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Townhall...
The 40th President at
100
By Cal Thomas
On the centenary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, I pause for another historic
event: agreement with President Obama, who says of his predecessor in
USA Today, “Ronald Wilson Reagan was a believer ... he recognized that
each of us has the power -- as individuals and as a nation -- to shape
our own destiny. He had faith in the American promise; in the
importance of reaffirming values like hard work and personal
responsibility; and in his own unique ability to inspire others to
greatness.”
Precisely!
I suspect Reagan would be embarrassed by the attempts to elevate him to
political sainthood. Even conservatives who now long for another Reagan
were sometimes critical of him during his presidency and of those
around him they believed were holding him back. “Let Reagan be Reagan”
they cried, as if he wasn’t who he was.
What made Reagan a great president was that he understood America and
his countrymen better than any politician of his time, or perhaps any
time. He saw that the greatness of the country is not found in
Washington, no matter which party or personality is in power. Rather,
it is to be found in the people. Reagan awakened that dormant truth
from hibernation.
Ronald Reagan didn’t need to be president to complete himself as a man.
He knew who he was before seeking the job. Self-awareness is an
essential quality in a leader if he or she is to avoid the siren call
of narcissism and the temptations that go with the preoccupation about
“legacy.”
Reagan awakened in many Americans the belief that no matter what the
challenge, Americans can meet it. His opponents mocked him for what
they regarded as an “old-fashioned” concept. In a time of growing
dependency on government, based on the fallacy that we can’t do much on
our own (and if we do we must be punished with higher taxes and more
regulation), such a notion was offensive to the dominant political
culture. Reagan tapped into a principle that is as much a part of our
DNA as motherhood and the American flag.
Reagan’s “vision for America” mirrored our vision of ourselves: strong
internationally, economically sound at home. He restored our
self-confidence at a time when his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, was
suggesting America had seen its best days and we should trim our
expectations and become “realists.”
Reagan, the eternal optimist, even after discovering he had Alzheimer’s
disease, was always thinking about the future. Bill Clinton made the
future his theme when he adopted Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop (Thinking
About Tomorrow)” as his 1992 campaign song. After reading a book about
Reagan, President Obama tried to channel him in his State of the Union
address. It fell flat.
Trying to be Reagan without the substance didn’t fully succeed with
Clinton either because of his self-absorption, manifested in the sex
scandals. It is even less likely to succeed with Obama because his big
government philosophy is the antithesis of Reaganism. A theme must have
more than a melody. It must be in harmony with America. Reagan’s was.
Obama sings his off-key.
A Google search for Reaganisms finds scores of little phrases that
touched principles handed down by previous generations of Americans.
These aphorisms were born of Reagan’s own experiences with FDR
Democrats and the notion that the bigger government gets, the fewer
liberties we enjoy.
Here are just three: “We have a deficit, not because the government
taxes too little, but because it spends too much”; “Above all, we must
realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is
so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It
is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have”; “...there
are great advantages to being elected president. The day after I was
elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret.”
Self-deprecation and humility rested comfortably on Reagan’s broad
shoulders.
Reagan didn’t promise to do great things for us. He showed us that
great things came from within us. Modern Republicans would do well to
remind themselves that America’s greatness doesn’t lie within
politicians, but within each of its citizens. That is Reagan’s legacy.
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