I recall the Reagan years through a filter, since I was only 14 when they started. I actually got to ask him a question during a press conference once—televised on C‑Span, even. (He didn’t answer the question I asked, but he did talk a lot.)
Despite the fact that I was a fundagelical back then, I wasn’t utterly oblivious to the dangers presented by the increasingly close relationship between the fundagelicals and the Republicans. I remember reading A Handmaid’s Tale for the first time and thinking “This is our generation’s 1984.”
Richard Evans Lee has said this better than I have, but I am not mourning Reagan. I’m certainly not celebrating his death, either. He was far more stylish and well-spoken than either of the Bush presidents, but that doesn’t change the underlying ideology.