I believe Raygun was a great leader. This is not idolatry from me. But first, some presidential background...
When I first came to the US, Gerald Ford was president. I had no frame of reference so I could say nothing about Ford whether he was 'good' or 'bad'. Then came Jimmy Carter, the Saudi oil embargo, and the economic downturn. The voters booted Carter and elect Ronald Reagan. To me, Raygun was my first president.
There were many debatable reasons why I believe Raygun was a great leader but I will restrict my reasons that are related to the current topic. Raygun was a great leader because his vision went over the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. In other words, to Raygun, a tyrant 1000 miles away is no different than one mile away. To him, the geographical distance was irrelevant in terms of preparedness. That farsightedness attracted me. Of course, I was in the UK/CONEUR region to see what he was exhorting the American people about.
To me, an important part of being a great leader is to protect the country from external threats so that the people can have time to deal by themselves the country's internal flaws. Raygun understood that part of the American psyche better than most pols. It is not that the American people do not need leadership on domestic issues, but Raygun understood that to the American people, give them general goals and they prefer to work out the details on their own. Am not sure if Raygun discovered that or he revived that from past American leaders. I prefer Raygun's principles oriented style of leadership over Bill Clinton's often personal relationship 'I feel your pain' approach.