In way of an introduction, let me say that I have wanted to write something of this nature for over a year, but have been involved in other pursuits. This is a departure from my usual compositions detailing the lives of family members. Also it will be in the format of a series of individual posts each with its own person of interest. My hope is to pay homage to people who have had an impact on my life in some way, people that I greatly miss because of their passing. Each of these people was a flawed person as has been all of mankind since shortly after God’s creation began. The people I have chosen to pay my respects to are a diverse group. Among them are politicians, radio hosts, a sports figure, a cartoonist, a man who defies categorization, a comedian, the host and writer of a television series, an author, and one of the greatest jazz musicians ever. In the title I say that their absences diminish me, but in fact each contributed something to me that made me a better person. I do not intend to announce ahead of publication who my next subject will be, it will be revealed only at posting. Perhaps I will be able to entertain, to inform, and maybe even enlighten. Without any further ado, let me introduce the subject of the first installment of this new series.

Ronald Reagan “The Great Communicator”

My wife and I were strolling through some of the booths at El Mercado in San Antonio, Texas, waiting for a table to come available at Mi Tierra Mexican Restaurant, when we happened upon a man selling posters of all sizes and descriptions. The one that caught my eye was a sketch of Ronald Reagan wearing a cowboy hat and smiling. The caption said very simply “God, I miss Ronald Reagan.” The sketch still hangs in my study. Each time I glance over at the drawing, I realize how much I really do miss the former President of the United States and all the reasons why. So let me just launch forward into the story of how Ronald Reagan had an influence on my life.

Reagan graduated from Eureka College in Illinois, where he was on the football team, with a degree in economics. After graduation he took a job as a sportscaster in Des Moines, Iowa where he was known as “Dutch” Reagan, a nickname given him by his father who referred to him while he was a baby as “my fat little Dutchman.” Subsequently after a screen test in Hollywood, Dutch Reagan became Ronald Reagan the actor. Later on in his career, he was president of the Screen Actors Guild and fought against communist takeover of the movie industry. After a time he was elected Governor of California. However, all that I have detailed above is not to be the emphasis of my narrative. My concern is Ronald Reagan’s election as President of the United States of America for two terms. I intend to focus not on history, but more toward his accomplishments while in office and some of his most important speeches and the quotations I remember as some of his best. Up front, one of the ways that President Reagan had a great influence on my life was that he could so eloquently explain what he intended to accomplish and how he planned to accomplish that feat. Then he would promptly set about to get it put into effect. A person could hardly be disappointed unless he hoped that Reagan would fail in his attempts.

President Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States photograph acquired from whitehouse.gov

When Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in January of 1981 as President of the United States, his victory in the popular vote if I remember correctly was just shy of 52%. However, by defeating the incumbent President Jimmy Carter in the Electoral College vote 489-49, he literally won by a landslide. When Reagan became the 40th President, inflation was extremely high, taxes were high, unemployment was catastrophically high, and gasoline prices were also very high (if it were even possible to find gas to purchase). About the only thing that was low was the American morale. It was as though the American spirit had been broken. There was even a popular song by Merle Haggard that hit the charts early in 1981 titled Are the Good Times Really Over for Good. The line from that song “Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell” was what had been in the minds of many average citizens during Jimmy Carter’s presidency. And before I go on with the presidency of Ronald Reagan, I want to make it perfectly clear that I consider Jimmy Carter to be a wonderful Christian man who has done remarkable things through Habitat for Humanity for great numbers of American families since he left the office of President of the United States. However in my opinion, as President, Carter’s ranking was disastrously low as to constructive accomplishments during his term in office.

Ronald Reagan had been in office only a few days more than two months and was working with his cabinet members and advisors on what he wanted to accomplish and was just in the initial planning stages of how to complete the tasks of setting the different programs in place to get America back on track economically, culturally, and on the military front. On March 30, 1981 a deranged petty con artist named John Hinckley Jr. fired six shots from a .22 caliber revolver as Reagan was about to get in the Presidential limousine. Three people were severely injured in the attempted assassination. Press Secretary James Brady, who never fully recovered, was one of the victims. Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy also was wounded when he threw his body between the shooter and the President. And, President Reagan was hit by a ricochet bullet that entered his body from the back, piercing his lung, and stopping just short of his heart. I firmly believe that God intervened and brought that bullet to a stop before it could enter Reagan’s heart and end his life. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent time in a mental hospital. And I bring all this up because I recently discovered that John Hinckley Jr. was released unconditionally from any and all confinement as of June of 2022, with no court oversight. I realize that this is very much history, but it is relevant to my narrative in many ways. After a short few weeks President Reagan had recovered sufficiently to resume his full duties as our chief executive.

Another famous President said something to the effect of speak softly and carry a big stick, and his likeness adorns Mt. Rushmore along with three other Presidents. But I think that Reagan’s approach of talking tough and backing it up with a big stick was much more effective for him. In August of 1981 the Air Traffic Controllers Union went on strike, something that the members as federal employees were forbidden from doing. President Reagan promptly informed them that if they did not return to work in 48 hours they would be fired. Not believing that he would actually follow through, most of the employees did not return to work. They were all terminated from employment immediately. Although this created some serious problems for the airlines, new air traffic controllers were hired and trained. Eventually the situation returned to normal with a country realizing that Ronald Reagan would stand by his word. My realization at that time was that we had a President who could be very effective at restoring the United States of America to its former glory. And later he used this tough approach in foreign policy through his “peace through strength.”

This was not the only tool that President Reagan had in his tool box. When it came to pushing his legislation through Congress he knew who he could barter with, when to barter, and how much to barter. He was adept at getting bills passed into law by using these persuasive techniques of compromise to get Congress to pass the legislation that would put the United States of America back on a course of prosperity again.

In Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural Address he had stated, “This Administration’s objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunities for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination. Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work. Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs. All must share in the productive work of this ‘new beginning,’ and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy.” And in August of 1981 President Reagan was able to sign into law the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. This one act provided for lower income tax rates, help and deregulation stimulus for small business owners, and motivation for people to save their money. Although there was a devastating recession in 1982 that created high unemployment rates, inflation, and a severe increase in bankruptcies, by early in 1983 employment rebounded and inflation was returning to normal. The economy continued to grow throughout his first term. People all across the country benefitted from the lower tax rates and were able to start putting aside some of their money into some form of savings. Businesses small and large were finally able to hire more people and unemployment was no longer a problem. The economy grew steadily and almost everyone gained a great deal from that.

The lives of Americans across the full spectrum of politics throughout every state had improved greatly during Ronald Reagan’s first term in office, and that was very apparent on election day 1984. President Ronald Reagan was elected to a second term with a popular vote of 58.8%, Reagan with 54,455,075 votes and Mondale with 37,577,185. Mondale won only Minnesota and Washington D.C. while Reagan carried 49 of the 50 states. In the electoral College vote Reagan was the winner 525 to 13, a feat not accomplished since, and not likely to ever be done again.

Over the next four years, income tax rates for individuals and businesses alike in the United States became the lowest of any industrialized nation. 20 million new jobs across the board were created. People were able to earn more money and keep more of it. Unemployment was reduced by 3%. Non-essential welfare benefits were drastically reduced. The budgets of many bureaucracies were curtailed a great deal and many regulations went unenforced. Inflation dropped by almost 10% by the end of Reagan’s second term. The Gross National Product skyrocketed beyond 25%. The United States of America and its individual families were experiencing economic growth probably never seen in time of peace. In his first Inaugural Address as President, Ronald Wilson Reagan stated his intentions and by 1988 he had more than achieved success in all areas of his “revived economy.”

Through the combined efforts of the English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II, and United States President Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was brought down in about two years after Reagan left office. Also, Reagan contributed greatly to the unification of East and West Germany at roughly the same time-frame through talking tough and brandishing a big stick. In fact, in one of his most famous speeches delivered on June 12, 1987 in West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate, with emphasis more on demands than pleas, President Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Once again tough talk and “peace through strength” were successful because within about two and a half years after his presidency was over people on the western side of the Berlin Wall began to take down the wall with whatever tools they could get their hands on without being repulsed.

Finally, I want to emphasize that Ronald Reagan in his role as President of the United States of America gave rise to a resurgence of patriotism in this country I call home. Our country had enjoyed a rebirth and “We the People” were blessed with the birth of a new patriotism. Which leads me to the final Reagan quotation I will share, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in the United States where men were free.” If our freedoms are gone patriotism will long since have evaporated, and our civilization will be dying, too. But we do not have to suffer this calamity if we only return to our founding principles and adhere to the Constitution that has served us well.

And yes, not many days go by that I do not miss Ronald Reagan.

I’ll see you on down the road and just around the bend. And, believe me there is always something around the bend.

Uncle Thereisno Justice

Sources:

White House Historical Association whitehouse.gov

Hillsdale College onlinelearning@hillsdale.edu

Encyclopedia Britannica online-Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum

Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute

What Made Reagan a Truly Great Communicator The Heritage Foundation

The National Archives archives.gov

And to add to this list, there is a remarkable book for children from Heroes of Liberty and written by Christine O’Hare that I heartily recommend. The book is Ronald Reagan It’s Morning in America. I have purchased the book for one of my grandchildren, and get nothing for the recommendation.