Ronald Reagan & Me

from the mom

For years I worked for a doctor who had graduated from a California medical school when Ronald Reagan was governor. Reagan's signature was on his diploma (as a result) and he caught me looking at it enviously from time to time. He was a liberal and we would spar a little. I always told him I expected a sympathy card when Reagan died.

Like many of my generation, Ronald Reagan shaped my political consciousness. I read the books he read, I digested his worldview, and I saw him as a bright light in a dark political landscape.

We were on our last day of our move west when he passed away on June 5, 2004. I was bitterly disappointed that I couldn't go see his casket in the rotunda of the US Capitol. I made it back from a day of apartment hunting to watch his funeral at the friends' place where we were staying. I remember telling my son how sad I was that he would only be history to him, and he wouldn't have memories of the living, breathing person that I feel like I knew.

I have read quite a few Reagan biographies. (My favorites so far: When Character Was King by Peggy Noonan and A Different Drummer by Michael Deaver.)

Recently I read God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Biography by Paul Kengor. I was comforted by Reagan's intense spiritual faith and his refusal to do anything for the sake of show (even attend church). Kengor uses Reagan's own thoughts from letters in this book, that originally wasn't just about his faith. The material was just so rich that Kengor kept going with it.

In the last ten days I have read Reagan's daughter Patti's books: Angels Don't Die and The Long Goodbye. At some point my husband told me he was disturbed when he heard me weeping next to him as I read.

I may have nothing in common with Patti politically but she writes about her dad with loving feeling. She presents a consistent picture of a man of faith and integrity and optimism whose priorities were faith, family, and country. She shares that the most important gift he gave her was his belief in God, a belief she has come to hold dear as she grows older. She writes of his long goodbye and his "sweetness" even as Alzheimer's claimed his mind.

Somewhere a long the line I realized that while I really do consider Reagan a personal hero, one of the reasons I tear up when I read of him is because reminds me of my Grandpa (who passed away three years ago today). They both were unwavering in their commitment to God and family; they both had sunny dispositions. They each loved their wives with unwavering devotion. They were men of character and integrity who stood above the fray.

I read a headline last week: The End of the Reagan Era. I'm pretty convinced that it is ending not because Reagan's policies weren't useful for our times. We have failed his legacy. So many of our leaders failed to be humble, selfless, and devoted to the big things and not swept up by the small distractions. Many of us have failed to show our love of country by focusing on the positive and instead find ourselves victim to fear of what we see around us. Today I'm remembering that I have nothing to fear from the changing political tides. Patti recounts how her dad told her things would get worse and worse until Jesus came. But, it didn't scare him. His hope was elsewhere. So was my grandpa's. So is mine.