THE REAGAN LEGACY is the present condition of the United States - a seriously weakened economy struggling to regain growth in a mountain of debt, militarism that harmed the economy and got us into a bind overseas, and poisonous politics in Washington." The disastrous presidency of George W Bush was not so much his own incompetence as coming to fruition of the policies of Ronald Reagan. Free market economics, always a failure in the past, failed again. Except during wars, America had resisted having a large armed force until Reagan tripled the military budget, leading to adoption of an aggressive foreign policy that harmed the economy and made enemies abroad. The Republican Party was made over into a propaganda organization with no interest in the truth or the public good, and no solutions other than ever more tax cuts. This is the story of how the sad state of the United States today comes directly out of the policies established under Ronald Reagan.