I've been thinking a lot about President Reagan since I heard the news of his death on Saturday. Unlike Ken Shepherd, I have strong memories of Reagan's time in office. The two that really stand out are his speech after the Challenger disaster and the bombing of Libya (which taught me, among other things, that the French are not our friends). I'm not ashamed to say that I teared up a little listening to the old Reagan clips on the radio. The other thing that has been on my mind is Reagan's place in history. The media, which was always confounded by Reagan's popularity, is doing its best to portray him as the "amiable dunce" - the guy who told some good jokes and gave some good speeches but didn't really know what he was doing. I'm not terribly worried about that, because the leftist intelligentsia isn't nearly as influential as it thinks it is, and people have already formed their (mostly positive) opinions of President Reagan's legacy.
What I was thinking about was how Reagan will show up in our children's history textbooks. Personally, I think Reagan is maybe the third most important president of the 20th century (edging out Truman). First comes Wilson, who turned America into a player on the world stage and set the precedent for later and larger government intervention in the economy. Next is FDR, for obvious reasons, and then Reagan.
But in textbook terms, I think that list will be winnowed down to FDR and Reagan for thematic reasons - first half of the century vs. second half, NY Democrat versus California Republican, FDR began the struggle against totalitarianism and Reagan won it, etc.
Anyway, even though my political views have changed since my youth, I still think Ronald Reagan was a great president and a good man - maybe one of the best men to ever hold the office. I'm sure I'm not the only person my age who will always measure presidents by how they stack up against the Gipper. Thank you again, Mr. President.
Marc
Addendum: Crass political comment to cut through the treacle... How bad do the current presidential candidates look next to 24 hours a day of Ronald Reagan's Greatest Hits? At least Kerry has the option of waiting it out in Boston - poor Bush has to go out there and speak! Ah, well.
And how many times do you think we will hear the phrase "win one for the Gipper" at the GOP convention? It's already working on me, against all rational impulses...
