A second-rate and B-movie actor, yet elected governor of California, Ronald Reagan served two terms as president of the USA. Everyone took him for an uneducated idiot and yet in The Cretin Who Won the Cold War Jean-Yves Le Naour, historian and screenwriter with Cédrick Le Bihan in the drawing, tells the political life of a man whose basic charisma knew how to put the Soviets in their place, scared the shit out of them as it was so unpredictable and unmanageable. Curious man, Ronald Reagan. We will make the connection with Trump but having followed his two mandates journalistically Reagan did not really resemble him in substance except for the fact that Reagan was acclaimed during his two elections. Le Naour did an excellent job of research, following Reagan day after day in his works. The Bihan did not specify the traits of the characters too much, which means that sometimes even in familiar territory we look for names. The fact remains that this album puts things in their place and for many younger readers it will be a discovery not to be missed because it also explains American reality, America first.
1980, Republican convention, Reagan is in the lead, Bush will be vice-president. We come out of the closet Goldwater, the most right-wing of the former candidates. The Reds, the Russians of course, are the designated target. Iran as a bonus with the hostage taking. God is with him and Carter is running against him!. Reagan knows how to communicate, a more than average actor, doesn’t know his files. A debate with Carter swept away with a Reagan who tells jokes but which hit the mark. We talk about an economy that is plunging (like today). The vote is relentless. Carter has 49 electors, Reagan 489. Bingo for Ronald who doesn’t like to get up early even on his inauguration day. He scares all the political staff. He no longer wants to borrow (he will change his mind), the stock market follows. And it brings together public opinion. No more tax pressure, give money back to the rich. From 70% tax he wants to go to a maximum of 30%. On the international side, we are no longer going to discuss with the USSR and set up a vast military program whose highlight will be Star Wars, an anti-missile system which must cost billions. He doesn’t care about the climate. Offensive-based humor and substance.
Was Reagan a great president? Yes if we consider that he sends Andropov, Gorbachev on the ropes. Faced with a Mitterrand, a Thatcher he will even say that deflation and devaluation are the same thing. His strategy is simple against the USSR, he wins, they lose. Teller explains to him that lasers on satellites will be able to destroy Russian rockets. What follows is a game of arm wrestling, the crushing re-election, the Korean Airlines flight shot down by the Russians as a priori on December 25, 2024 that of the Embraer 190 of Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243. It will go to Berlin, in Moscow and the wall falls. Ultimately Reagan moron? Not so sure because it suited him that people thought he was stupid even though he doubled the US public debt in eight years. We will talk about the Reagan era, which is a benchmark, but on the other hand with a social policy that has been forgotten.
The Moron Who Won the Cold War, Wide Angle Collection, €15.90
