back to The Future]]'' film. In the second, the '80s Cafe' is shown, a bit of a [[The Theme Park Version|Theme Park Version]] of the decade. Reagan was shown on a ''[[Max Headroom]]''-like display offering Marty a drink, vying with an animated Ayatollah Khomeni for his attention.
** This may be a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Doonesbury]]'''s "Ron Headrest", a similar ''Headroom'' parody.
** Additionally, the filmmakers wanted Reagan to play the mayor of 1885 Hill Valley in the third film, but he had to decline due to prior commitments.
*** Actually, Reagan ''[[What Could Have Been|wanted]]'' to play the mayor, but it was his aides who turned down the offer.
* He's mentioned several times in ''[[Born in East L.A.]]''. When the immigration officer asks Rudy who's the president. He answers John Wayne by mistake, which is "proof" enough that he's an illegal despite his protests and his ability to clearly speak English.
{{quote|'''Rudy:''' ''I'M AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, YOU IDIOTS! THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS RONALD "DICKHEAD" REAGAN!''}}
* An indirect shout out in the 1967 (early in Reagan's political career) spy comedy ''[[In Like Flint]]'' has the president replaced by a double. Flint, hearing the whole evil plan, incredulously mutters "An actor as President?"
* Reagan gets a [[Shout-Out]] / [[Take That]] in ''[[The Matrix]]'' when [[Face Heel Turn|the traitor]], whose name is Reagan, says he wants to be "reborn" in the Matrix as an actor and completely forget his past.
* Rumor has it that George Lucas named "Nute Gunray" of ''[[Star Wars]] Episode I: [[The Phantom Menace]]'' after ''Newt'' Gingrich and Ronald ''Reagan'', which would make it a [[Take That]]. Alternatively, "Nute" may have come from '''''Knute''' Rockne: All American'', the film which gave Reagan his nickname "The Gipper." Supposedly, Lucas was upset about the SDI's nickname, even though it was Reagan's critics who dubbed it "[[Star Wars]]," not the President. (''See also'' [[Real Life]],'' below''.)
* The killer in ''[[The Tripper]]'' is a psychotic, hippie-hating Reagan-fanatic who dresses and acts like him.
* The [[Invisible President]] in ''[[The Wizard of Speed and Time (film)|The Wizard of Speed and Time]]'', whose broadcast address preempts the special Mike's film will be on, sounds eerily like Reagan.
*
*
**
* In [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' series, one of the characters, Susannah is transported from the America of 1964 into a fantasy world. When she meets Eddie, who came from 1987, she doesn't believe that Reagan is the president by then, and thinks he's just kidding.
* In [[Frederik Pohl]]'s ''The Coming of the Quantum Cats'', an alternate Ronald Reagan exists in two of the universes. In one, he's a former actor viewed as a subversive by the government. In the other, he's the First Gentleman—Nancy Reagan is president.
* Inasmuch as ''[[The Kite Runner]]'' is based around the events in Afghanistan from the 1970s up to the present day, Ronald Reagan's election is mentioned. Amir's father Baba is a huge supporter, going out and buying a poster of Reagan the day after the "Evil Empire" speech.
* Reagan was one of the four ''X''
{{quote|'''Reagan:''' Just say "no" to '''pissing me off!'''}}
** Sadly, due to constant cast turnovers brought about by behind the scenes problems, Reagan was largely unscathed by ''SNL''{{'}}s political humor during his actual Presidency. It was only until the very end of his tenure as President, that ''SNL'' found
* In the satirical puppet show ''[[Spitting Image]]'' he was often portrayed as in a relationship with [[Margaret Thatcher]], and as a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] always accompanied by the chimpanzee Bonzo (see [[Never Live It Down]]).
* John Casey from ''[[Chuck]]'' is a big Reagan fan.
* Jack Donaghy of ''[[30 Rock]]'' reveres Reagan as the patron saint of capitalism.
*
*
* "Battalions of Fear" by German metal band [[Blind Guardian]] is about his policies. As you can probably guess by the title, it's not positive.
* [[Michael Jackson]] appeared with Ronald and Nancy in a Rose Garden photo op. Reagan honored Michael for allowing the [[Just Say No]] campaign to use the song "Beat It" in an ad. According to the Jackson biography, ''The Magic and the Madness'' [[The First Lady]] found Michael somewhat peculiar but attractive. To say that this was controversial would be... an [[overstatement]].
* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMFHT6BGO0 music video] for [[The Minutemen]]'s "This Ain't No Picnic" included clips of Ronald Reagan from a war film. The clips were [[Manipulative Editing|edited]] to make it look like Ronald Reagan was shooting at and bombing The Minutemen from a fighter plane.
* [[Impersonation Paradox|Rich Little]] did a fictious appeal to minority voters as Reagan rapping and Nancy on Bass. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XECby_mT1w "Rappin' Ronnie"]
* "Secret Service Freedom Fighting USA" by [[The World
* [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]]'s video of 'Land of Confusion' uses ''[[Spitting Image]]'' and their puppets, including that of Reagan as a would-be superhero.
* [[Owl City]] uses part of Ronald Reagan's famous speech about the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle as an intro to the song "Galaxies", which is a tribute to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the tragedy.
* [[The Boondocks|Huey Freeman]] is convinced that Ronald Reagan is really [[The Antichrist]].
** This is based on actual conspiracy theories by some black militants, citing, among their reasons, the fact that his first, middle, and last names [[Number of the Beast|All had six letters]].
* In a 1981 series of ''[[Bloom County]]'' strips, Santa's elves [[Weird Trade Union|go on strike]]; Reagan (who is never depicted but heard as a voice on a TV seen from the side) fires them all and replaces with scabs, breaking the union. Any resemblance to the 1981 [[wikipedia:Air traffic controllers strike|air traffic controllers' strike]] is purely intentional.
* In the musical ''[[Assassins (theatre)|Assassins]]'', John Hinckley Jr. shoots Reagan as an act of love for [[Jodie Foster]]. Reagan survives. Like the other assassination attempts, it's presented as a carnival game, with a buzzer sounding every time Hinckley fails to kill the president, and the Proprietor mocking him with Reagan's various quips.
{{quote|'''Hinckley''': He died so our love could live!
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* The 1984 off-Broadway musical ''Rap Master Ronnie'', co-written by Elizabeth Swados and ''[[Doonesbury]]'' creator Garry Trudeau, satirizes key Reagan administration events and individuals. A movie version was released in 1988.
* Sometime in the eighties, Ronald Reagan was [[James Bondage|kidnapped]] by [[Ninja]]s. Fortunately, there were [[Bad Dudes|some dudes who were bad enough to rescue him]], so they did, and then went out for a hamburger (specifically, you get to watch President Ronnie eat one in front of you. [http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/a/bad.htm What the hell, Ronnie?]).
* The heroes of the [[Blind Idiot Translation|Engrish-laden]] classic ''Battle Rangers'' also set out to save president Ronnie from a boomerang-tossing despot.
* "Senile Reagan in a Bikini" was the original co-host of the game show segment in ''Bushgame'', a politically-charged spinoff of the ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131206195904/http://www.emogame.com/ Emogame]'' series. Out of... respect(?) after Reagan's death, the character became the more lucid "John Snow".
* Reagan appears as a minor character in ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War]]'' where he authorizes a black operation team to neutralize Perseus after being briefed of his threat by Jason Hudson and Adler.
* ''[[Edge The Devilhunter]]'' features Reagan
* ''[[Ansem Retort]]'' also used the REAGAN SMASH joke mentioned below...except this time Reagan turned into [[The Incredible Hulk]] and really did tear down the Berlin Wall.
** {{spoiler|And as it turns out, the reason Ronald Reagan can turn into [[The Incredible Hulk]] is because Axel brought a gamma bomb from the future and set it off at the set of Kings Row.}}
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* ''[[Subnormality]]'' not only claims that Ronald Reagan [[Card-Carrying Villain|is evil]], but that he is an excellent [[Villain Song|freestyle rapper]]. He's on a date with [[Margaret Thatcher]], who is also evil.
*
{{quote|'''Homestar:''' Well... well... Nancy and I... economics... well... rap music... jellybeans... well... we... probably had a... pet...
'''Bubs:''' That's the worst Ronald Reagan impression I've ever heard!
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* In ''[[A World of Laughter, A World of Tears]]'', a young Reagan hosts the Micky Mouse Club TV show (which turns into a mouthpiece for political propaganda).
* Reagan is the candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 1976 in ''[[Fear, Loathing and Gumbo on the Campaign Trail '72]]''; he narrowly loses the election to Democratic candidate George Wallace. Reagan then runs for the Republican nomination again in 1980 but loses the primary election to Donald Rumsfeld.
* ''[[The Onion]]'' did a report on the GOP [https://web.archive.org/web/20131106063922/http://www.theonion.com/video/zombie-reagan-raised-from-grave-to-lead-gop,14385/ raising Ronald Reagan from the grave] so that [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|Zombie Reagan]] can be the new face of the Republician party.
* Appeared briefly in a review by [[The Nostalgia Chick]]. With the [[Star Wars|Imperial March]] playing over his picture.
* He's mentioned in ''[[1983: Doomsday]]'' as having survived [[World War III|Doomsday]] and managed to escape the crumbling US for Hawaii. But en route to Australia, his plane vanishes in the South Pacific, leaving George Bush Sr. as the head of the American exile community.
*
**
** Homer's "Rappin' Ronnie Reagan" tape.
*** This is actually a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Impersonation Paradox|Rich Little's]] "Rappin' Ronnie", a
** When seeing Homer's Barbershop Quartet, The Be Sharps, sing at the Statue of Liberty's Centennial Anniversary, Reagan turns to wife Nancy and remarks, "Damn ceremonies. This is time I could be working, Mommy."
* In ''[[The Boondocks]]'', Reagan is
* Reagan is depicted on ''[[Family Guy]]'' saying his "Tear down this wall" line and then beating on a brickwall with his bare fists yelling: "REAGAN SMASH! REAGAN SMASH!". It turns out it was the wall of a McDonald's and the workers inside comment that it was nothing to be concerned about, and that he tends to wear himself out quickly. He is then seen curling up like a child, muttering: "Reagan Sleepy...".
** A recent{{when}} episode implied he was gay with Gorbachev.
* In an ''[[Animaniacs]]'' episode, De-Zanitized, Reagan appears in Scratchansniff's flashback, taking place when he was an actor, and tells the doctor about his dream where he becomes president. Scratchansniff deems him incurable.
** May be a [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]]. The episode came out in 1993, a year before he revealed his Alzheimers.
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* ''[[American Dad]]'s'' Stan Smith worships Reagan more than he does Jesus (and he already does a lot of that).
* Although not technically fiction, Phillip Adams gave Reagan a [[Fan Nickname|Detractor Nickname]]: "Ronnie Raygun" — a reference to the Strategic Defense Initiative, which sought to put the United States at the front of technological arms race during the cold war by putting satellites in space to shoot down any nuclear missiles headed the US's way with [[Frickin' Laser Beams]], nicknamed the "[[Star Wars]]" project.
* The lack of good ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' sketches about him has been rectified a bit by Dana Carvey's "Reagan Oracle" routine, portraying him as having masterminded every presidential election of the next twenty years at the end of his own term.
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