President Ronald Reagan, R.I.P.
Prompted by Steven Riddle's blog...
I think it's wonderful that so many are recognizing Pres. Reagan by waiting many hours to view the casket. The more I read about him the more I appreciate him - how deeply he loved Nancy (i.e. his recently published letters), how optimistic he was (given how easy it is to be pessimistic), and how deep his religious faith ran. A very remarkable man and worthy of imitation, he made tremendous contributions to America and the world by his strength of character. "How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life" by Peter Robinson and Peggy Noonan's "When Character Was King" are highly recommended. "God and Ronald Reagan : A Spiritual Life" by Paul Kengor looks interesting.
President Reagan and the Pope had such a close relationship - much closer than the Pope & either of the Bushes or Clinton. So I wonder if things would've gone differently in '91 if Reagan were in office when JPII came out against the Gulf War. I wonder if either man would've influenced the other concerning what to do about Iraq's incursion into Kuwait. Those "alternative history" books fascinate. So often history is impacted simply by the personalities of the heads of state involved, how they get along and how much they communicate with each other.
I recall thinking, "what a dreamer!" when he gave the "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech. I guess it turned out I was the dreamer, in thinking Communism could survive as a system.
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