He wasn't evil, but he wasn't exactly a good guy. I don't really have much fault with the way he handled the USSR, or the Afghan situation - he did the best he could, and he could not have predicted what the consequences would be. Remember, the Soviets were doing some pretty damn evil things in Afghanistan, such as wiping out entire villages. Not that the US actually cared about the afghan people, but they still wanted to stop the Soviets from gaining more influence in the Middle East.
There are a number of reasons why I don't like Reagan:
1) He was a bigot. I know he was old, I know he was raised in a "different time" - but the way he treated HIV sufferers was appalling from any ethical standard.
2) He was a bit of a nut-bag. He sincerely believed that we didn't need to take care of the environment because "The Rapture" was right around the corner.
3) During the Iran-Iraq war, he supported the Iraqis first, then later the Iranians, despite the fact that he and the entire US government knew that Saddam was using chemical weapons in the war. He gave intel and tech to Saddam, despite knowing how ruthless and evil he was, just because he felt he had to fight Iran. He funded the overthrow of governments just because they were socialist. Yes, I know that the Sandinista National Liberation Party was bad, but the Contras were just as bad, mark my words.
4) Like almost every US president, the man was a hypocrite. He didn't give a DAMN about anyone who was not fortunate enough to be born with a US passport. He was willing to screw over nations, fund terrorists and back dictators if they furthered US goals. Now, to be fair, all Presidents, and indeed, all governments around the world are very similar. But he had the gall to pretend that he was a champion of freedom, when in fact, if freedom was "inconvenient" for the US markets, then suddenly it wasn't all that important.
5) He treated the poor quite badly. Some of his economic policies made sense, but I cannot stand a man who actively hates, detests and despises the poor. Simply put, I do not like haters. And Reagan, like most hard-conservatives, are mostly defined by their hatred - hatred of anyone not Christian, hatred of anyone gay, hatred of anyone who isn't a nationalist, hatred of anyone who dares to be different. I think you'll find that most hard-conservatives, like Ann Coulter or Glenn Beck, do not really want freedom. They don't want to give you freedom so you can live your life as you want. Their definition of "Freedom" is the "Freedom" to live life the way THEY want you to. Most religious conservatives that I have met, and I'm not talking about Libertarians, say words like "freedom", but what they really want is a nation in which they can impose their religious views on you. I strongly believe that Reagan was a member of such a club. As for non-religious conservatives, most of them are pretty alright, if a bit mean.
6) He supported, and was good friends with, Robert Bork. Bork was not a very good man, if you know anything about him. And Reagan wanted to appoint him to the supreme court.
In reality, Reagan was no more evil than any other US president or world leader. He did do some good things, and he did do some bad things. Personally, I did not like Reagan because he was a religious conservative who hated gays and atheists and basically anyone who did not live according to his magic book.
But yes, he wasn't a demon. I think he really did do what he thought was right. He certainly never ate any babies.
