Monday, December 15, 2008

The Best President we Ever Had

I am conservative by nature. I was young when the fiasco that was Jimmy Carter was in office, and was just starting to realize the world around me when the greatest president ever-Ronald Reagan took office. I was too young to vote, but having to endure the failures of the Carter presidency every day, I was beginning to pay attention to the political world. Ronald Reagan was amazing. He had a vision for this country, and a deeply ingrained pride that was irresistible. He made people proud to be Americans again. And the pride was contagious. He did not shirk and hide from the enemies of our country. He met them head on. He could manipulate the liberal circus that we call the media, and he did it so well that they often found themselves liking him, in spite of their indoctrination. One of my proudest memories of Ronald Reagan was when he handled the Libyan mess. He did not dabble in public debate. He did not drop sound bytes for the national media to hack over in endless debate. What he did was make up his mind and then he announced to the world when it was over. He sent the bombers to take care of the situation, and it worked. The only noise that the Lybian dictator made after that was the hollow saber rattling that he was best at. I have a relative that is fond of repeating really ugly things about Nancy Reagan. She read one of those hate mongering books by a writer who-realizing that she lacked talent-made up for it with salacious gossip. I don't care what Nancy Reagan did, or didn't do. But she was married to the most powerful man in the world, and she knew her place in the world. She wasn't trying to jealously elbow her way in and call it a joint presidency. She stayed in the background, knowing that the contributions she made to the presidency might not be recorded for posterity, but they were no less important. She supported Ronald Reagan. She gave him comfort, and a private ear to listen to when he needed it. Anyone who ever doubts this should read the book of love letters that Mr. Reagan wrote to her. It will take your breath away, the love and devotion that was shared by these two people. At any rate, I want to conclude this with my utmost envy. I am truly envious of anyone who can not only find their soul mate, but can stand by them, never wavering. I wish the world had more Ronald Reagans. I truly do.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more. I barely remember Carter. But I do remember my parents were always broke and the interest on the house was like 15 percent. It was crazy. Plus he let Iran just make us look like idiots. Do you remember his put on a sweater crap? He was truly incompetent.