Ronald Reagan vs. Margaret Thatcher

[President Johnson]

Battle of the neoliberal 1980s icons. Which one do you prefer or consider the lesser evil?

I'd prefer Reagan overall. He was much more in favor of German reunifaction.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I actually find it interesting that R/neoliberal prefers Thatcher to Reagan given that Thatcher was far to Reagan’s right on immigration and also far less of a “globalist” overall . Reagan was more socially conservative but the U.S. is also a far more religious country than the UK and if you had them switch places , I doubt there is much change in each nation’s social policies .

Anyway to answer this question I’d say Thatcher economically since the UK was in far more dire state but Reagan clearly when it comes to foreign policy so voted Reagan here

[President Johnson]

I actually find it interesting that R/neoliberal prefers Thatcher to Reagan given that Thatcher was far to Reagan’s right on immigration and also far less of a “globalist” overall . Reagan was more socially conservative but the U.S. is also a far more religious country than the UK and if you had them switch places , I doubt there is much change in each nation’s social policies .

Anyway to answer this question I’d say Thatcher economically since the UK was in far more dire state but Reagan clearly when it comes to foreign policy so voted Reagan here

Yeah, immigration is another issue in which I would agree far more with Reagan. When it came up during a primary debate with Bush, they both sounded like a liberal from today's perspective. Reagan also emphasized the benefits of immigration in his last speech as president.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Reagan

[Mr. Smith]

Thatcher and it's not close.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Death.

[Goldwater]

Raygun.

[Christian Man]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

A lot of that is that Thatcher actively tried to undermine successive UK Tory leaders.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/aug/23/uk.euro

But he then unleashed his most ferocious assault on Lady Thatcher since his departure from Downing Street in 1997. "This is an issue that comes up again and again so let us get it, perhaps, out of the way once and for all," he said. "Margaret wasn't very helpful during the 1990 to 1997 period, particularly the 1992 to 1997 period.

"I do think it was pretty unprecedented to have a former prime minister to be actively encouraging new young Conservative members of Parliament to vote against an existing Conservative government in the way that Margaret did. I think that was unprecedented," he said.

"Of course it did immense damage. If you have young backbenchers in Parliament wondering whether they should rebel against the government they've been elected to support and they're encouraged to do so by the activities of the former prime minister whom they revere, then clearly it becomes much easier for them to rebel."

You could say she was the OG brexiter in ways too as she even turned against something like the EEC by the late 1990s too

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/mar/18/uk.eu

Lady Thatcher last night reignited the Conservative debate on Europe by calling for Britain to start the process of withdrawing from the European Union, saying the institution was "fundamentally unreformable".

In an astonishing attack on the European continent, she claimed most of the problems the world has faced, including Nazism and Marxism, have come from mainland Europe. She also sided with the former Conservative Enoch Powell by claiming he had been right to warn in the 1970s that entry to the Common Market involved an unacceptable loss of sovereignty.

The former prime minister's remarks in her new book, Statecraft, will embarrass the Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, who has been trying to take the party away from its obsession with Europe towards mainstream public service issues.

He will face a difficult time in the Commons today during a government statement on the EU summit in Barcelona.

Tony Blair is bound to seize on Lady Thatcher's remarks to claim the true Tory agenda is withdrawal from Europe rather than any renegotiation.

In her book Lady Thatcher calls for Britain to join the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), a decision that would be seen by the EU as incompatible with membership of the 15-strong European single market

[Ancestral Republican]

Depends on whether I have to go number one or number two that morning.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Death.

Lol

Prob Thatcher, i guess if i'd to pick, but yea among the worst politicians to have ever existed - in particular because of how damaging they were in the long term. You have sh**ttier politicians i guess, but none have a legacy like these two have.

[TheTide]

Death.

Lol

Prob Thatcher, i guess if i'd to pick, but yea among the worst politicians to have ever existed - in particular because of how damaging they were in the long term. You have sh**ttier politicians i guess, but none have a legacy like these two have.

They clearly weren't bad politicians (alas).

[dw93]

Reagan. Thatcher was much harsher on working people in the UK than Reagan was to working people here.

[Obama24]

Reagan. Thatcher was much harsher on working people in the UK than Reagan was to working people here.

Reagan literally tried to murder the entire working class dude. He was worse than Hitler. Ask Reddit. He murdered kittens on live tv.

[wnwnwn]

Imagine someone asking this to a drunk Peter King.

[courts]

thatcher i guess

[Sumner 1868]

Thatcher was worse.

[junior chįmp]

Thatcher actually seemed intelligent. Reagan was a dumbass incapable of basic math ("muh I cut taxes and the deficit exploded....Dems refusing to cut spending is to blame")

[CumbrianLefty]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

Is that actually true, though?

[Reactionary Libertarian]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

Is that actually true, though?

Seems true. US Republicans are way to the right of UK Tories, but prior to Reagan I’m not sure that was the case. I mean Nixon and Eisenhower were New Dealers but GOP since Reagan would like to repeal everything. But Tories are still whatever the equivalent of a New Dealer is in the UK. Support the NHS ad various other programs.

[Christian Man]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

Is that actually true, though?

In my view it seems like the Conservative Party is more of a big tent compared to the GOP. I don't consider the One Nation Conservatives to be fiscally conservative, but if a registered Republican criticized Reaganomics, they wouldn't last a chance in the GOP primary and if they somehow did, they'd be labeled as a "RINO" or worse.

[Christian Man]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

Is that actually true, though?

Seems true. US Republicans are way to the right of UK Tories, but prior to Reagan I’m not sure that was the case. I mean Nixon and Eisenhower were New Dealers but GOP since Reagan would like to repeal everything. But Tories are still whatever the equivalent of a New Dealer is in the UK. Support the NHS ad various other programs.

Even in the case of Eisenhower and Nixon this is still the case. While both of them were clearly to the left of the post-Reagan GOP, The UK Conservatives endorsed universal healthcare and former prime minister Eden respected Stalin. While former VP Henry Wallace who ran to Truman's left favored better relations with the Soviet Union, he didn't go that far.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

Is that actually true, though?

In my view it seems like the Conservative Party is more of a big tent compared to the GOP. I don't consider the One Nation Conservatives to be fiscally conservative, but if a registered Republican criticized Reaganomics, they wouldn't last a chance in the GOP primary and if they somehow did, they'd be labeled as a "RINO" or worse.

I mean both Austerity and Brexit are Thatcherite policies and those have been the primary Tory policies over the past 14 years

[Christian Man]

Thatcher had less of an impact on British conservatism than Reagan did on American so her.

Is that actually true, though?

In my view it seems like the Conservative Party is more of a big tent compared to the GOP. I don't consider the One Nation Conservatives to be fiscally conservative, but if a registered Republican criticized Reaganomics, they wouldn't last a chance in the GOP primary and if they somehow did, they'd be labeled as a "RINO" or worse.

I mean both Austerity and Brexit are Thatcherite policies and those have been the primary Tory policies over the past 14 years

And the party was divided on both of those issues. Brexit would've failed if it wasn't for the leftists. At least in theory you could criticize Thatcher and still be a member of the party. There's no way someone could do the same when it came to Reagan even as Trump has taken over as the figurehead.

[Pouring Rain and Blairing Music]

I’ll vote for the defender of the Falklands