Okay, Reagan was no saint, and he traded fiscal discipline for his defense buildup, but a wee bit of context is in order here.

Regan inherited an economy in serious disarray. He also had the Soviet Union to deal with. Clinton inherited a growing economy. He also benefited from the internet bubble (and it WAS a bubble, the source of a lot of that surplus cash), not to mention the lack of a Cold War.

I think each man did well with the circumstances he had to work with. Be interesting if we could see what would have happened if they swapped places.