By Wade Wilson, Staff Writer

Ronald Reagan’s legacy is being tested. One of the most impactful presidents in American history, Reagan has long been revered by the Republican party as the gold-standard statesman and policymaker. Though Democrats generally disliked the 40th president, they have treated him with some deference, finding it easier to attack Richard Nixon, the Bushes and Donald Trump. Reaganism has been the de facto political modus operandi for the past 40 years, with each president and Congress governing essentially within the confines of neoconservatism. However, as America begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with new attitudes about how Washington should operate, the Reagan Era may be coming to a close.

Reagan’s presidency led to three significant shifts in the country: the renewal of the United States as a military superpower; the establishment of a minimally regulated, supply-side economic system; and the promotion of social conservatism and the Moral Majority. Per the Baltimore Sun, he “presided over the biggest peacetime defense buildup in history,” using America’s military might to his benefit (effectively ending the Cold War) and to his detriment (the Iran-Contra scandal). Reagan responded to a global recession by cutting taxes on the wealthy and deregulating Wall Street, believing money would “trickle down” to the rest of the country. With the backing of the faith community and arch-conservative Senator Jesse Helms, Reagan promoted a nationwide “War on Drugs” and sought to restore prayer in school. His administration was also notoriously againstgay rights, evidenced by a late and lackluster response to the AIDS epidemic. Dubbed “The Great Communicator,” Reagan used his bully pulpit with tremendous success to sell the country on his agenda, often holding televised addresses from the Oval Office. He left office with an approval rating of 68% and is the last president to have a member of his own party succeed him. 

Each president who followed Reagan operated in his shadow. George H.W. Bush, Reagan’s vice president, continued the very same economic system he had previously lambasted and maintained a strong global military presence. Bill Clinton made a handful of progressive reforms but is mostly known for shifting the Democratic Party to the center, likely because it was the only way to find political success in the Reagan era. Clinton signed into law a number of policies seemingly right out of the Reagan playbook, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, which fulfilled a campaign promise to “end welfare as we have come to know it.” George W. Bush’s problematic presidency weakened the Reagan brand and led to sweeping Democratic victories in 2006 and 2008. 

While Barack Obama’s rhetoric indicated a return to the New Deal era and his social politics were quite liberal, he was mostly unable to escape the Reagan orthodoxy. Reasons for this include his futile desire to work with Republicans, the presence of conservative Democrats in Congress, and notorious austerity politicians Rahm Emmanuel’s and Larry Summers’ outsized influence in the Oval Office. His 2009 stimulus package was too small to meet the magnitude of the financial crisis, income inequality grew during his tenure, and he was unable to end America’s involvement in the Middle East. A re-energized Republican Party dominated the 2010 and 2014 midterms and shocked the world when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016. While on paper Trump appeared to be a stark departure from Reagan Republicanism, given his personal misdeeds, his protectionist rhetoric, and promise to fully fund social programs, in practice he increased military spending and cut taxes for the wealthy. But a disastrous final year of Trump’s presidency revealed many of Reaganism’s shortcomings and led to the dawn of a new political paradigm.

Only four U.S. presidents have unquestionably ushered in new eras of American politics. George Washington, by virtue of being the first, established the United States as the premier system of democratic republicanism and federalism in the world. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves and set the course for a long and arduous battle of civil rights and southern Reconstruction. Franklin Roosevelt implemented his economic New Deal, leading to a massive expansion in social services and government projects. Finally, Reagan’s domestic and foreign policy agendas―and the rhetoric used to promote them―has been the backbone of American politics ever since. Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan all capitalized on the weakness of their predecessors to achieve fundamental change. James Buchanan’s dismal handling of intra-union relations allowed Lincoln to quite literally save the nation and become lionized. Herbert Hoover’s ineptitude in handling macroeconomic policy paved the way for FDR’s aggressive response to the Great Depression. And the 1970s, mired with turmoil from Watergate and the Iran Hostage Crisis, as well as uninspiring leadership from Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, created an opening for Reagan to usher in a new era in the 1980s.

America sits at a similar crossroads today, which is perhaps why Reaganism is being eschewed for something new. Each of the three pillars of Reagan’s tenure are being questioned from both sides of the aisle. After the world’s billionaires pocketed nearly $4 trillion during the pandemic, America is warming to government intervention in the economy, as evidenced by multi-trillion dollar rescue packages signed by Presidents Trump and Biden. Twenty years after 9/11 and the failed “War on Terror” that followed it, prominent figures in both parties are denouncing the military industrial complex. And social conservatism is going out of style as religiosity declines, LGBTQ rights have more support than ever, and drug policy and policing are being rethought. 

As Trumpism becomes the defining ideology on the right and progressivism makes an emphatic return on the left, neoconservatism is quickly going out of style. Somewhat surprisingly given his record in the Senate, President Biden has brought back the era of big government, leveraging the bureaucracy to counter the pandemic and proposing a multi-trillion dollar Jobs and Infrastructure package that is likely to pass the Democratic Congress. He is also dialing down America’s troop presence abroad, ending U.S. support for the Saudi regime in Yemen and promising to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. Biden sees himself as a transitional president, and an ascendent left-flank of the Democratic Party may continue to gain more power. In the meantime, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a politician about as far removed from Reagan as possible, recently praised the Biden administration’s first 100 days at a town hall.

On the Republican side, Minority Leaders Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walk a narrow line trying to appease donors, a group more favorable to Reagan-style politics, while also holding the Trumpian base. While members like Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) want to return the GOP to the party of Reagan, most others for now seem content keeping it the party of Trump. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is a fascinating example of this shift. A principled neoconservative and sidekick to the venerable John McCain throughout his career, Graham completely reversed course on Trump during his presidency and now says that it is Trump’s party. Other former rivals and Reagan exalters like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley now celebrate and support Trump as leader of the party. Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) best represent the post-Reagan American right. They are the two most effective mouthpieces for troop withdrawals, trade and diplomatic isolationism, the breakup of Big Tech and general economic populism, all positions that fly in opposition to Ronald Reagan. 

The Reagan era may have actually died long before now. Perhaps it died when Clinton defeated Bush, raised top marginal tax rates and rescued the Democratic party from the political wilderness. Maybe it died when Obama swept into power and passed the Affordable Care Act, or when Trump defeated the entire political establishment and changed Republican orthodoxy on the Iraq War, Russia, free trade and gay marriage. Perhaps Reaganism will yet be revived by a figure like Haley or Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), or converted into “competent Trumpism” under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. More than likely, however, the two parties will continue to diverge from Reaganism. Democrats will favor progressivism over Third Way centrism, while Republicans will double down on economic populism in an attempt to rebrand themselves as the party of the working class. 

As we continue to recover from the pandemic and deal with the climate crisis, we will look to government more than ever for solutions. A generation radicalized by decades of futile overseas conflict will support Pentagon budget cuts and the drawdown of America’s empire. And despite attempts to spark new culture wars in the same ways Reagan often did, the country is trending significantly more socially liberal. As the county rebuilds and as new challenges emerge, the Reagan era has almost certainly come to its end.