Paula...OMG..Ronald Reagan..The man was just a figurehead for the real 'power players' behind the scenes in the US. (Since this approach worked for Reagan, the Conservatives/Neo-Cons then put Bushie II in there because they knew he would be a good figurehead too as he loved the idea of being President more than the job of doing President.) You folks don't really think he's doing the job of President, do you?
Also, the USSR at the time wasn't able to keep up the arms race because of their spiraling inflation, etc. The communist system was breaking under it's own weight and leaders such as Gorbachov (sp?) saw this too, and the US 'power players' came up with a good PR scheme to portray Reagan as "The Great Communicator." BTW, I think he was a good governor of CA and he was moderate then, but once he became President he became a diehard Conservative. Agree that his 'tear down this wall' speech was wonderful! Too bad he got taken for a ride by the 'power brokers' though. I think his heart early on was in the right place.
I know very, very little about UK politics and, as an American, don't feel at liberty to discuss it anyway. However, I know a lot about US politics and I can emphatically state that if one thinks Ronald Reagan is a role model, well then one hates poor people (after all it's their fault they're poor..you know just lazy people...he completely gutted funding for the safety net for the poor in the US), hates the environment (he gutted the Dept. of Interior budget and put oil/gas CEOs at the helm of protecting the US environment, national parks, etc.)...ohhhh I gotta stop..making myself ill here...Basically he only liked rich people...I still remember Reagan talking about the NHS system poorly because conservative US politicans are always talking about how bad socialized medicine is when the subject comes up again and again in the US..So guess you think the NHS should be abolished too..
Anyway, agree with the other role models for boys that are mentioned except for Karl Marx(well those that I know who they are in any case), and I'd add Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter (not a good President, but awesome with Habitat for Humanity), and any male on the planet who respects women and treats them with respect.