Love And Respect
By Tom Barrett (06/16/04)
Even though my last column was about Ronald Reagan, the outpouring of love and respect for the man that we have seen in the last week has compelled me to write about him again. In my previous article, "America's Greatest President," I described the place I believe Ronald Reagan will take in our nation's history. In this article I will discuss the reason for America's great love and respect for The Gipper - his great and abiding faith.
Ronald Reagan has been out of the public eye for the last ten years. Since his brave announcement to the nation that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Nancy Reagan has kept him out of the public eye. This makes America's amazing outpouring of love and respect for Ronald Reagan all the more remarkable. This week of mourning has made it clear that although he was out of sight, a grateful nation has never forgotten Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Before we discuss Reagan's faith, let's look at the last week. A week of mourning! He was so loved that the entire nation came to a standstill for an entire week. Millions were glued to their television sets, watching the eulogies and sharing their own memories of the great man with one another.
When his death was announced, there was immediate speculation among political commentators that that the G-8 Summit might be postponed or rearranged to allow President Bush and the world leaders attending the Summit to attend his funeral. The planners were able to arrange the week's events so that the most important, the national funeral at the National Cathedral, took place the day after the G-8 ended. But just the fact that rescheduling this important international Summit was considered is a tribute to Mr. Reagan.
Speaking of international leaders, notice who attended the service. Ronald Reagan first entered the White House when he was 69, twenty-four years ago. He has been out of office for sixteen years and out of the public eye for ten years. Yet world leaders from almost every nation honored Ronald Reagan by attending, with one notable exception. Jacques Chirac, the French President showed his displeasure with US policy by refusing to attend. But who wanted him, anyway? On the other hand, a testament to Reagan's unique ability to change hearts and minds was the attendance of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union during the Reagan era. Once a bitter enemy, today he has only the highest respect for Reagan.
All of the stock exchanges closed in honor of Ronald Reagan's National Funeral. This is not a decision made by the government, nor are the exchanges always closed for a former president's funeral. In fact, in the last 100 years fifteen former presidents have died. Only five - Eisenhower, Johnson, Truman, Nixon and Reagan - were honored in this way.
"President Reagan was a great champion of free people and free markets," said NYSE Chief Executive John Thain in his announcement. "It is appropriate that the nation's markets on Friday will honor President Reagan's contributions to freedom and democracy."
But more important than the honors bestowed on Reagan by the high and mighty were the sacrifices made by hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens in order to show their love and respect for President Reagan. About one hundred thousand people waited as long as ten hours to walk by his casket at the Reagan Presidential Library in California. So many people came that the Library was forced to change plans and allow visitors all night long. A similar number, including thousands of respectful children, came to the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. to honor Mr. Reagan. And hundreds of thousands more lined every street and highway on both coasts whenever the funeral motorcade passed by.
As I mentioned earlier, this great outpouring of love and respect was motivated by the quality that made Ronald Reagan the greatest president America has ever had - his faith. I have studied President Reagan's life, his writings and his speeches for many years. I learned much more about him this week as I listened to close friends and family describe him. All this leads me to believe that Mr. Reagan's greatness grew from his faith in three areas of his life.
First, Ronald Reagan had great faith in the nation that he loved. He believed in America, in her goodness, in her greatness, and in her destiny. He came into office at a time of national defeatism, despair, cynicism and hand-wringing. University professors were saying that the pressures of the presidency were too big for one man, that we needed a two or three person co-presidency. News anchors, philosophers and politicians were questioning whether the great experiment that was America had gone terribly wrong.
Imagine their shock when "Ronnie" showed up with that great big sunny smile and said, Everything is OK! America is the greatest nation on the planet. We will win the Cold War. We will defeat Communism. We're going to cut taxes and turn this terrible economy around. Just trust America! Trust yourselves! You can do it!
Oh, how they laughed, those learned professors and political operators. Doesn't he realize that patriotism is outdated? He can't really believe all that stuff he's saying. He's just acting, saying his lines to make the people feel better. He's just a dumb, old cowboy. We don't know how he got elected, but we'll darn well make sure it doesn't happen again!
But Reagan made Americans believe in America again. Listen once again to how he inspired us…
"We are the showcase of the future. And it is within our power to mold that future-this year and for decades to come. It can be as grand and as great as we make it. No crisis is beyond the capacity of our people to solve; no challenge too great."
- January 5, 1974
"This country was founded and built by people with great dreams and the courage to take great risks." - January 26, 1983
"We did not seek the role of leadership that has been thrust upon us. But whether we like it or not, the events of our time demand America's participation." - October 12, 1972
"We in government should learn to look at our country with the eyes of the entrepreneur, seeing possibilities where others see only problems." - January 26, 1985
"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look." - January 20, 1981
"It is up to us...to work together for progress and humanity so that our grandchildren, when they look back at us, can truly say that we not only preserved the flame of freedom, but cast its warmth and light further than those who came before us." - October 17, 1982
Ronald Reagan also had great faith in his calling. He felt that God had placed him in the White House for a reason. The assassination attempt on March 30, 1981, just a few months after he took office, reinforced that belief. He believed that God had spared him from death so that he could complete the work that he had been assigned.
Reagan had always operated on the principle that principles, not politics, should govern a leader's actions. He didn't care what the polls said; he listened to his heart. In a speech on December 5, 1990, he said, "A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough." And he did it!
The assassination attempt didn't give him the courage to live and lead by his convictions. He already had that. But his brush with death definitely reinforced his determination to do what was right regardless of what anyone said or did. And the experience made him even more fearless and even more immune to the whining and carping of the liberal naysayers.
Finally, Ronald Reagan had great faith in his Savior. Although he was not as open about speaking of his faith in public as some would have liked, those who knew him best knew that he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. His oldest son, Michael (to whom I will always be grateful for being the first to publish my writing on the Internet at www.Reagan.com) has spoken many times of how his father shared his faith with him.
"Today as I joined my family at the first of the memorial services, I felt grief at his passing. But, as I stood over the casket this morning I was comforted in knowing that with all of the gifts that my father had given to the nation that the greatest gift he had given to me was knowing that at one o'clock Saturday afternoon when my father closed his eyes for the last time he went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A finer gift cannot be given to a son."
Because of his great faith in his Savior, Ronald Reagan faced the end of his life unafraid. Because of his faith, he could say with Job, "Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron stylus and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God!" Job 19:24- 26.
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