At last, "Dutch" Reagan gets his due

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 08/19/03 | JOHN O'SULLIVAN

[Eric in the Ozarks]

And Clark Clifford came within a froghair of going to jail in a banking kickback scheme.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I recommend Peggy Noonan's "When Character was King" for an outstanding and entertaining biography of Reagan that covers these issues in much greater and fascinating depth.

[LiberalSlayer99]

Greatest president in my lifetime. Wish there were more like him.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Bump for the Gipper.

"I miss voting for that man" - Hank Hill

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I remember how great everyone felt when that worthless puss Carter was drummed out of office and a real man took charge.

[Arthur McGowan]

I'll never forget an interview with Clark Clifford, in which he complained about how the Republicans want to give "tax cuts to the"--pause--searching for the right word--this is a new thought, and I need to express it just right--I've got--just the right word--smirk--"wealthiest Americans..."

Slime.

[George Smiley]

Add to the Recommended Ronald Reagan Reading list:

Reagan, in His Own Hand by Kiron, K. Skinner (Editor), et al (Paperback - October 2001)

This is the book about the radio addresses- it's transcribed directly from his longhand notes for same, additions and deletions included.

If, after reading this book, you still have doubts concerning Reagan's intelligence then, well, you're...uhhh...not very perceptive.

Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism by Peter Schweizer

This explains in great detail how Reagan's views on Communism led him to see the struggle with Communism as a moral, rather than a political issue, and how this point of view affected the actions he took.

RONALD REAGAN: HOW AN ORDINARY MAN BECAME AN EXTRAORDINARY LEADER by Dinesh D'Souza

What can I say about D'Souza? He possesses that uncommon gift of looking at both sides of an issue dispassionately.

He shows how the liberals misunderstood and, because of their misunderstanding, underestimated Reagan.

Don't start laughing yet, because he also shows how conservatives did the same.

[Billthedrill]

There is an element of desperation in the left's insistence that Reagan was a play-acting, manufactured president. The facts are otherwise, as anyone who has ever read his writing - Hillary take note, his own writing - can see leaping at them from the pages. What he restored in the American psyche is something the left thought the world had progressed from - a sense of simple patriotism, a sense of mission, and a defense of ideals that a generation of cynicism had turned into shallow platitudes. In the final analysis they turned out to be nothing of the sort.

[George Smiley]

The only reason that he didn't was because Justice took a pass on him because of age-related decrepitude.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

> Fittingly, this is a serious book with a light touch. Among the many good Reagan stories it contains, one illustrates his sense of what was appropriate: Reagan was told the French government wanted to award him the Croix de Guerre.

> ''That's for bravery,'' he says, and his face darkens. ''All I did was fly a desk. I couldn't possibly accept the Croix de Guerre.''

Wonder how 'Toon would have handled that?

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

RR changed my life - in 1979 I was a weak, worthless ultra-lib, and by 1980 a proud conservative.

[victim soul]

God bless Ronald Reagan!!!

[victim soul]

God bless Ronald Reagan!!!

[laconic]

Yes, the "genius" Clark Clifford was chairman of a major Washington bank that, contrary to US banking law, was owned by some wealthy Gulf Arabs (BCCI). When called before the congressional committee to testify on this matter, the brilliant Clark claimed he didn't even know the identities of the men who owned the bank of which he was chairman! It was a real howler when one of the disbelieving Rep congressmen present pressed Clifford if that didn't qualify him as a REAL DUNCE! Clifford endlessly took credit for Harry Truman's successes and always denied the slightest role in his failures and also did his best to sell out the US role in Vietnam when he succeeded the execrable McNamara as LBJ's defense secretary -- witness his slavering suckup interview in the Red documentary Hearts and Minds. Fortunately, Clark Clifford's reputation died well before he did.

[4CJ]

Reagan, in His Own Hand

The Best! from the best President I'll ever know. May God bless him & Nancy.

[Still Thinking]

HE'D have called the French up and initiated the idea before they did.

[KC Burke]

I got that Robinson book last week and as soon as Tom Clancy is done with me, I will be delving into his account. I saw an interview just prior to its release and knew it would be a great read.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Academic historians gave him poor ratings in rather silly surveys of presidential greatness.

Ann Coulter points out in Treason that academic historians tend to take the conceit that "journalism is the first draft of history" seriously--and they produce a history which is not truly based on hindsight, but merely the second draft of journalism.

If that sounds remotely sensible to you, you need to seriously consider how anyone could rewrite silence--the news CNN kept to itself--into meaningful truth about Saddam Hussain's regime.

If Henry Ford was thinking of the second draft of journalism when he said, "History is Bunk," then he certainly had a point.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Best there ever was... Probably the best there ever will be.

When future "historians" conduct their polls on the Greatest Presidents, I hope they'll reflect on the literally billions of people (and tens of billions of man-years) now living in relative freedom and liberty because of this man's convictions and leadership. All the pretenders who protested his policies, called him an "amiable dunce", laughed at his "evil empire" and "tear down this wall" speeches, thought his "Star Wars" policy was lunacy, apologized for his insistence at deploying the Pershing II's in Euorpe, protested his Defense build-up and deficits: all of these "people" (I have other words in mind), now want credit that they "helped bring about the collapse of communism"...

NO! Reagan was the architect, the author, the voice, and the leader of the most important victory of our lifetime. Credit Margaret Thatcher and the Pope for their important supporting roles, but Reagan was the "Star"! I can't imagine what a different world we would be currently living in had it not been for Ronald W. Reagan and his presidency...