A sad day in America

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Ronald Reagan, dead at 93, will fare better in history than contemporary accounts because many of his values were out of fashion with political and social trendsetters of his time. Yet, even his critics agree he had an extraordinarily purposeful impact on the conscience and conscientiousness of the country.

He assumed the presidency at a time of deep national dejection, with the economy in shambles and Washington's influence abroad in decline. Against this his optimistic campaign slogan, "It's morning again in America," became an unfolding prophecy of uplifting leadership, recovered values and extended national prosperity.

He took office determined to reduce the growth of national government, restore the power of the states in the federal system, and reduce Washington spending through massive domestic budget cuts. He was just as committed to increased defense spending to curb Soviet expansion.

A lesser man, one lacking in confidence and less sure of the rightness of his cause, would never have pressed the equally powerful Soviet Empire as Reagan did. He did more than daringly stand on German soil, near the wall that literally separated oppression from freedom, and issue the challenge, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Reagan led his own nation to shed its self-doubt that threatened to diminish its greatness and limit its goodness. He rebuilt America's military, enlarged its arsenal and brought honor, once again, to those who wore the uniform of this country. And he held out the light of freedom for the world to see and to follow.

Reagan's message was fundamental and simple, emphasizing family and community values, individual freedom and national resolve. He articulated those views without guile, and chose aides and assistants to implement them through legislative and regulatory programs in which he often took only a summary interest.

A marvel of the Reagan years was the man's powerful and disarming ability to speak to the felt concerns of the American people. He vastly enlarged his own constituencies of religious and business conservatives with legions of Reagan Democrats, blue-collar workers drawn to him by his personal appeal to their better nature.

He would be labeled the Great Communicator for this, and later on the Teflon President for criticism, sometimes legitimate, not sticking to him in public perceptions of accountability.

With this skill he rallied public opinion to prod a reluctant Congress to — in a catch phrase of the times — "defund the welfare state," and to finance a military buildup that dragged the Soviets to near financial exhaustion, and later to economic capitulation and breakup.

He made supply-side economics, generating growth by stimulating increased production of goods and services, a working policy model. And he gave sustained growth its longest life span with tax cuts to fuel it. The budget deficits that followed flowed from insistent additional congressional spending he reluctantly agreed to in order to win enactment of his core programs.

He astonished supporters and critics alike with simple steadfastness to principle, perhaps most notably during the air traffic controllers strike. And even his worst blunder, the Iran/Contra affair, was generally recognized as an error of judgment made to serve a higher cause.

Ronald Reagan began slipping from public notice in 1994 after issuing his poignant letter to the American people explaining that he had Alzheimer's disease, a progressive condition in which the brain degenerates, causing severe loss of memory and dementia. Five years later, former First Lady Nancy Reagan revealed that her husband no longer swam or took walks, and indeed was incapable of having a coherent conversation.

It remained for her to share the personal quality of that loss with the publication in 2000 of a book built around his affectionate letters, cards and telegrams to her over their long courtship and marriage from their Hollywood days until he left office.

The news narratives now recapitulating the Reagan presidency, and the upcoming somber television coverage of his funeral, will recapture much of the man who made it morning again in America. This nation owes much of what it is today to its beloved 40th president.