Ronald Reagan Was A Bad President

I'd like to point out that my opponent begins his argument in medias res, a Latin phrase that basically means "in the middle". He simply says that these Contras did all these war crimes and that Reagan supported them. Let's turn the clock back to the beginning of of the U. S-Nicaraguan relationships to see what led to this decision. In the mid-1850s, the U. S. was looking for a way to connect its East coast with its West coast. Of course, the transcontinental railroad in the next decade would resolve this, but the U. S. had already tied itself into Nicaraguan affairs b/c of an American named William Walker, who basically invaded a part of Nicaragua and tried to annex it to the US before being overthrown and killed by the new conservative Nicaraguan gov't. Let's timeskip to the early 20th century; the conservative gov't has been overthrown and been replaced by a Liberal one under the rulership of a new guy called Jose Zelaya, who pisses off the US when he decides to offer trade interests with other foreign nations. You know who instigates a civil war and occupation in Nicaragua b/c of this? William Taft. The US could've simply ended its stake in Nicaragua, especially since it had no more need for it at that point. But Taft decides that the US needs to maintain its image. So, from 1912-1933, the US occupies the little country. Let's now go to Reagan. What's happened between Taft's decisions and Reagan? Well, because Taft (and all his successors thereof) decided to keep the dictator Somoza family in place, a revolutionary hero by the name of Sandino comes by. But wait, he gets killed, and what happens when you kill the popular leader of a party? You guessed it, revolution. This is all in the 1960s btw. The revolution continues through the 70s, wherein the world is getting reports of state terrorism and civil liberties being. In comes Reagan during the latter half of the revolution, where he opposes the revolution. You have set-up your argument to make it look like Reagan just decided to intervene in Nicaragua and support the Contras/Somoza, when in reality all he is doing is continuing the precedent set by his predecessors. All the presidents before (with Carter being an exception) have been doing what Reagan did. Why, might I ask, do you single him out? If this is because of war crimes, then I can surely point out a number of other presidents who's actions exceed Reagan's in violence, such as Truman dropping the atomic bombs or the Vietnam War under Nixon. There's also the question of whether or not Reagan can be completely blamed for the Contra's actions. There's always been a trend of the people blaming the president for any bad situation. It's an unfortunate thing that has only grown in the 21st century with Bush and Obama. Aside from that, this all really boils down to this question: If I pay a guy to kill someone else and they decide to torture that person to death, am I to be held responsible for the torture? I'd like to see my opponents response to this. The situation with Mujahideen is basically a mirror image of the Nicaragua conflict- Reagan was simply continuing the precedent set by Former President Jimmy Carter. In 1980, Carter issued the Carter Doctrine, which specifically targetted the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Carter was the one who began the anti-soviet support in the country, not Reagan. The Reagan Doctrine was also just a more broader version of the Carter Doctrine. My point is this; if you are going to call Reagan one of the worst presidents b/c of his support of the Mujahedeen, then you have to be willing to bring Carter down with him. And that point about the Taliban is a bit debatable, but obscure as there isn't too much information I could find on it. I have no intention of refutting this point, though it again can be used as firepower against my opponents argument as this was all started by Carter. But I am willing to drop it if he is. My source has been Wikipedia and any links that were a part of the footnotes. I eagerly await my opponents response. Good luck pal!