One of the biggest icons of the eighties was Ronald Reagan. Our president.

My Mom watched his shows and movies when he was a kid, and then elected him into office in 1980. Now, I’m not very political at all, but I do remember a lot of good things that Reagan did during his terms like ending the cold war, starting a “war” on drugs, and helping the economy. But he also made mistakes, like all presidents, the Iran-Contra Affair, “Star Wars”, and even escalating the cold war. Regardless of the good or bad, man, was he entertaining.

He had so many amazing caricatures drawn of him, so many great impersonations, and some of the coolest puppets ever made in his image. He was always portrayed as a forgetful, stupid, self indulgent, and totally narcissistic. Who knows how much of that was true, but it was still fun to watch.

He defined our thinking and our image of the US in the 80s. He really did transcend role of the president and became a true icon.

One of the clearest memories I had of Reagan was watching the 1984 elections on TV and wanting him to win because I thought he looked like a raisin with a weird haircut.