Ronald Reagan was and is one of my heroes.  Actually, having lived through his times, I do not agree that he left office reviled.  He was reviled throughout his presidency by the liberal intellectuals.  I remember at a talk given at Harvard by Nobel physicist N.  Bloembergen how the liberal audience snickered and laughed at how stupid Reagan was for thinking that we could have protection from ICBMs.  Dr. Bloembergen, who was not particularly political, took questions and quietly blew away the technical objections laughingly raised by the liberals showing that they the liberals rather than Reagan were stupid.