Unfortunately, politically, we are living with a televised version of Ronald Reagan that is a Perfect Man. Republicans are able use their fantasy Reagan as a political glue: affection for Reagan holds together their older voters and an odd coalition of anti-abortion and nationalist voters. A comparison with John Kennedy may prove useful.
The real Ronald Reagan was always a movie star. Jack Kennedy looked like he could have been a movie star. Each of them got into one big shooting war where their own forces took hundreds of fatalities. They did rather poorly at war.
Both of these actions ended as total failures. There is no other way to say it.
What happened to Kennedy and Reagan looks very similar at first look. Kennedy had the Bay of Pigs invasion in April, 1961, just after coming into office. (The missile crisis came later, in October, 1962. One U-2 pilot, Major Anderson, died. He was shot down over Cuba.) For Reagan, his war was his "Peacekeeper" action in Lebanon from 1982 to 1984.
As Commanders in Chief, our two "Hollywood" presidents were not up to it for the early challenges. Nothing worked for them. Neither of them maintained control or effectiveness. Yet still, even today, the Republican Party and its allies present an image of Reagan that erases his failures.
"Tear down this wall" was Reagan's best line. It was not magic. Assessing Reagan as a president begins with two life-and-death decisions:
-- Immediately on coming into the White House in 1981, Reagan formed an alliance with Saddam Hussein. He reversed Jimmy Carter's neutrality policy. Then Reagan went public, providing shiploads of material to Saddam during the Iran-Iraq War. This Reagan-Saddam alliance did nothing for America and killed Iranians by the tens of thousands; then
-- Beginning in August, 1982, Reagan managed U.S. participation in a United Nations Peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. This was supposed to provide cleanup after an invasion by Israel. Reagan turned "Peacekeeping" into an alliance with Christian Felangist militias fighting Muslim and Druze militias in a renewed civil war.
Reagan's allies in Lebanon were the same militias that slaughtered 3,500 Palestinian civilians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, July 16-19, 1982. Worse yet, Reagan pulled his 800 Peacekeepers offshore just prior to the slaughters. Put them back in two weeks later.
Think anybody Palestinian or Muslim in the Middle East has forgotten that one?
The heaviest part of it in terms of U.S. munitions is connected with firing the guns of five U.S. Navy ships. They were located offshore from Beirut. Later, Reagan added a sixth warship, the battleship New Jersey. By local count 1,500 civilians were killed by these shellings. A half-million people were driven east, to areas controlled by Syria.
Reagan on Lebanon: "Teach them a lesson."
For his part, "Hollywood" Kennedy allowed the Bay of Pigs invasion to go ahead as planned without significant review. Contrary to Reagan's reversals from Carter, Kennedy changed next to nothing that he got from Eisenhower. He also talked to Ike on the phone regularly. This was a respectful relationship.
Eisenhower and Kennedy fell for emigrant claims that there would be a popular uprising against the Castro brothers. So did CIA, if we are to believe later statements. So did their Cabinet members.
The situation with Vietnam developed politically similar to what happened during planning for Cuba. No one understood the risks. Between 1961-1962-1963 the U.S. lost almost 200 in Vietnam but it was not seen as a shooting war.
Kennedy had the good sense to end his invasion of Cuba early. Three days in, it was time to minimize slaughters of Cubans on both sides. There was no point to generating massive ill will.
Reagan didn't get that concept. He withdrew onshore forces when the Marine barracks was destroyed. He insisted on keeping the ships offshore, firing artillery at very questionable targets to May of 1984. Apart from ego there no point to it.
Reagan and his advisors missed it that blood debts in Islamic societies tie in to requirements for "just retaliation." That is the social valuation process that they use to avoid vendettas. It is mandatory.
Reagan invoked retaliation processes in Iran and in Lebanon. First time blow back came through, in January 1983, the U.S. embassy in Beirut was bombed. That killed 63. Six months later, in October, Marine BLT Barracks at the airport was flattened killing 241. The total for retaliation bombings was 398 dead.
Iranians came over to Lebanon and helped the locals make it happen.
At the end of this mess, in 1985, the Hizb Allah ("Hezbollah") was formed explicitly as a Lebanese-Iranian alliance -- effective to this day.
In order to match up with Reagan, Kennedy would have had to station warships off the coast from Havana. Then keep the warships there for the most of two years. And fire barrages with hundreds of artillery shells into the city suburbs.
I don't remember Kennedy doing that. Most likely, until they rewrite Kennedy's history, he's keep on not having done that.
Thing is, fewer than 1% of the American public know that Reagan used the naval guns to fire on Beirut. Next to nobody knows that Reagan had more than 4,000 5" shells were fired in one series of barrages. Then 288 and 290 16" shells in single days were unloading from the New Jersey. There were lots of those days. A half-million Lebanese were driven from their homes.
Not one of these American shells hit a military target. Arguably, there were no military targets to be hit -- at most little pickup trucks carrying 81mm mortars.
I also don't remember Kennedy taking sides in a regional war apart from Vietnam. Eisenhower had "Advisers" in Vietnam, so of course Kennedy continued the policy.
Know your hoaxes.
If you listen to corporate media, you will hear grave tones recite a story that Jack Kennedy was a loser. A lightweight mentally. Same time, Ronald Reagan was a Perfect Man, close to God.
Of course they rewrite our history -- Cuba and Lebanon are excellent examples. Put out lies, build hoaxes -- that's the job.
"Hoaxes Are Our Most Important Product."
There is no way to paint Reagan as a great president, unless you erase what he did with Saddam Hussein and with the Felangists in Lebanon.
To understand Kennedy, to rate his performance, you can do worse than comparing him with Reagan. The real Reagan.
For most Americans what they have for information is the corporate rewrite of history. For example: corporate media ignored the 20-, 25- and 30-year anniversaries of the Marine BLT Barracks bombing. So much for "Thank you for your service." Reagan's alliance with Saddam didn't happen. Reagan's alliance with the Christian Felangists didn't happen. Sabra and Shatila didn't happen. Have I mentioned that Reagan was a Perfect Man?
Libya in 2012 is covered with every Republican complaint. We lost 4 people. "Lessons Learned" from Lebanon are never mentioned.
Perfect Man. They gotta have it.
The performances of Kennedy and Reagan are doubly interesting. You have the two men, obviously. You have their performances and their personalities. Hey, folks, they're dead presidents!
Same time, you get prime examples of how the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy perpetrates hoaxes. On the whole, of course, any rational appraisal has to put Kennedy a strong step ahead of Reagan. Neither of them accomplished all that much. They were great talkers. Great stylists. The problem for Reagan is that he was a barbarian when he was tempted to slaughter Iranians and Lebanese.
Reagan cost America, big time. The Hizb Allah likely would not exist. The mission for Qods Force would reflect a different charter. The "Paper Tiger" idea echoed by Usama bin Laden was popularized with descriptions of the Marine BLT Barracks bombing and Reagan's subsequent retreat. The man bit off more than he could chew and he did any number of foolish things to look tough.
Kennedy ??? Bay of Pigs failed stupidly. He let Vietnam build year on year, plus the utter madness of paying out 3-million piasters ($42,000) to the pair who killed the Diem brothers.
Reagan's negatives overwhelm. Reagan was the one who came up with the idea of using the naval guns. Big on WW II documentary footage. With Kennedy, the big blunders came from listening to CIA. Give them time, they would make a murderer of Pope Francis.
We can do better.
Below the orange muffin for chronologies, hard core history, links, a consideration of their ultimate presidential legacies.