Ronald Reagan's Death

Today, at 93, Ronald Reagan finally succumbed to Alzheimers. A sad day for America. I did not always think or feel this way about Reagan. I inherited my family's Minnesota DFL views. I remember as a child in the 1964 election year going door to door to hand out "Vote for LBJ/HHH" flyers. In those days, Republicans were "evil" people, and in my household, the name "Goldwater" was a curse word.

In the 1970's and 1980's, my political views were informed by current trends on my college campuses (UC Davis and UC Berkeley), and reading Doonesbury every day. I voted for Democratic candidates in every election, no matter what. I thought Nixon WAS a crook. I though Jimmy Carter was "brilliant". And then, this moron, B-actor from California was elected president. Had the country lost its senses?

As a new Christian, and naive politically, I admired (and still do) Jimmy Carter's personal integrity, a church-going Baptist, and thought that was enough. And yet, when he gave the "American malaise" speech, I began to have doubts. America suffered under Carter's presidency. While he was not to be blamed for some of what befell the country, he was not a strong, reassuring leader. America had lost confidence, and hope.

I also criticized Ronald Reagan unfairly. He was a divorced man, and not a regular church goer, and received much scorn from me, I am now ashamed to say. I thought him to be a hypocrite. I judged the book by its cover, and I was wrong.

However, I grew to respect Reagan as a leader and speaker. As a 20-something, I started reading about Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln, and began to see Reagan in a different light. He seemed to have a clearer moral vision than his opponents. And he seemed to consider himself an American first, and a partisan second, which I was attracted to.

His hostility to communism was very unpopular among the college crowd. But when I read "The Gulag Archipeligo", I began to see into the soul of communism, and began to share Reagan's view that Communism was "evil". The year my son, Mark, was born, the Berlin Wall was torn down. It was a new beginning in my life, and in the world. Nothing has been the same ever since.

My political sensibilities have moved rightward as an adult, and as I got married and became a father. This drives my father nuts, which, in the immortal words of Ray Kinsella, "I suppose was the point." My dad and I can barely discuss politics. But then again, we can barely discuss anything!

Great men, great leaders, are made of stern stuff. They are willing to listen to others, but choose their own course, trust their own moral compass. They are not afraid to stand up and take an unpopular stand, waiting for the polling results to indicate the best course of action. In the years since his presidency, I have grown to admire Reagan all the more.

Reagan's Challenger speech from January 28, 1996 was one fo the most moving I have ever heard. A brief, powerful, comforting, uplifting speech in the face of human tragedy. And now, Ronald Reagan has "waved good-bye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

Godspeed, Mr. Reagan. And thank you. My prayers are with your family.