Subtitle: It's Not the "Kumbayah" That Gets Things Done, Mr. Obama. It's Hard-Fought Legislation Enacted Over the Protests of "Movement Conservatives," Especially the Legislative Achievements of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s.

Mr. Obama, get over your iconic view of Ronald Reagan's message: Reagan was a racially divisive, and socially regressive president. From the New York Timeseditorial page on March 21, 1988:

Ronald Reagan appears determined to go down in history as a President who sought actively to set back the cause of civil rights. How else can one read his veto of the four-year, bipartisan effort to restore the reach of antidiscrimination laws narrowed by a Supreme Court ruling? Congress appears to have the votes to override the veto. Decency argues for doing so, without delay. [...]

The Administration has consistently pursued a disruptive policy on civil rights, from its attempt to give tax exemptions to racially discriminatory Bob Jones University to its efforts to weaken the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. ...

Yes, President Ronald Reagan fought the IRS denial of tax exemption to the racist Bob Jones University.  President Reagan also:

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