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Comment by syzarian | Hacker News Reader

What I don’t understand about narrative that Carter failed on Iran is that Regan never got enough blame for blatantly violating U.S. laws and negotiated with Iran despite saying we don’t negotiate with hostage takers. Carter got far too much blame and Reagan far too little.

https://www.vox.com/2016/1/25/10826056/reagan-iran-hostage-n...

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Reagan played the political game far better than both Carter and Nixon (Watergate notwithstanding). He was a master at couching effective foreign policy tactics, which often relied on detente (eg negotiating with Iran), within the augur of American values and exceptionalism that spoke to the people of the time ("we don't negotiate with hostage takers").

The former was critical to actually get things done, but a president has to realise that the latter is just as critical because you need that public support to get the former through the door.

Pretty much this. As much as people hate politics, its the politicians who can work thr system that are the most effective.

Image is important because thats what maintains support, but you also need to be pragmatic at the same time and do things that might lose you support because voters dont understand the trade offs.

But Reagan’s “effectiveness” includes murdering and torturing human rights advocates who opposed his unlawful actions in Central America. The U.S. and world would be better without such “effectiveness”.

Pretty sure you can do what i said without supporting death squads.

Theyre really not related at all.

We were talking about Reagan and he did use death squads.

But Reagan got things done by blatantly violating the law with impunity. Lovers of democratic forms of governance ought to look with disdain at such shenanigans.

I'm not really making a comment about his morality, only his skill. If you have an issue with his methods and what they mean morally, I'd suggest you not look too deeply at any of the people who've sat in the Oval Office. Every president since at least Truman, in a more ideal world, would be tried for war crimes for a start. In the real world things are a little more grey though.

I overall agree with your point. There are many crimes the U.S. government has committed with impunity.

To put it simply, winners write the history, and Reagan's influence on American politics and culture far outstripped Carter.

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