By today’s standards he seems mild. Even Obama praised him. Along with Lincoln, Republicans trot Ronald Reagan out every time Democrats praise the communication wizardry of Obama, Clinton, or Kennedy,
By today’s standards he seems mild. Even Obama praised him. Along with Lincoln, Republicans trot Ronald Reagan out every time Democrats praise the communication wizardry of Obama, Clinton, or Kennedy, or the stalwart composition of FDR or integrity of Truman. In reality, Reagan was an impenetrable facade of congeniality who was quite hostile to civil rights.
In 1971, the day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China, then–California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon at the White House and vented his frustration at the delegates who had sided against the United States.
Ronald Reagan’s use of racist dog whistles during his political campaigns was primarily through the use of coded language and symbolic gestures that appealed to racial biases and fears without explicitly mentioning race.
These tactics allowed Reagan to tap into racial resentments and gain support from white voters who harbored racial biases, effectively leveraging racist dog whistles to advance his political agenda.