Was Reagan senile?

"Richard Henry"

....... Phil

I work as a carer and I have seen senile 50 year olds and none senile

Its not even down to genes as I have met parents who are OK of people with senile dementia.

I don't think that settles the question. From the w... article:

-- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell Central Florida

Brian Butterworth - a UK academic - did claim to detect early signs of Alzheimer's in Reagan's speech when he was campaigning for his second term, and this was picked up by the U.K. press at the time.

There was presumably some senile degeneration during Reagan's second term.Brian seems to have lost interest in the early detection of Alzheimer's - there's no treatment, so there isn't much point in detecting it, except perhaps in Presidential candidates.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

It isn't the years. Its the milage.

People can start to have serious mental decline at nearly any age. Things like strokes can takes someones abilities in an instant. There is nothing about McCain's age that rules out him being a good president.

Some people lose flexibility in there thinking as they age. This appears not to have happened to McCain. In less than a year he has been able to adapt most of his positions to agree with the republican base and now that he has the nomination more or less locked, I think we are seeing the first signs of him adjusting them back. This is not the stiff and ridged thinking you could expect from a man who's abilities are on the wane but rather are as you would expect to see in a much yonger man.

Reagan had Alzheimer's. This is not the normal decay with age. It is a disease that attacks the ability to remember. The first thing it wipes out is the ability to form new memories. Later it eats away at memories deleting them one by one until the person who was once there is gone but the body lives on. It is a very sad situation for the family of the people with it.

Does it really matter? He was a great president, no matter what. I don't think the iron curtain would have tumbled down so fast without Ronald Reagan. He did not only serve his own country, he also initiated a process that resulted in freedom for a whole lot of people outside the US. Those behind the former iron curtain.

Hey Bill.

I don't know about you, but I can think of at least 3 or 4 things right off the top we should be detecting in Presidential candidates. And trust me, Alzheimers ain't even in the running! :)

--- Next up boys and girls: The word for the day - "dotard" When we were kids, it was cool to run around calling everyone a dotard (as kids, it's correctly pronounced "dough-tard").

It wasn't until much later I read somewhere that Benjamin Franklin was well into his "dotage" at the time he signed the Declaration of Independence (Age-70). (Talk about Political Correctness!?) -mpm

Whatever Dubbya's got, for a start.

Alzheimers can set in at any age, though it becomes more likely as you get older, but even at 85 the incidence has only gone up to one in four.

The majority of elderly people still have all their wits about them when something else kills them. And I'm prepared to concede that it is quite likely that Jim Thompson was just as stupid about the world outside electronics when he was much younger than he is now.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

"Too much drugs back in the '60s" would be a good first guess.

Mere small-mindedness.

Depends on where in the progression you call it "senile."

Really not much question in my mind, though, that he was slipping even in his first term.

I remarked on it--made fun of it--at the time, described him as senile, thought Doonesbury's series on "Where's the President's brain" hilarious, then felt badly about it years later when we all learned the cause.

But yes, he showed the lapses in memory and concentration, hunting for words, etc., even in his first term.

Amazing how competent and effective he was even with that handicap.

Cheers, James Arthur

Puppet.

And he was a professional Actor.

I pretty much thought that too--I was a detractor, and critical--until I saw PBS' biography. You get a few brilliant "backstage" glimpses of him whereby you instantly learn this guy was no dummy, not by a long shot. Privately very thoughtful, deliberating & deliberate. Decent, too.

I'm still critical, but now more respectfully.

Ending the Cold War? Carefully orchestrated, not accidental at all. We did some things then they did some things, so credit to all, but serendipity played little part. Diplomacy, planning, and masterfully done. Bravo.

The goofy public persona? Mostly acting.

If you're ever inclined you could check out the PBS series--I was surprised & humbled by the depth of one I'd formerly mocked.

(Not a god mind you--a man--but more than I'd given him credit for, that's for sure.)

Cheers, James Arthur

I've read somewhere that when people get older something the puts great stress on the body, such as big surgery, broken hip or in Reagans case getting shot and almost killed, can trigger the start of Alzheimers.

-Lasse

Amazing! Who knew Karl Rove got around so much...?