Well compared to the rest of our leaders since Eisenhower, Regan, to me, stands out as one of the best.
Lets see, Kennedy was sanctified because he was martyred, more affairs than good old Bill, got the ball rolling on Vietnam, and paved the way for Johnson's "Great Society".
Johnson, escalated the war in Vietnam, a war which made much less sense than the current one in Iraq, cost the nation billons of dollars with the Great Society. While some of the programs like Medicare and Medicaid were worthy, the "Lets put all the poor people in the same area and give them no incentive to engage in work" didn't quite pan out like it should have. Instead it helped kill cities like the one I live in (New Orleans.
Nixon, got us out of Vietnam, got the EPA up and running, however also decided to fight racism with racism by starting up the affirmative action program which while well intended, now provides for yet another point to divide the USA based on Race. Got caught doing what a lot of others have gotten away with, but wasn't man enough to come clean with it. Instead Watergate kills his career.
Ford and Carter, a robot and a peanut farmer.
Regan, see Rambo's previous post as they sum up my view pretty well.
Bush I, Handled Iraq well, but should have finished it than. Should have just raised taxes instead of reading lips.
Slick willy, despite his personal flaws, a decent president. However, he dismantled the military that Regan built in order to balance the budget.
Bush II, still in office, lots he can still do to save or destroy his legacy.
So why not celebrate Regan's legacy? Yes he favored the upper class and capitalism, but is that any worse than Johnson's reversed discrimination polices? To me its not. Regan gave life back to the office of President, had Americans feeling proud again, and in my opinion, left the country in a better position when he was done. Sadly not many other presidents can claim that.