Ronald Reagan died today, at age 93, after a long bout with Alzheimer's disease. His legacy is a complicated one, but I would just like to share my thoughts as a person who lived through his two terms in office as the President of the United States.
Let me preface any further remarks by saying, candidly, I voted against him not once but twice. Despite that, I must say that the United States was a better place after his two terms in office. His accomplishments cannot be underestimated and we should remember him for what he did.
When Ronald Reagan took office, America was at one of the low points of our history. We stood helpless while Americans were held hostage in Tehran. Thirty minutes after Ronald Reagan took office, those hostages were on a plane home.
In the wake of Vietnam and Watergate, a malaise had gripped the American spirit. Ronald Reagan offered a vision, a sense of a strong America moving forward. Our economy was in a shambles, gripped by inflation. He used the White House as forum to get us moving again. His first two years in office we suffered the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression; but two years after that, most Americans were prospering.
His opponents, myself included, said he was two old to be President. Yet, this was a man who survived being shot and a month after a bullet lodged one inch from his heart, was standing in front of Congress, obviously back in control. He was also a man of great courage.
We often said that he was not smart enough to be President, didn't have a sufficient grasp of the issues. Yet he accomplished his goals, succeeded way beyond expectations. If you want to know Ronald Reagan, read his 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall, the famous "Tear down this wall" speech. Please take a moment to visit http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/wall.asp
In 1990, that wall fell.
Listen to his quips. This was a man who had a ready wit, who used laughter to help bring us together. Regarded as the antithesis of "cool," he quoted Springsteen in a speech. And in so doing, helped our nation to heal our divisions.
Regarded as the founder of the New Conservatism, he had a warm relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union. In his second term in office, he reduced the number of nuclear weapons.
Ronald Reagan was elected as a conservative, yet the deficit almost tripled in his two terms as President. He never managed to reduce the size of the American government. The Iran-Contra scandal marred his Presidency. So, he was not perfect. But Communism fell, the American economy recovered, we now felt that the problems of the world were solvable. Hope replaced cynicism, not just in America, but in the world. There is no question in my mind that we were all better off after eight years of Ronald Reagan's leadership, than before. Whether you were a Russian experiencing new freedom, a Berliner united with your family or an American back at work, you were better off. And that is the Ronald Reagan Legacy.