Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - And so the renaming of everyting to Reagan begins

Rodney · 06-17-2004, 07:13 AM

Every president gets a few things named after them -- very few, for some. I think Nixon got a short freeway somewhere in Southern California, and that's about it except for his own library. Kennedy got the most, because he was seen as a martyr to the free world or some damn thing, whether that was true or not. There are Kennedy high schools, middle schools, and even the odd colleges here and there.

A lot of more obscure politicians get things named after them, too. Pat Brown, the California governor that Reagan defeated back in the '60s, got a state government office building named after him; I used to live near it. And basically, a lot of government public works projects tend to be named after the politician who brought home the pork barrel money to make it happen.

As to the push by Reagan's admirers to name everything after him, I don't really understand it. But I do know that names aren't forever, and a lot of things that were named "Kennedy" 20 and 30 years ago now have some other name. People forget, no matter how hard you yell to make them remember. Or rather, today's hero must inevitably recede into the past and become just another gray paragraph in the history books for all but a few true believers. Who thinks much about Roosevelt any more, the other unarguably "revolutionary" president of the 20th century?

06-17-2004, 07:13 AM	#16 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	Every president gets a few things named after them -- very few, for some. I think Nixon got a short freeway somewhere in Southern California, and that's about it except for his own library. Kennedy got the most, because he was seen as a martyr to the free world or some damn thing, whether that was true or not. There are Kennedy high schools, middle schools, and even the odd colleges here and there. A lot of more obscure politicians get things named after them, too. Pat Brown, the California governor that Reagan defeated back in the '60s, got a state government office building named after him; I used to live near it. And basically, a lot of government public works projects tend to be named after the politician who brought home the pork barrel money to make it happen. As to the push by Reagan's admirers to name everything after him, I don't really understand it. But I do know that names aren't forever, and a lot of things that were named "Kennedy" 20 and 30 years ago now have some other name. People forget, no matter how hard you yell to make them remember. Or rather, today's hero must inevitably recede into the past and become just another gray paragraph in the history books for all but a few true believers. Who thinks much about Roosevelt any more, the other unarguably "revolutionary" president of the 20th century? Last edited by Rodney; 06-17-2004 at 07:21 AM..