Five Years Ago Yesterday; A Heartfelt Tribute
I was just four years old when he became president; a mere twelve when he gracefully left. He entered office in the midst of a financial crisis – double digit inflation, unemployment, and mortgage rates; and the threat of nuclear war around every corner. When he left office, all three economic indicators were in check, and those living in the oppressive Soviet empire were but a few years from a taste of freedom.
Five years ago yesterday, Ronald Wilson Reagan “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to meet his Maker.
A B-list actor, a Democrat and a union president in his younger years, Reagan explained his political shift quite simply, “I didn’t leave the democratic party, the democratic party left me.”
Reagan’s sense of humor was second to none. One of my favorite quotes, he once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” While being wheeled into the operating room after a near fatal assassination attempt, Reagan quipped as he was being put under “I hope you’re all Republicans.”
That near death experience had a profound effect on his life. Though he didn’t publicly acknowledge a close relationship with the Almighty, from that day on, Reagan was convinced his life was spared for a purpose, and he dedicated it to that end.
Perhaps his most important legacy was his commitment to a constitutionally limited federal government. At his very core, Reagan knew what made America great was not its government, nor was it unique to its people or land. He understood what so many immigrants understand and so many born and raised here miss - a free land filled with opportunity is far better than a land of guaranteed mediocrity.
As he put it, “The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people, and they knew that when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing.”
That choice didn’t come easily for the country. Despite the failed results of FDR and Johnson’s expansive government policies, loud was the clamor for even more government involvement as a response to the economic malaise strangling the country in the late 70s. Reagan stood steadfastly against it. He worked tirelessly to get the government out of the economy, ultimately unleashing an economic boom that lingered for decades.
His desire for people to taste the opportunities of freedom didn’t stop at the waters edge. Reagan saw totalitarian regimes, whether communist, socialist, or dictatorships, for what they were and are, robbers of men’s souls and far too often of their very lives.
Reagan didn’t mince words, calling Soviet communism what it was – an “evil empire.” He was thoroughly convinced that system would be “left on the ash heap of history.” He was right. Ultimately, centrally planned economies were no match for the creativity and motivation of free men and women pursuing their passions free of government interference.
Four years after he left office, the Berlin wall fell and hundreds of millions gained a chance at freedom.
Though it’s been hard to hold on to as of late, what I treasure most from Reagan’s legacy is that great spirit of optimism. In a very dark time, when so many were convinced America was in an inevitable state of decline, he refused to accept it. Reagan gave us back an America we could take pride in. He loved this country, not only for what it was, but what it represented, and what it could be – a great “shining city upon a hill.”
In his farewell address to the nation Reagan put it this way: “I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace… That’s how I saw it, and see it still. And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness toward home… My friends: We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.” (From his Farewell Address to the Nation, 1989.)
Faced with Alzheimer’s, in 1992 Reagan left us with this: “And whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way. My fondest hope for each one of you — and especially for young people — is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here. May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism. And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill.”
Nearly five years ago to the day, the federal government was closed in remembrance of Reagan upon his death. I had to chuckle at the very idea. I can not conceive of a more fitting tribute.
Thank you Ronald Reagan, God’s speed.
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