I curse Ronald Reagan for ending metrification. Having two different sets of tools is a nightmare for everyone but the tool manufacturers.
I agree, though I wouldn't be so quick to blame any single person for this. He was actually doing what the majority of citizens wanted done. So I believe it was backlash from the American people that ended it. We as a society don't like change, especially if it means putting in any effort to learn something new or different.
Too few of us realize however, how much easier the metric system is to navigate than what we use now. All you need to master is the skill of multiplying and dividing by ten. And if one doesn't want to do the math, just move the decimal points. That's pretty much the opposite of what you need to do to the figure out how many yards are in a mile? Do that in your head.
The funny thing about it is that the metric system has been with us in some circles including here for a long time.
How often do we discuss hz vs kHz, mfd vs pfd, the dc resistance of a pickup in k(Ohms) or the virtues of a 500k pot vs a 1m pot? And outside of this realm we buy pop in two-liter bottles. The doctor describes the size of my tumor in cm. It continues to slowly creep in. One day we'll wake up and wonder what happened to a system that started out being based on the length of the Kings foot, whoever happened to be on the throne at the time and whatever his shoe size. Oddly, we did away with having Kings, thanks to our first President, yet the smelly sock of the imperial system of measurement lives on.
So yeah, I too was sad to see metrification get all that backlash. We lost a Mars probe apparently because of it. Though honestly, if the people behind that missed such an obvious difference, the darn thing probably wasn't up to the task anyway.
I see it as being the will of the majority. And that's what we signed on for, like it or not.