Ronald Reagan

From time to time, I will post an essay on someone in the world of politics or political coverage who has been a person of influence to me, whom I have admired or whom I have simply found fascinating for whatever reason. (Since I am making the rules for what I put on this blog, I am making the limits rather loose on these essay topics, rather than confining, as you can tell. :))

Here is the first.


RONALD REAGAN

March 30, 2008 seems like a very fitting day for me to write about Ronald Reagan. It was, after all, 27 years ago today that his life almost ended, in a flurry of bullets in front of the Washington Hilton. If we thank God for nothing else today, we should breathe a silent prayer that He spared President Reagan for another 23 years to the country that Mr. Reagan loved so much.

When it comes to Ronald Reagan, I recall a lot of firsts. I remember when I first heard his name: in my first grade classroom when I was asked if I knew who the President of the United States was. I replied that I didn't, so my teacher promptly educated me, though it didn't take immediately, since I kept pronouncing his name with a long "E" (REEGAN).

Neither of my parents were interested in politics at all back in the '80's, and neither one voted in the election of 1984. It is the first election I remember, and at 9 years old, I didn't understand it much, but I found it interesting. I am not the only one who will never forget the historical outcome, since Ronald Reagan carried 49 states out of 50. His smiling face, of course, graced the newspaper in Florida that I saw the next morning (we were in the midst of a move to Key West for a year of missions training).

My teacher for the 4th and 5th grades in our first couple of years in Taiwan (Faith Cooley, now Faith Young) has recently found this blog. She was the first person I ever met who didn't just admire Reagan or think he was a good President. She loved him. I had never seen anything like this level of devotion for a political figure, and wasn't sure it was quite kosher, but I was intrigued, and began to want to learn more about this man. I knew that he had a nice smile and seemed friendly, but that was about as far as it went.

I remember the first time I saw Ronald Reagan on TV, as if it were yesterday. In reality, it has been over 22 years ago. You have to understand that I grew up without TV in the home; I wonder if I would recall this moment as keenly as I do, were that not the case, but I have a feeling I still would. The Challenger explosion had just occurred, and a few days later, we were in a museum of some sort in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. The TV there ran a brief video clip of Reagan's speech. I don't know which part of the speech they ran, but I knew at that moment, in my 10-year-old mind, that I was seeing a master communicator who could connect with people's deepest convictions in a manner of simple truth and integrity. My day went on, and the recreation continued, but I had been stirred in a way I would never forget.

(Years later, I read the full text of the speech and then heard an audio recording of it. Peggy Noonan wrote it, but only Reagan could have delivered it. It ends with this paragraph:

"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.'"

You have to hear or watch President Reagan deliver the last line, his own voice thick with emotion, to appreciate how profoundly moving it was.)

In 1988, at the age of 13, I sent a letter to President Reagan, asking for an autographed picture. I got one back, but it was just a stamped autograph, rather than a genuine hand-signed photo. Nonetheless, I was thrilled. I still have it in a nostalgia box in the garage.

As the years have gone by, I have collected every text I can find on the Reagan presidency. I have read his own memoir, An American Life, 4 or 5 times. At last count, I have around 50 other books on Reagan, authored by those who served with him, by his wife and children and by pundits who continue to opine on his legacy. Of these, my favorites are both of Peggy Noonan's (What I Saw at the Revolution and When Character was King), Lyn Nofziger's memoir and Peter Robinson's How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. Numerous columns, of course, have also been authored on Reagan and his legacy.

With all of the renewed interest in Reagan, and looking back over 20+ years of my own study, I have considered it all from the perspective of 2 questions. What made Ronald Reagan great? And why was and is he so deeply loved?

The message of Ronald Reagan continues to touch me today because he continuously saw the best in America. Many found it corny and continue to now when he referred to America as a "shining city on a hill" in John Winthrop's immortal phrase (and of course, Winthrop was quoting from St. Matthew). Do not ever count me among that number. It was a simple sentiment, perhaps, but such a beautiful one.

Here again, Reagan's own words:

"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still. And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness toward home."

Reagan was great because he saw the big picture. My life has been shaped by remembrance of a President who refused to play small ball when virtually everyone around him ridiculed him for doing so. When, in a speech to the British Parliament in 1982, Reagan predicted that Communism in the Soviet Union would soon be relegated to the ash heap of history, he was universally scorned. Guess who had the last laugh within the ensuing 10 years? Yet, he never crowed over his victory; he was too much of a gentleman.

I don't remember the gas lines of the late '70's, but I've read about them. I'm afraid we're seeing signs of reemergence of inflation for the first time in 25 years, with bread going in a year from .82/loaf to $1.34/loaf, eggs and milk going up in price by 70-80% within a similar time frame, and other examples I could cite, as the designated grocery shopper in our family. All of this was routine throughout the '70's and the first couple of years in the '80's. Reagan declared in his 1981 inaugural address, "Let there be no misunderstanding; we're going to begin to act, beginning today!" He added, "The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks or months, but they will go away....In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." (emphasis mine) He made good on his word, over the next 4 years, with bold tax cuts and initiatives to spur private production.

Reagan fought a Democratic Congress throughout his entire administration (the Senate was in Republican hands for the first 6 years, but the House never was). Consequently, he was never able to pass much anti-abortion legislation. I credit Reagan, though, for strong moral leadership and outspokenness to advance the cause of life. Along with Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Reagan authored, during his Presidency, the book Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation, which also sits on my shelf today. Reagan facilitated a climate that continues to move more and more towards a national consensus that unborn life must be protected.

But why did we love him?

1. He projected a spirit of warmth and kindness. I never got to meet him in person, but I have, over the years, communicated with a few people who did, and the response was always the same. What you saw with Ronald Reagan was what you got, a consistently gracious attitude.

2. He stood for what he believed in, without wavering. He could be tough and unyielding, but always with goodwill, rather than bitterness. Yes, he compromised to get legislation that he wanted; he called it taking half a loaf rather than no loaf at all, then coming back for the other half later. Hard to argue with that.

3. He made us all proud to be Americans again, and clearly felt good about doing it.

I was still in bed on Sunday morning, June 5, 2004, when Pam came in and told me that Ronald Reagan had succumbed the night previously to his long struggle with Alzheimer's the night. I felt the same deep sadness I experienced when I first heard the news that he had contracted the illness that ravaged the memory of this wonderful man. But, I felt a lot better as I viewed the coverage over the next week of an entire nation in mourning.

I have heard many heartfelt references to Reagan over the years that I treasure today, but I think my favorite one comes from General Colin Powell, who served as Reagan's final National Security Advisor:

"President Reagan's message was a simple one. It was sometimes seen as naive, simplistic and lacking sophistication. It had the sole redeeming virtue of being right. And the world is a better place for his having been right."

Rest in peace, Ronald Reagan. You are loved and missed by millions.