This is dedicated to my favorite president:
Written
BY MARK R. LEVIN, President of the Landmark Legal Foundation.
The Great Communicator
A Salute.
Ronald Reagan’s 90th birthday (written 3 yrs ago) may not be an official national holiday, but it’s a celebration nonetheless. More than anything else, Reagan believed in America and the greatness of her people.
Reagan’s answer to an economy in free fall was to rely on the people through the free market by cutting dramatically taxes and government regulations. His answer to communism was to win the Cold War by modernizing the military (including America’s nuclear arsenal),initiating a Strategic Defense Initiative, and directly challenging the moral validity of the “Evil Empire.”
What the literati and political elite have never understood is that Reagan’s was a Great Communicator not because he was trained actor, but because he gave a passionate, sincere voice to the core values of the American people. He was a leader who inspired hope and confidence, and offered a positive vision of the future, and had the character and courage to face down his foes- foreign
and domestic.
Reagan was an uncommon man of common birth who was more than equal to his times and his office.
THIS WAS WRITTEN BY ANDREW SULLIVAN OF THE SUNDAY TIMES REVIEW IN ENGLAND
Now they recognize Reagan’s greatness
He will turn 90 on Tuesday(written 3 yrs ago) , but in all likelihood he will barely be aware of it. The cruelty of Alzheimer’s has robbed Ronald Reagan of the capacity for clear memory. But that doesn’t apply to the rest of us. He seems, in some respect, a historical oddity now, his political and cultural presence obscured by the Clinton psychodrama and the Bush dynasty . But his successors do not begin to compare in achievement or legacy. Reagan is still, in my view, the architect of our modern world.
Reagan stood for two simple but indisputable big things: the expansion of freedom at home and the extinction of tyranny abroad. When he came to office, the top tax rates in the United States were 70%. Against the odds , Reagan slashed the top rate to 28% and ignited the economic boom that is still with us today.
But unlike George W. Bush, and certainly unlike the hopelessly confused Michael Portillo, Reagan understood what tax cuts were about. Back in 1976, he made the case in one of his innumerable radio addresses:
“Our system freed the individual genius of man. We allocate resources not by government decision but by millions of decisions customers make when they go into the market place. If something seems too high-priced, we buy something else. So resources are steered toward those things peoplewant most at a price they are willing to pay.”
Classic Reagan . Simple. Intelligible. True. Some people believed he was a moron, incapable of intellectual engagement. A brief perusal through his dozens of addresses will put the lie to that. He grappled directly and bravely with the main issues of his day. He was a believer in the media as a way to communicate ideas that could change lives. In this sense , he was one of the most intellectual presidents in history.
If he was right about taxation and the role of government, he was also right about the other question of his day: the Soviet Union.
I will never forget the moment I heard his “evil empire” speech. It was broadcast on Radio 4, with skeptical British commentary about this inflammatory new president who knew nothing about the complexities of late communism. But for all the criticism, what came through to my teenage brain was an actual truth. Yes the Soviet Union was evil. Who now doubts that?
He alone saw that communism was destined to be put on the “ash-heap of history “, as he told the House of Commons. And he helped put it there.
Think of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton . In the 1980s , they were nuclear freeze supporters. And yet both now thoughtlessly enjoy the soft and easy fruits of a greater man’s courage.
The critics harp on the enormous deficits of the Reagan era, but the truth is that the federal revenues boomed on Reagan’s watch. What created the deficits was an unprecedented increase in defense spending - the bargaining chip that eventually forced the soviets to surrender.
You could easily argue that this was a price worth paying for an early end to an expensive conflict. Even the straggling defenders of perestroika now concede that Reagan’s intransigence speeded the collapse of the Soviet Empire. The deficits were therefore a fiscal bargain.
And on most of the current pressing issues, Reaganism still has plenty of credibility. The main cloud on the fiscal horizon- the long-term insolvency of the government-run pension system- stems from a program Reagan opposed.
The end of the federal welfare entitlement was also presaged by Reagan . In the early 1970s, when he was governor of California he alone opposed the question of whether to federalize that entitlement . It took 30 years and Bill Clinton to recognize finally the validity of Reagan’s point.
Reagan’s most unlikely dream was - nuclear defense is also still with us. Lampooned as “star wars”, it will soon regain the preeminence it deserves in America’s military defense, as Donald Rumsfeld aggressively moves it forward.
The contrast with Clinton couldn’t be clearer . Clinton was a group-hugger, obsessed with the press, fixated on spin, devoted to polls. Reagan was aloof, distant even from his own family, focused on a few important themes and delegating everything else.
He was devoted to his second wife with a romantic zeal, wore a coat and tie at all times in the Oval Office, a room he considered sacred ; he was also precisely funny. As he was wheeled into the operating room after a bullet almost took his life, he looked the solemn, green-suited doctors and said: “Please tell me you’re Republicans.”
A natural populist, Reagan spent hours handwriting letters to obscure pen pals he had befriended in the past, never dreaming he was too important to ignore such tasks of courtesy. He was a democrat to his fingertips who didn’t need a “common touch” because he was so effortlessly a common man himself .
It takes time to recognize greatness and it sometimes appears in the oddest forms. When he dies, this country will go into shock. For Americans know in their hearts that this unlikely man understood the deepest meaning of their country in a way nobody else has done for a generation.
Reagan
Bill,
Written
BY MARK R. LEVIN, President of the Landmark Legal Foundation.
The Great Communicator
A Salute.
Ronald Reagan’s 90th birthday (written 3 yrs ago) may not be an official national holiday, but it’s a celebration nonetheless. More than anything else, Reagan believed in America and the greatness of her people.
Reagan’s answer to an economy in free fall was to rely on the people through the free market by cutting dramatically taxes and government regulations. His answer to communism was to win the Cold War by modernizing the military (including America’s nuclear arsenal),initiating a Strategic Defense Initiative, and directly challenging the moral validity of the “Evil Empire.”
What the literati and political elite have never understood is that Reagan’s was a Great Communicator not because he was trained actor, but because he gave a passionate, sincere voice to the core values of the American people. He was a leader who inspired hope and confidence, and offered a positive vision of the future, and had the character and courage to face down his foes- foreign
and domestic.
Reagan was an uncommon man of common birth who was more than equal to his times and his office.
THIS WAS WRITTEN BY ANDREW SULLIVAN OF THE SUNDAY TIMES REVIEW IN ENGLAND
Now they recognize Reagan’s greatness
He will turn 90 on Tuesday(written 3 yrs ago) , but in all likelihood he will barely be aware of it. The cruelty of Alzheimer’s has robbed Ronald Reagan of the capacity for clear memory. But that doesn’t apply to the rest of us. He seems, in some respect, a historical oddity now, his political and cultural presence obscured by the Clinton psychodrama and the Bush dynasty . But his successors do not begin to compare in achievement or legacy. Reagan is still, in my view, the architect of our modern world.
Reagan stood for two simple but indisputable big things: the expansion of freedom at home and the extinction of tyranny abroad. When he came to office, the top tax rates in the United States were 70%. Against the odds , Reagan slashed the top rate to 28% and ignited the economic boom that is still with us today.
But unlike George W. Bush, and certainly unlike the hopelessly confused Michael Portillo, Reagan understood what tax cuts were about. Back in 1976, he made the case in one of his innumerable radio addresses:
“Our system freed the individual genius of man. We allocate resources not by government decision but by millions of decisions customers make when they go into the market place. If something seems too high-priced, we buy something else. So resources are steered toward those things peoplewant most at a price they are willing to pay.”
Classic Reagan . Simple. Intelligible. True. Some people believed he was a moron, incapable of intellectual engagement. A brief perusal through his dozens of addresses will put the lie to that. He grappled directly and bravely with the main issues of his day. He was a believer in the media as a way to communicate ideas that could change lives. In this sense , he was one of the most intellectual presidents in history.
If he was right about taxation and the role of government, he was also right about the other question of his day: the Soviet Union.
I will never forget the moment I heard his “evil empire” speech. It was broadcast on Radio 4, with skeptical British commentary about this inflammatory new president who knew nothing about the complexities of late communism. But for all the criticism, what came through to my teenage brain was an actual truth. Yes the Soviet Union was evil. Who now doubts that?
He alone saw that communism was destined to be put on the “ash-heap of history “, as he told the House of Commons. And he helped put it there.
Think of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton . In the 1980s , they were nuclear freeze supporters. And yet both now thoughtlessly enjoy the soft and easy fruits of a greater man’s courage.
The critics harp on the enormous deficits of the Reagan era, but the truth is that the federal revenues boomed on Reagan’s watch. What created the deficits was an unprecedented increase in defense spending - the bargaining chip that eventually forced the soviets to surrender.
You could easily argue that this was a price worth paying for an early end to an expensive conflict. Even the straggling defenders of perestroika now concede that Reagan’s intransigence speeded the collapse of the Soviet Empire. The deficits were therefore a fiscal bargain.
And on most of the current pressing issues, Reaganism still has plenty of credibility. The main cloud on the fiscal horizon- the long-term insolvency of the government-run pension system- stems from a program Reagan opposed.
The end of the federal welfare entitlement was also presaged by Reagan . In the early 1970s, when he was governor of California he alone opposed the question of whether to federalize that entitlement . It took 30 years and Bill Clinton to recognize finally the validity of Reagan’s point.
Reagan’s most unlikely dream was - nuclear defense is also still with us. Lampooned as “star wars”, it will soon regain the preeminence it deserves in America’s military defense, as Donald Rumsfeld aggressively moves it forward.
The contrast with Clinton couldn’t be clearer . Clinton was a group-hugger, obsessed with the press, fixated on spin, devoted to polls. Reagan was aloof, distant even from his own family, focused on a few important themes and delegating everything else.
He was devoted to his second wife with a romantic zeal, wore a coat and tie at all times in the Oval Office, a room he considered sacred ; he was also precisely funny. As he was wheeled into the operating room after a bullet almost took his life, he looked the solemn, green-suited doctors and said: “Please tell me you’re Republicans.”
A natural populist, Reagan spent hours handwriting letters to obscure pen pals he had befriended in the past, never dreaming he was too important to ignore such tasks of courtesy. He was a democrat to his fingertips who didn’t need a “common touch” because he was so effortlessly a common man himself .
It takes time to recognize greatness and it sometimes appears in the oddest forms. When he dies, this country will go into shock. For Americans know in their hearts that this unlikely man understood the deepest meaning of their country in a way nobody else has done for a generation.
Bill,
