Ronald Reagan: The Passing Of A Great Man
By Barbara Stock (06/10/04)
As I listen to all the anecdotal stories now being told by friends, journalists, and family, it isn’t the greatness of Ronald Reagan that is being shared but his humanity. The greatness of President Reagan is known, but it was the little things that made the vast majority of Americans love him like no other president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In a sense, the President Reagan loved by so many died several years ago. The essence of what he was left him as Alzheimer’s disease destroyed his mind and robbed him of the memories of a life long and glorious in its accomplishments. This terrible disease took him from his family and loved ones and the American people.
Ronald Reagan knew that he would leave us and his family and it is impossible to understand how he must have felt as his memories slipped away and faces of those that he loved so much became unfamiliar. Reagan knew as he entered the “sunset of his life,” he would be alone, lost within his own body. Yet he faced it as he faced everything--with courage, strong faith and the knowledge that America would have a bright future because he never doubted the greatness of her people.
His last public statement to America was not a “feel sorry for me” speech, but a declaration saying “thank you for letting me serve my country and its great people.” He put his life in the hands of God and spent his last years cradled in the love of his family.
Always the eternal optimist, Ronald Reagan had a love of life, freedom and, America that was infectious. Reagan didn’t recognize failure or dark clouds; he brushed them aside as temporary and passing inconveniences. Reagan never worried about the politics of Washington; he said he was there to do what was right.
Reagan was the first to call the Soviet Union what it was: The Evil Empire. While the leftists in America plunged into an apoplectic state over the comment, convinced that a full nuclear exchange would be the Soviet Union’s response, President Reagan stood firm. He knew that it wasn’t American might that would cause the collapse of communist super power, but the simple fact that communism was wrong and could not stand the test of time.
Reagan was convinced that the very concept of communism was evil. Communism robs the soul of hope and the mind of creativity. Never one to mince words, Reagan shared his belief with the world. Reagan did what he did best--he spoke of the 900 pound gorilla in the corner. Reagan not only spoke of it, he would point it out and make sure everyone looked at it. Reagan knew that to deal with a problem, you first had to recognize it and see it for it was.
While speaking in West Germany, Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and made his message clear--“Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Even his aides were fearful of repercussions and had begged him to take that line out his now-famous speech. Reagan refused. The Berlin Wall was wrong. The Soviet Union and communism was wrong, and so sure was President Reagan of this fact that he had the courage to demand of the other super-power in the world, one that could annihilate the world, that it needed to correct this evil wrong.
Reagan’s detractors called him a bumbling old fool. World War III would begin because of Reagan’s rash statements. The nay-sayers howled over President Reagan’s lack of diplomacy and foreign policy skills. Yet, the Soviet Union has indeed gone to the “ash-heap of history” and the hated Berlin Wall is gone.
As Reagan’s body makes its way to its final resting place, his secret service men are still at his side, protecting him in death as they did in life. They could not protect him from the disease that stole his mind and the memories of his amazing life, but they will continue to protect his body until he is buried in his beloved California. Americans will line the streets to say goodbye as his body passes. Many will hold American flags, some will carry flowers and little memorials will spring up in his honor. If President Reagan can see the tributes, it will be the smallest and most simple of those memorials that will please him.
Americans should not mourn the passing of this man, this great American, but celebrate his life. That is what Ronald Reagan would want. That is his legacy. Perhaps President Reagan said it best himself. "When the Lord calls me home ... I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." Nov. 5, 1994
Thank you, Mr. President, for being the man you were and for having the courage to share your joy of life and freedom and love of country with so many. Find peace as you see the face of God, who gave you strength and vision. Be at peace, Ronald Reagan. You were loved by millions of grateful Americans.
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