Even if you were pro-Reagan (I assume you are), more neutral and objective observers would say that RR was most certainly not generally in favor of free inquiry. This was never a priority for any of his career. Some of his goofs about science are legendary in the scientific community. He didn't care that sometimes he had his facts wrong. He was very opinionated, well-liked, even perhaps steadfast, but that doesn't make the things he said go away, nor does it make them true if they were factually incorrect. He wasn't an intellectual. The policy was the thing that was important. HIS policy.
The following is from the article in Encyclopedia Americana, which I think is a balanced appraisal of the period where Reagan quashed free speech on UC campuses.
The late 1960's and early 1970's were periods of turmoil on the nation's campuses as many students
registered their opposition to the Vietnam War. Among the centers of unrest was the University of
California at Berkeley, where the "free speech movement" set the stage for confrontation. Reagan, in
one of his first acts as governor, urged the board of regents to fire the university president, Clark
Kerr, who Reagan felt was too lenient in dealing with student demonstrators.
I didn't search it out by author, or opinion. I used Alta Vista and the advanced search. Looked for an article that simply mentioned Reagan and the Free Speech Movement.
Now, you can argue that he was justified in coming down on the students (and indirectly through the Chancellor) because of the disorder, but then you'd have to be admitting that it was certainly at the cost of free inquiry. Sir, you simply can't have it both ways. He was being authoritarian, and justified or not, that is just the opposite of someone who is more interested in free inquiry this time. So the question is "What other times was he against free inquiry?" Well, generally, whenever the facts were in opposition to his agenda. |
