Reagan Hailed as Leader for 'the Ages' [Great Summary by Washington Post]

The Washington Post ^ | June 12, 2004 | David von Drehle

[nwrep]

A poor kid in the America that Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) extolled could end up a movie star, a millionaire, president of the United States -- or, in his case, all three. That storybook life turned its last page yesterday with a funeral fit for a king.

Beneath the towering vaults of Washington National Cathedral, about 3,700 mourners -- leaders of government, heads of state, captains of industry, brokers of power -- sat rapt as the 40th president, who died last Saturday at 93, was commemorated by his admirers and commended to his God.

The pomp was nearly unprecedented in American annals, more than two extraordinary hours of thundering organ, swelling chorus, haunting silences and eloquent prayers. Eulogies were spoken by two presidents and two prime ministers.

After the funeral, the late president's body rode one last time to Andrews Air Force Base and one last time home to California aboard a presidential jet. He was buried near sunset on the grounds of the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, in a simple service featuring tributes from his three surviving children. Former first lady Nancy Reagan, stoic through nearly a week of somber rituals, surrendered to her grief after being handed the flag that had covered her husband's coffin.

So ended the nation's farewell to a man judged by fans and critics alike to have ranked among the most consequential presidents of the past century, a man credited by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher yesterday with having "won the Cold War."

[kimosabe31]

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[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[billhilly]

Take that, Ted Koppel.

[FairWitness]

My wife asked me to look up "Jane Wyman" to see if she was still living (the answer is yes - she is 90). I thought this quote I found on one of the websites devoted to her deserved posting to a thread:

"On June 11, 2004, Jane Wyman broke decades of silence regarding her former husband, President Ronald Reagan, saying, "America has lost a great president and a great, kind and gentle man."

For any who did not know, Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan married January 26, 1940 and divorced June 28, 1948. Their daughter, Maureen Reagan, born January 4, 1941; died of malignant melanoma August 8, 2001. Their son, Michael Reagan, born March 18, 1945; adopted by Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan on March 21, 1945, spoke at the funeral (Reagan Library) and should be well known to most Freepers. A daughter, Christine Reagan, was born prematurely on June 26, 1947 and passed away nine hours later.

I was pleased and impressed that she had such kind words to say of him.

[ultima ratio]

It should also be noted that it was Wyman who divorced Reagan. He was very wounded by her decision.

[ambrose]

bump.