Remembering Ronald Reagan

In the fall of 1996 I was working temporarily as a mail sorter for the US Post Office in Denver. The election was on the horizon and a representative of the Postal Union came around every night trying to encourage the workers to vote Democrat, because, he said, if Robert Dole wins the election the Republicans will change the Post Office and we will all lose our jobs. A Republican victory would take us back to the worst economy in fifty years like we had under Reagan.

First of all, I told him, I don't think that as a government union you are allowed to be partisan. Secondly, where did you hear the Republicans are going to change the Post Office? Last year the US Postal Service made a 6 billion dollar profit! Nobody in their right mind is going to change that, and there was nothing in the Republican platform about it. It is a flat out union lie. And third, what country were you living in during the 1980's. Reaganomics gave America its longest peacetime economic expansion in history. It was not the worst economy in fifty years, but the greatest economy we've ever had.

He looked at me dumbfounded and said, "I never heard that before."

"Of course you haven't," I replied, "because all you are is a Democrat union lackey and all you know is what your union boss tells you. If you'd take the time to study real history instead of swallowing liberal propaganda you might figure it out." He walked away in a fog, unable to give me a coherent answer, and never bothered me again.

That union representative's attitude was typical of Democrats and their left-wing media cohorts. For the last thirty years they have excoriated Reagan, calling him an "amiable dunce," claiming Nancy Reagan made all the decisions, accusing him of being senile or suffering from Alzheimer's long before he actually came down with the disease, and ridiculing him as the worst president we've ever had.

Then came Obama's State of the Union address two weeks ago. He was very "Reaganesque" the liberal media said. Really? What brought about the change? A month ago Reagan was the worst president in history. Now, all of a sudden, he was a man great enough for the media to compare their false "messiah" to. Except that, their false messiah doesn't begin to compare with the true man that Ronald Reagan was.

I saw Ronald Reagan in person one time. In 1980, on the campaign trail, he came to speak at Bob Jones University. I was sitting about ten seats over from the door where he entered the huge amphitorium on the campus. The seven thousand seat auditorium was filled to capacity with media representatives and dozens of cameras set up to one side of the stage. Reagan paused as he entered, taking in the enormity of the auditorium (I think his advance party failed to prepare him properly for the venue), and I had a chance to take a good look at him close up. He then moved to the platform and gave his stump speech.

I was already hooked, I'd been supporting him since the 1976 primaries, but if there had been any doubt, seeing him in person removed all questions. Reagan was my man, the man America needed. In fact, I believe he was the man God had prepared for the job.

Ronald Reagan grew up in Illinois, not poor, but probably lower middle class. His father was a drunk, his mother a Presbyterian, his best friend a black boy who had suffered from racial prejudices. With that humble beginning he lived the American dream, studying hard and excelling in high school, working his way through college, becoming a radio announcer, and finally eking out a living in Hollywood until he became a major star.

World War II interrupted his career. He joined the Army and was promoted to captain, but extremely poor eyesight prevented him from going into combat. Instead, because of his movie background, he was placed in the intelligence community where he examined photos and film, and where he became aware of the horrible, inhumane atrocities going on in Europe long before they were revealed to the public. It prepared him for the next stage of his life, a forty-five year personal war against communism.

It was not a war without casualties. His life was threatened. He slept with a gun under his pillow every night. It cost him his first marriage.

Reagan had been an FDR Democrat, but in the 1950's he began to see, as he traveled the country representing General Electric, the damage and hardship increasing taxes were putting on average Americans. He grew weary of the Cold War doctrine of appeasement that had us doing "duck and cover" drills in school and left the world in fear of nuclear holocaust.

He changed parties and his 1964 speech, A Time for Choosing, at the 1964 Republican convention started him on a political journey that would change the world. After two successful terms as governor of California, he set his eyes on the presidency and in 1981, at the age of 69, he took the oath of office.

America was in a deep recession, a "malaise," according to Jimmy Carter. Under Carter taxes went up, inflation went up, interest rates went up, and his only answer was we had to learn to live with it. Reagan had a greater vision for America and his tax cuts reversed the recession and led to six years of economic growth. And let us remember, the economic success of the Clinton years was not due to raising taxes and putting more burden on the American people. Bush I raised taxes and brought on a recession. It ended after the Republican Revolution of 1994 which forced Clinton to stop trying to socialize the economy and return to "Reaganomics."

Reagan restored a sense of honor to America. He formally welcomed home the forgotten Vietnam veterans, then built up the military in a pre-determined effort to defeat the Soviet Union by spending them to death. He had the courage to call the communist regime an "evil empire," and tell Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to "tear down this wall." His strategy worked. The Soviet economy collapsed, Eastern Europe was freed and threw out their communist leaders, and in 1991 the Soviet Union died. The Cold War was over. Reagan had changed the world.

More than his accomplishments, however, Reagan's greatness lies in his personality. He never forgot his humble origins. He never looked down upon anybody. He treated everyone with the same kindness and respect that he treated those he loved. Even his political enemies, such as Tip O'Neil, and media enemies like Sam Donaldson, found in him a gracious, likable man. He had the ability to make Americans feel good about themselves.

He connected with Americans because he was not an elitist who thought he was better than anyone else. He spoke what average, hard working Americans were thinking. He was not afraid to go against political correctness to tell the truth. Was he perfect? No. Did his administration have problems? Yes. But he understood better than any president since Washington the value of Washington's admonition that "honesty is the best policy."

Edmund Morris was Reagan's official biographer. His publication, Dutch, was not well received because of the style in which it was written, but Morris had the opportunity to sit in the oval office and interview Reagan on a regular basis for many months or years. After his book was published he said in an interview that Reagan was simply the most honest person he had ever known.

Ronald Reagan not only loved America, he believed in America. He never felt it necessary to apologize for our greatness. Rather, he understood what liberal politicians never will, that this country is God's gift to the world; that Americans have done more to bring about peace and a better world than any other people in history. In a televised speech on March 31, 1976, during his primary campaign against Gerald Ford, Reagan said the following:

We're Americans and we have a rendezvous with destiny.... No people who have ever lived on this earth have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom, or done more to advance the dignity of man than the living Americans - the Americans living in this land today. There isn't any problem we can't solve if government will give us the facts. Tell us what needs to be done. Then, get out of the way and let us have at it.

Today is the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. We would do well to remember the truth about the man, his message, and his vision for America. Reagan was America's greatest president of the 20th century, and ranks with Washington and Lincoln as one of our greatest presidents of all.

Happy Birthday President Reagan. You are not forgotten. Your legacy will be remembered throughout all time.