Wow!

I just got an MSN pop-up saying that Ronald Reagan has died.

I’m quite confident that Reagan was the best president during my lifetime. He wasn’t as libertarian as I am, but he had a genuine commitment to individual and economic liberty and an opposition to big-government collectivism. I think that it’s fair to say that his resolve against the Soviet Union hastened its downfall.

He also had an optimistic outlook and a great sense of humor which, for some reason, means a lot to me.

UPDATE: Read David Boaz’s fine tribute to Reagan at Cato.

Also read this article by Natan Sharansky, whose judgment on this matter I value more than that of Christopher Hitchens any day.