Ronald Wilson Reagan: 1911 - 2004


Think whatever you want about the man's politics, but he was an extremely important President, and there hasn't been one like him since. He wasn't a party man like the last three have been. His main concern was not personal power, nor the power of his party. He was an ideologue, and he believed wholeheartedly in his philosophical foundations. He was an optimist who could say things that, if anyone else were to have said them, you'd role your eyes and wonder who let Pollyanna in. But when he said those things, you wanted to believe them.

There are times when you look back at history and say, "Despite that person's foibles and weaknesses, we needed that person at that time." Ronald Reagan was not a god. He wasn't the savior of America, as I'm sure many a right-wing radio host will be telling us for the next couple of weeks. But he did happen on the scene right when we seemed to need him.

Yes, he contributed to the end of the Cold War. He helped the economy. But more importantly, he changed the attitude in America. History goes in cycles. At that point in the cycle, we were pretty down on ourselves. Reagan came in and told us it was okay to think things would be okay. He reminded us of the things we were doing right and permitted us to be proud of them. Some might argue that, since then, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. That might be the case, but that's not Ronald Reagan's fault. He did what he needed to do. He played his role in history.

Ride on, Mr. President. Continue that westward journey.
posted by Stephen at 10:23 PM | |