Wow. Just, wow.

(CSM) — Fans of Ronald Reagan are preparing a variety of festive occasions to mark the 100th anniversary of the 40th president’s birth Feb. 6.

But when former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean was asked to assess Mr. Reagan’s legacy, he was restrained in his praise, saying “I think it is hard to point to particularly singular accomplishments that are for the ages.”

Dean, who was also Vermont’s longest serving governor, began by noting that “I think Reagan was a great leader, had leadership attributes. I do think he put a roadblock in terms of the Roosevelt revolution. I don’t think he reversed it,” he said, referring to the path set by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

In explaining why he thought Reagan did not have accomplishments “for the ages,” Dean noted that “there was no civil rights bill or Medicare or Medicaid established. I attribute the collapse of the Soviet Union much more to Gorbachev than I do to Reagan . . . the peaceful transition away from the evil empire to a less evil empire.”