-- 1992 Republican National Convention

Ronald Wilson Reagan, as the 40th president of the United States, did appeal to our best hopes. Today, even in death, he still does.

Mr. Reagan, who died Saturday at 93 in his California home, possessed many admirable strengths, but none was greater than his innate optimism -- for both himself and the country he loved so dearly and served so well.

When he failed, at age 65, in his 1976 bid for the Republican presidential nomination, most pundits wrote him off as too conservative and too old to be a factor in future elections. When he ran in 1980 at age 69, many pundits again predicted that if he weren't too old or too conservative to win the nomination, he obviously would be too conservative to win the general election. Those pundits were wrong.

Lots of pundits -- and political opponents -- were wrong again during President Reagan's first term in the White House when they expressed shock over his bold charge that the Soviet Union was an "evil empire," and his hailing of "the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history." President Reagan was even criticized for going to Berlin in his second term and issuing this historic challenge: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Yet the Soviet Union was an evil empire. Marxism-Leninism was bound for the ash heap of history. And that wall came down.

All the while, Ronald Reagan kept looking on the bright side, leading by positive example while others wallowed in self-defeating doubt and negativity.

That upbeat style matched his biography. His storybook, thoroughly American life covered a lot of ground, and nearly the entire 20th century. As a young man he worked as a lifeguard and a sports announcer. In the late 1930s, he was discovered by Hollywood and became a successful movie actor, though many of his pictures were of the "B" variety.

He enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1937, and was called to active duty in 1941. Disqualified for combat because of poor eyesight, he was transferred to the Army Air Corps and spent the World War II years making training and propaganda films. His first elective office was a professional one, president of the Screen Actors Guild. He championed organizations called "Democrats for Eisenhower" and "Democrats for Nixon" before becoming a Republican in 1962.

Barry Goldwater's defeat in 1964 at the hands of President Lyndon B. Johnson left Mr. Reagan the de facto head of the conservative movement in America. He gave hundreds of speeches across the country calling for smaller government and lower taxes, issues he would stress throughout his political career.

In 1966, he was elected governor of California, defeating incumbent Democrat "Pat" Brown by nearly 1 million votes. Four years later, he was re-elected in another landslide, confirming his status as a rising GOP star.

Aptly known as "The Great Communicator," Mr. Reagan was at his inspiring best while delivering a heartfelt speech. He repeatedly sounded what became his familiar theme of the "shining city on a hill" -- America as a beacon of liberty to the world.

As president, Mr. Reagan did more than win the Cold War. He sparked an extraordinary economic recovery. He ended his second term with America and the world in much better shape -- in much more optimistic shape -- than when he entered the White House.

However, his wonderful service to his country, and mankind, was not over. On Nov. 5, 1994, in a gracious, hand-written, open letter to the nation, the former president announced that he had been diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer's disease. He ended that message:

"I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America, there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you."

Certainly America was blessed by Ronald Wilson Reagan's enduring vision of "a bright dawn ahead for America" -- and by his remarkable ability to deliver it.

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