A Great Man to Admire
Some of you aren’t going to like this. I’m a great admirer of Ronald Reagan. I know, many of you believe he was too Hollywood, too casual, too hard-edged on foreign affairs, too unwilling to bend; he was smug, he was conservative. He let his wife Nancy have too much say. Yes, at times he could be all of those things, but you know what? That’s also what made him a great leader. There was no waffling, no handwringing, no appeasement when tough stances or decisions had to be made. He was clear about his mission, about his goals, about the path he felt this country needed to take.
He had a moral compass that didn’t change. I probably admire him most for what that compass was, as I consider it closely related to how I was raised. I have little patience for playing games about morality, public issues, general welfare and safety. When laws are broken, the breakers must be punished. A contract is a contract. When you sign it, you abide by it; you honor your word by keeping it. When you make commitments you follow through. If you make a mistake, you own it.
Yes, he played politics. What politician doesn’t. It’s part of the game one must play when one jumps in that pool; a hazard of the profession. The Iran-Contra affair probably comes to mind for most of us. Certainly, not a highlight for any administration. Without Congressional approval, the CIA nevertheless sold arms to Iran in the dual hope of freeing hostages held by Iranian-supported Hezbollah and using the sale proceeds to fund Nicaraguan Contra freedom fighters through an operation led by scapegoat Oliver North. It was, ultimately, an unknown operation to the President, providing him ‘plausible deniability.’ A means to an end, as they say. Eventually, of course, it all blew up, but Reagan managed to dodge permanent damage by taking responsibility and admitting it was a poor decision.
To my mind, the admission was a courageous and unusual act for a politician. How often do we ever see politicians, particularly Presidents, taking that kind of responsibility?
All that aside, Reagan was the catalyst to the eventual downfall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. Over years of reading and familiarizing himself with communism and the Soviets, he had developed a plan to thwart their idea of communist world domination. His idea was to collapse their economy by inducing them to spend too much on military buildup. Having studied economics, Reagan knew the mechanisms involved. He knew the U.S. could outspend the USSR, that we had more resources. In some ways he created a facade of arms development the Soviets fell for. He used it as leverage to call the Soviets on their breaking of armament treaties and to negotiate a reduction in nuclear armament.
He was masterful in making people feel comfortable and finding common ground. Always an optimist, he was often criticized for being unrealistic. He felt there was always a way forward, but he also held firm to no-nonsense stances and made it clear he would never acquiesce to demands that would hurt America or were morally repugnant to him. The guy was a stern father figure and he wasn’t going to put up with bullshit or excuses. For me, it was easy to admire him for his unusual political courage and his commitment to his ideals.
He was criticized for the supposed folly of ‘Reaganomics’ or ‘trickle-down economics’, where tax cuts and deregulation stimulate economic growth. The funny thing was it all worked. Yet, still today, some economists can’t admit its effectiveness. To me, it’s just a logical and practical approach to how free markets work.
Lastly, I think he was genuinely committed to serving. We often hear these days about servant warriors, or servant leaders. Those monikers originated in the sixties and seventies, and Reagan was one who believed strongly he was in a position to serve the people of America. He spent his life trying to choke out communism, remove it as a threat to America, and reinforce our forefather’s ideas of freedom.
Think today of our current Presidential candidates. Do either of them really have a commitment to serve? They exhibit either an egotistical self-interest for power or a misguided and disingenuous notion that socialism is going help America. They’re selling handouts. This is the antithesis of everything Reagan stood for. It’s only rational to understand when you get a handout, you’re going to trade something for it. There is no free lunch. We will pay with less freedom and more oversight. More big government telling us what we can and cannot do.
For me, Reagan was one of our greatest Presidents. A man of remarkable vision. Open, optimistic, stern, and committed to the betterment of those he served. Straightforward yet congenial. Capable of finding common ground and building on it to reach effective, groundbreaking agreement. I can think of no other President in the last 60-plus years who was so effective making hard decisions, so disarming in his ability to communicate, so consistent in his message and vision, and so genuine in his approach to those he served. Truly a very great man.
Where are men like you these days, Ronald Reagan? We sorely need you.
