I can't stand most politicians. Then, there are some with whom I agree on issues. Then, there is an even smaller number whom I respect. Then, there are a tiny handful who have moved me and inspired me, who when I think about them they touch me on a personal, emotional level. Ronald Regan is one of these. The only other one I can think of now that belongs in this class is Rudy Giuliani.
I was born in 1973, so I'm too young to have had the honor of voting for him. In 1980 initially I was pulling for Carter because he was already the president and it seemed mean to kick him out. (So, if you think my political analysis is unsophisticated now, at least it's improved a bit.) My mom told me that she was actually considering voting for Reagan. She hated what Carter had done to the country. But, she couldn't see herself voting for a Republican. Maybe she'd vote for Anderson . . .
Well, I happen to know that my mom, who had volunteered for McGovern just eight years earlier, did end up voting for Reagan in 1980, becoming a card-carrying "neo-con" (if you must). I was so young during his first term and didn't understand politics yet, but even at that age I could appreciate his optimism, grace, charisma, and character. By the time of the 1984 campaign I was a little 11-year-old political geek and I understood that his wit and his personal character were wed to a vision of the possibilities of America and its place in the world that formed everything I think about these issues to this very day.
What I'd intuitively grasped about Reagan and his ideas from the beginning has become increasingly validated the more I've learned. He played a huge part, in my opinion the biggest part, in ending the Soviet Union, the most evil regime in the history of mankind and one that was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people. This in turn played a big part in weakening the hold of communism and introducing democracy over vast swaths of the world. His role in this alone would make him one of the great heroes of the twentieth century, as communism was the deadliest of all of the totalitarian ideologies. On top of all this, he took the United States from a time of depression, pessimism, self-doubt, and a horrible economy to a time of optimism and prosperity, while beginning the movement to shrink the size of the federal government, reform the welfare state, and lower taxes. And keep in mind, all of these accomplishments were thought to be unthinkable at the beginning of the decade and were completely contrary to the ideas of the intelligentsia (as they still are today).
Because his ideas were contrary to those of the intelligentsia, and because he spoke in a manner that was understandable and appealing to average people, the media assumed he was stupid. Of course he wasn't. A book of his letters was published recently, and he turned out to be an intelligent, articulate, and prolific correspondent.
I always thought it was especially cruel that such a vital, energetic, and, yes, intelligent man would contract Alzheimer's disease, and his famous, gracious farewell letter just made it seem all the more poignant. I've known this was coming for the last 10 years. Sometimes thoughts of this great man suffering the cruelest of fates, and the incredible pain and sacrifice of his loving wife would flash into my mind, but gradually his absence from the public stage made the thoughts less frequent. I remember "liberals" many times making tasteless, cruel jokes about his condition. That's something I'll never forget. I knew this day would come and it's probably best for him and for his family, but that doesn't make it any easier. One of my heroes has died today. May he rest in peace.
I got the picture at top from Roger L. Simon's site. I've seen it used a couple of other's places and I understand that it's going to be the cover of the next issue of Time magazine. I think it's how Reagan would like to be remembered: in his element, on his ranch, in the sun, optimistic and upbeat, looking some rugged archetype of the American spirit. I had that picture up in my dorm room at the University of Chicago for awhile. I think people thought I was being ironic.
Internet Reaction Roundup:
John Hawkins has his top ten favorite Reagan quotes. He's also re-posted his "Reagan 101" piece from a few months back, which is an excellent summary of Reagan's accomplishments as president.
Roger L. Simon: "I never voted for him for Governor or President but he undoubtedly had more positive effect on history than all those for whom I did. "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall!" he said - - and it happened. What more need be said?"
The Politburo Diktat: "Our enemies always thought Ronald Reagan was a little crazy. "Who know what he might do," they asked. I liked that." He also has a truly titanic link roundup.
Michele Catalano: "I prefer to remember Reagan as the man who helped tear down the wall." She is also inviting people to post their favorite Reagan quotes at The Command Post.
Boi from Troy has a great Reagan story:
I cannot say that Reagan made me a Republican--but he was the first candidate I ever volunteered for. At ages 5 and 9, I demanded that my parents take me to the local polling place so I could encourage our neighbors to elect the Gipper.
As a third grader I sent President Reagan all I had left of my allowance one week--a quarter--because I wanted to see him re-elected. A few weeks later, I got a note from the President, with a shiny new quarter in the envelope. Never since has a politician been so gracious.
He also has another enormous Link round-up.
Terry Treachout has a great little-known Reagan quote: "Communism is neither an ec[onomic] or a pol[itical] system—it is a form of insanity—a temporary aberration which will one day disappear from the earth because it is contrary to human nature. I wonder how much more misery it will cause before it disappears." He also links to a fascinating reflection on the meaning of Ronald Reagan's prolific letter writing.
There's lots of fascinating stuff on Reagan at The Corner. Just keep scrolling.
Finally, Lou Cannon, Reagan's best biographer has a long, detailed obituary for him in the Washington Post.
UPDATE: Pejmanesque has a brilliant tribute, well-written and rich in links to source material and to other bloggers. (Hat tip michael b).
He links to an excellent tribute by Tacitus that is not to be missed:
Ronald Reagan came to office with the empire of Soviet Communism at its hideous zenith, engorged with a decade of conquest, heartened by the tottering self-doubt of the great democracies, flush with the addition of millions of slaves to its grim machinery, and ever more willing to risk the destruction of civilization in pursuit of its messianic despotism. He left office with that empire in its death throes, the first President since Hoover to not concede a square inch of territory anywhere on the planet to its malign designs, and was rewarded short years later with the grand fruition of his grand vision: hundreds of millions of the world's oppressed rising up, shaking off their chains, and grasping their birthright of liberty. He stands in the pantheon of titans with Washington, Lincoln, and FDR as one of the great liberators of humanity. But in a fallen world, greatness is so often reviled by those in whom it casts deep shadows. So many hate Ronald Reagan, and in coming days and weeks, you will see them out in full force: unable or unwilling to deride a dying man, they will assault a dead one. They will do so by bleating about the gap between rhetoric and reality (Reagan was human); they will do so by denouncing starkness of moral vision and the inadequacy of simple truths (Reagan was common); they will do so by advancing a mechanistic, deterministic thesis of history in which inevitability is the iron law and heroes are mere spectacle (Reagan was irrelevant). Remember this -- and it is all you need to know about them -- these men and their prejudices would have left those hundreds of millions, and their children, and their grandchildren, in chains. Ronald Reagan did not. Ronald Reagan dreamed heroic dreams.
Both Pejman Yousefadzeh and Tacitus make reference to ugly reactions from those on the left. I've steadfastly avoided looking at leftists sites (or even CNN frankly) because I was afraid of what I might see. I can't say I'm surprised that this kind of stuff going on. (I also understand that Timothy Noah has already written some snotty little piece on Slate). Like the jokes about his Alzheimer's before, I can only say that these reactions are something I'll never forget, and I think a lot of other people won't either.
SECOND UPDATE:Andrew Sullivan:
I'll write more tomorrow. He was the greatest president since FDR, a man who did more than restore America's self-confidence and defeat the great lie of Communism. He re-conjured our understanding of the central, animating role of liberty in human affairs. He saw that what was strangling America was the suffocation of big government and high taxation; he paid respect to religion but never turned Republicanism into what it is today - a repository for sectarian scolding; he saw that the use of military force was sometimes necessary to defeat tyranny; and that the greatest weapon against the creeping march of cynicism was self-confidence and optimism. With Margaret Thatcher and Karol Wojtyla, he changed the course of world history for the better. He was the towering figure of my adolescence, a beacon of hope in what was a brutally debilitating time. I'll be lucky if I live to see another political leader of his stature, grace or fortitude. May he rest in the peace he brought to so many others, and in the joy he so richly deserves.
He also links to a "mash note" he wrote for Reagan on his 90th birthday.
He also speaks of a depraved, disgusting thread celebrating Regan's death on the leftist website Democratic Underground. At a march of the neo-Stalinist organization ANSWER, the organization which organizes and leads all the "anti-war" rallies, there were cheers. At the respectful, civil discussion we were having at Roger L. Simon's site, a troll showed up proudly linking to this miserable excresence. I've also seen this thread at the Hollywood gossip site fametracker, which starts off reasonably enough but soon goes of the rails. It's impossible to underestimate the far left. Their hatred knows no bounds. All we can do is try, and most likely fail, to emulate Reagan's good humour and graciousness as he dealt with the same virulent hatred in his lifetime.
THIRD UPDATE: Some anonymous coward has just posted the miserable excresence I refer to above in my comments. I deleted it and I will delete any personal, vituperative remarks about Reagan which other leftist comment bots place here. Pejman Yousefadzeh had the apposite words here I belive:
I would think that we could agree that the Presidents of the United States that have served in our lifetimes were men of good faith. Even if you think they were wrong, they meant well. Crowing about the deaths of others should be reserved for the truly hateful (and I mean the Osama bin Laden/Saddam Hussein variety).
Instead, we have disgusting displays of schadenfreude over the death of a former President via one of the most tortuous and painful deaths imaginable. And there are--and will be, sad to say--more in the Blogosphere, either via posts or comments. I hope that there is a Hell so that the maggots who refuse to show any kind of human decency on a day like this burn in it. Otherwise, I trust they won't object if anyone dances a jig on their deaths.
Assuming anyone even bothers to take notice, that is.
FOURTH UPDATE:Michele Catalano now has a very moving, very personal tribute up: "I have never been more comfortable than I am here in Reagan's World, where pride in your country is a good thing, where hope always remains, where the future is something to look forward to and not fear."
FINAL UPDATE: And don't miss Tim Blair's awesomely comprehensive roundup of bloth blog and non-blog reactions.
you rock, kid.
Posted by: TC-LeatherPenguin | June 06, 2004 at 07:19 AM