President Reagan changed everything
by JohnHuang2
Ronald Wilson Reagan, conservative revolutionary, visionary hero, genuine patriot, cheerful warrior, freedom's champion, America's beloved 40th President, died late Saturday. He was home at Bel Air district of Los Angeles, his loving family at his bedside, when he then slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God, as he famously said of the Challenger crewmen. Reagan was 93.
"This is a sad hour in the life of America," said Bush, noting that "A great American life has come to an end." In France to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landing, Bush spoke movingly as he fought back tears. "Ronald Reagan won America's respect with his greatness, and won its love with his goodness," Bush told reporters. "He had the confidence that comes with conviction, the strength that comes with character, the grace that comes with humility, and the humor that comes with wisdom."
Reagan, the Great Communicator, the original mis-underestimated President, is the reason why I got interested in politics to begin with. Quite young at the time, I wasn't much interested -- nor versed -- in the 'issues' back then, beyond the usual High School stuff. Things like monetary policy, the Laffer curve and the Gold Standard didn't much interest me. Not yet at least. Like my dad, who considered politicians by nature "crooks -- every last one of them," I was cynical to the bone about politics and politicians.
Then along came Ronald Reagan. He laid such cynicism and distrust to rest.
Truly a breath of fresh air, Reagan was so unlike your typical politician at the time. He shattered every negative stereotype. He was a leader you knew in your heart you could trust. Believing in Reagan was easy. It came so naturally. The warmth of sincerity beamed from his face, it rang in his every word. Reagan taught us this trust was not misplaced.
He also taught us to be proud to be Americans. He taught us not just to dream, but to dream big, and to never give up on those dreams. And he taught us why that was important. His ability to connect was extraordinary, his rapport with ordinary folks exceptional. A forceful leader of conviction, he renewed our national sense of mission and purpose, he restored our sense of direction, rekindling that can-do spirit in all of us. He rebuilt our nation's defenses. A trailblazer and role model, Reagan transformed America's political landscape. Through the sheer force of unshakable idealism, a revolution -- the Reagan Revolution -- was born. America never looked back. Putting the kabosh on the Carter recession through tax cuts, Reagan sparked the longest and strongest peace-time expansion in U.S. history, an era of unparalleled prosperity and growth. The pompous elite set dismissed it early on as 'trickle-down' "Reaganomics". Eight years and 23 million jobs later, Reagan got the last laugh. With renewed incentives to work, save and invest, federal revenues doubled, even as inflation and interest rates plummeted. Carter spoke drearily of limits, of deep malaise; Reagan promised a renaissance. Carter talked bleakly of hardship and woe, claiming America's best days were behind her; Reagan spoke cheerfully of that Shining City upon a Hill. The Reagan vision prevailed.
But Reagan left an indelible mark not just on economics. Reagan changed the course of history itself. A powerful voice for freedom, Reagan hated communism with every fiber of his being. At every opportunity, even against advice of top aides, he loudly and forcefully spoke against it, famously calling the Soviet Union the Evil Empire, the focus of evil in the modern world and a threat to freedom everywhere. In Reagan, tyranny had no greater enemy, freedom no better champion. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" thundered Reagan before a cheering crowd at the Brandenburg Gate. Needless to say, Foggy Bottom was none too thrilled -- in vain Foggy Bottomites kept scratching out that line from his speech. Reagan kept putting it back in. The Gipper never flinched.
His love of liberty unyielding, Ronald Reagan was a glowing tribute to human freedom. To lovers of liberty toiling behind the ugly Iron Curtain, to all who yearned for freedom, Reagan proved a powerful inspiration, his words a bedrock of hope and strength during tyranny's darkest hours.
A giant of his times, Reagan prided himself as the Incurable Optimist who would not accept 'Containment' as the only option in dealing with communism. He was also the quintessential Realist. If others had forgotten the lessons of history, Reagan hadn't. 'Peace Through Strength' and 'Roll Back' weren't just slogans, they were part of Reagan's successful road-map to victory. From support for Nicaraqua's Freedom Fighters, to the watershed U.S.-led liberation of Grenada, America was on the march. Against a hailstorm of elite ridicule and scorn, Reagan confidently predicted communism's eventual demise, vowing to lead the way. Back then, such words were pure heresy.
"The years ahead will be great ones for our country, for the cause of freedom, for the spread of civilization," Reagan declared at a Notre Dame commencement address in 1981. "The West will not contain communism, it will transcend communism. We will not bother to denounce it; we'll dismiss it as a sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written."
A few short years later, tumultuous events vindicated those words thoroughly, as Reagan led the West to victory in the Cold War. The Gipper's steadfast and uncompromising commitment to restoring our nation's defenses -- particularly SDI -- and aggressive U.S. support for freedom movements inexorably broke the back of Soviet communism. Yet again, Reagan's chorus of critics had egg on their faces. The rest, as they say, is history.
Want another reason why Americans love the Gipper so well?
Well, looking back, who can forget that razor sharp wit, his penchant for disarmingly charming and memorable one-liners and quips, the magnetism and warmth, the decency and kindness of President Reagan? A man of unconquerable spirit, his exemplary life personified the very values that made America great. Reagan's was a true pick-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps life story, a genuine rags-to-riches guy.
Through tragedy, Reagan, a deeply religious man, early on forged a bond with the public. Barely two months in office, an assassin's bullet nearly took his life. Two bullets, actually. But even in such harrowing circumstances, Reagan's poise and grace, his wit and charm never relented. He had just regained consciousness at George Washington University Hospital, when he jokingly told a nurse holding his hand: "Does Nancy know about us?"
Laying on the operating table before surgery, Reagan uttered what became his most memorable quip. Gazing up at his surgeons, he said: "Please, tell me you're all Republicans."
President Reagan, just in case you're lurking here, let me say, from the bottom of my heart, we can never thank you enough for all you did, Sir. We will always love and cherish your memory.
To Nancy and the family, we extend our condolences and offer our thoughts and our prayers.
God bless President Reagan, God bless the United States of America.
Anyway, that's...
My two cents
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