A Tribute to Ronald Reagan

Today, as I write this commentary, is the 10th anniversary of the death of our 40th President and one of my two favorites, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

He was, of course, a B-type actor, who was, nevertheless, well-respected as a New Deal Democrat and cashed in on his popularity among his peers as the President of the Screen Actors Guild. As the union president, he learned much, especially how to lead.

I recall as a young boy growing up in the 50s and early 60s this nice, likable man hawking for General Electric, Borax soap and other products on TV. It was during this time that Reagan decided to change parties from Democrat to Republican. He was influenced, in part, by his meetings with the various heads of the companies for which he was the chief spokesman. 

It was during the campaign of 1964 as he campaigned for Barry Goldwater that he made his bones as a bona-fide Conservative Republican. Near the end of that campaign, he spoke to an audience in Houston, where he finally out-shined the candidate with a speech as he said the following:

"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We'll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."

After I heard this, I said to my Dad that someday this man would be President. Of course, he laughed and said as many of his generation believed, that no way would an actor, a divorced one at that, ever be elected President.

Two years later, of course, he was elected Governor of the most populous state in the country. He would go on to serve two terms. 

In 1968, he made the first of three runs at the Presidency, which obviously he lost to Richard Nixon. In 1976, he again tried for the brass ring and lost in a close nomination battle to President Ford. Four years later, he won the first of two terms.

I have provided you with some more of his best quotes from Thursday's USA Today.

In the 25 years since he left office, America has changed quite a bit, in some cases for the better and in others, not so much. As unified as we were behind President Reagan for all the good he did for America, we are that divided today. He was always able to convey his beliefs in a way many would find comforting, and for those who did not always agree with him, at least palatable. He was The Great Communicator.

 He was able to work with Democrats, as well as, Republicans to have both sides see the middle and work toward it on domestic issues. He and Democrat Speaker Thomas P "Tip" O'Neill worked together to get the nation out of the morass Jimmy Carter left behind. He was able to get the Democrat House vote for changes in IRA rules, TRA '82 which cut taxes 25% over 3 years and TRA '86 which revolutionized our tax structure which we still enjoy today.

English: US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachov at the first Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On the foreign front, after he called the old Soviet Union "the Evil Empire", he began an arms build up that the Soviets could not afford, which ultimately bankrupted the

USSR. He watched it collapse, caused by the programs he put in place, after he left office.

Even ten years after he passed from Alzheimer's, he is still remembered fondly by so many. Democrats and Republicans, if they are honest, both know that there hasn't been a great President since. Ronald Reagan touched us all like few ever had. He transcended party much like the Roosevelts, Lincoln, Wilson and Kennedy have. 

Like these men, Ronald Reagan is remembered today, not as a Good Republican, but rather, as a Great American. It will be still a long time before another like him comes our way again.

Until then, "Ronnie, we hardly knew you!"