Posted on 06/23/2004 11:19:04 PM PDT by ambrose
A Dad Like Jack: The Influence of Ronald Reagan's Father
June 18, 2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Dr. Paul Kengor --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When we open our newspapers on Fathers Day, we expect to find an article on dads. These are often tributes to heroic dads. Yet, for every boy or girl whose father was a fireman, a doctor, or Marine who stormed the beaches of Normandy, there is a dad who was more complicated: not a great dad but one still loved and who had an impact, sometimes in unintentional ways. This describes a father Ive studied: Jack Reagan, father of Ronald Reagan, the former president who recently left this world.
John Edward Jack Reagan was born in Whiteside County, Illinois on July 13, 1883, 11 days before Nelle Clyde Wilson, whom he married 21 years later in the town of Fulton. Nelle and Jack had two childrenRonald and Neil, nicknamed Dutch and Moon, respectively, by their parents. A split developed in the Reagan household over religion; Jack was Catholic, Nelle a Protestant. Both parents' overriding concern was that their boys believe in God and go to church. Nelle, a model of Christian virtue, was much more devout than Jack. Jack left the boys religious rearing to Nelle, and Dutch gravitated toward her faith. Quite unintentionally, however, Jack contributed to Dutchs faith.
Jack was consumed with financial survival. The shoe salesman scraped and scrapped so he and his family could simply get by. And before long, drinkinga lot of drinkingwas helping him to cope.
Jack uprooted the family at every turn. Throughout young Reagans childhood, his family never owned a home and was always hunting for an affordable rental. Ronald Reagan would live in 37 different residences in his lifetime, the majority coming before he left home for adulthood.
In one of these moves, to the Illinois town of Galesburg, Ronald had a kind of epiphany. The lonely boy ventured to the attic of his latest home. The previous tenant left behind a collection of birds eggs and butterflies enclosed in glass. The curious first-grader escaped into the attic for hours at a time, marveling at the eggs rich colors and the intricate wings of the butterflies. The experience, Reagan remembered, left me with a reverence for the handiwork of God that never left me. These wonderments were like gateways. The notion of a Creator was etched into the boys consciousness. He later thanked that previous tenant as an anonymous benefactor to whom I owe much. Ironically, this dramatic rendezvous with the Creator was Jacks inadvertent doing.
Moving took a toll on the young Ronald; it created a void in hima hole that religion came to fill. In need of a rock of reliability, he looked to where his mom, his heart, and his desolation pointed himupward, and found what he perceived as a permanent friend in God, always in His place, accessible at any moment.
Another foible of Jacks may have contributed to Dutchs turn to God. It was a brisk February evening in Dixon, Illinois in 1922. Returning home from a basketball game at the YMCA, 11-year-old Reagan expected to arrive to an empty house. Instead, he was stunned by the sight of his father sprawled out in the snow on the front porch. He was drunk, his son later remembered. Dead to the world crucified. Jacks hair was soaked with melted snow, matted unevenly against the side of his reddened face.
Dutch stood over his father for a minute or two. He wanted to simply let himself in the door and pretend his dad wasnt there. Instead, he grabbed a fistful of overcoat and heaved Jack to the bedroom, away from the weathers harm and neighbors attention. Dutch felt no resentment, just grief. This was the man who had always carried him.
The event shook the young Reagan; he never forgot it. Four months later he was baptized at his moms church.
The story of Ronald Reagans dad is sad. Yet, it describes many father-son relationships, and reveals how a complex father can possess both negative and positive attributesand, yes, there were positives.
Jack instilled in Ronald Reagan the work ethic that propelled him into radio, then the movies, and then television in the heyday of each medium. In the 1930s, when most of America suffered, Reagan soared. He would go on to twice win the governorship of the nations largest state and the presidency of the worlds most powerful nation. His father taught him that success comes from within, not by a handout. Dutch saw in his dad an ability to roll with the punches, a trait crucial to Reagans thick political skin. He also learned from his father the gift of gabthe knack for a good story that the Great Communicator mastered.
Completely neglected by history was Ronald Reagans hatred of bigotry. (Critics called him a racista charge that bothered him more than any other.) Here, too, his dad had a role. Jack didnt just tell Dutch that racism was bad; he shared indelible accounts that Reagan retold throughout his life.
Dads cant do everything. For Jack, trying to make a buck was hard enough. For the duty of spiritual development, he delegated to his wife. Give him credit: he knew his limits and Nelles strengths, and chose well. Nelle was better suited for the task. She excelled at it, and turned Ronald Reagan into a devout believer: an extremely important facet of Reagans life and presidency only now being learned.
The Reagans together, both Jack and Nelle, serve as an excellent example of how it takes twoa mom and dad, each bringing separate strengths to the tableto best raise a child. Thats a worthwhile thing to remember on Fathers Day and any day.
Dr. Paul Kengor
Good story. I like stories about "ordinary" people or those who made great people what they are.
I have been influenced by peter the great, jefferson ; teddy roosevelt, winston churchill, reagan, and kennedy, but never by my own dad, i couldnt stand the guy.
Your dad can be a good mentor or he can be a complete loser.
it's better to look upto and be influenced by great personalities from literature
Those who read, are influenced more by literature than any parent or those around them.
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