What would Reagan's post Presidency be like without Alzheimer's?

dw93 · Feb 24, 2016

What if Ronald Reagan was not diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994? How different would his post Presidency had been and how would be have responded to the Presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and events like 9/11 and the War on Terror?

Cymraeg · Feb 24, 2016

dw93 said:
What if Ronald Reagan was not diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994? How different would his post Presidency had been and how would be have responded to the Presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and events like 9/11 and the War on Terror?

Erm, it's a good question, but the problem is that it DID kick in and that Alzheimer's is damn hard to butterfly away. Worse, we have no idea exactly when Alzheimer's disease kicked in properly and started to affect Reagan. Frankly I have massive suspicions that it happened earlier than his White House staff claimed. However, I have no proof. His son, Ron Reagan Jr, claims that he had suspicions in 1984. If true that's devastating.
Anyway, in the unlikely event that he'd avoided it and lived long enough to witness 9/11 and Dubya, it's likely that he'd wonder what the hell was happening to the GOP, as it seemed to be going to hell in a handbasket.

dw93 · Feb 24, 2016

Cymraeg said:
Erm, it's a good question, but the problem is that it DID kick in and that Alzheimer's is damn hard to butterfly away. Worse, we have no idea exactly when Alzheimer's disease kicked in properly and started to affect Reagan. Frankly I have massive suspicions that it happened earlier than his White House staff claimed. However, I have no proof. His son, Ron Reagan Jr, claims that he had suspicions in 1984. If true that's devastating.
Anyway, in the unlikely event that he'd avoided it and lived long enough to witness 9/11 and Dubya, it's likely that he'd wonder what the hell was happening to the GOP, as it seemed to be going to hell in a handbasket.

True. I think if he avoided it and lived as long as he did OTL, he wouldn't have been an active former President, but I think he would've been one to speak his mind and even criticize his successors (I think if you look hard enough you'll find some speeches on You Tube of him criticizing Clinton in the early days of his first term), but I don't think he would've criticized to the extent of say, Jimmy Carter.