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Real Answers™
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Copyright: © ©2004 Gary Hardaway
680 words

RONALD REAGAN: AN ENDURING LEGACY OF FAITH AND COURAGE

By: Gary Hardaway

The mind is gone. The once vigorous, athletic constitution is fading. Ninety-three years, the last ten with Alzheimer’s, have taken their toll. One of these days Ronald Reagan will pass from the American scene into history. The last chapter of a remarkable life nears its inevitable end.

It almost ended too soon. On March 30, 1981, a bullet from would-be assassin John Hinckley ricocheted off the presidential limousine into the president’s lungs, stopping an inch from the heart. Emergency surgery and that tough muscular frame enabled Mr. Reagan to survive and go back to the White House twelve days later.

The seventy-year old chief executive gradually rebounded, though some say he never quite regained all his former vim and vitality. Inwardly, the president returned more fervently to his early spiritual foundations. His mother, Nell, a devout Christian, had imparted strong faith to her son, which he cherished all his life. The close encounter with death convinced him that God had spared his life for a purpose. From then on, he sought to fulfill whatever God had in mind.

From the beginning, two formidable projects had dominated his presidency: 1) economic recovery from the combined double-digit inflation and recession (“stagflation”) of the Carter years and 2) overcoming the Soviet Union’s recently achieved military superiority in manpower and weapons. Two years into Mr. Reagan’s term, the economy had not improved. Unemployment rose; recession threatened.

The president confided to close associates that he often prayed for those who were losing their jobs, farms, and homes. At the same time, he prayed for divine wisdom and guidance in leading a discouraged nation. His approval rating sagged to 35%, and in November his party lost 26 seats in the House of Representatives. At the nadir of his popularity, he quipped that the best way he could recapture public support was to get shot again. He refused to give in to pessimism.

His grit proved providential. His tax cuts began to stimulate investment and new business activity, creating jobs, spurring national income, and generating increased consumer spending. The economy awoke from the doldrums. Much to the surprise of the foes of tax cuts, even tax revenue soared as the number of newly employed taxpayers expanded. 1984 witnessed a Reagan landslide and mandate for a second term.

Regarding the Soviet threat, politicians before him had operated on a “don’t lose” principle. Their main objective was to avoid confrontation. Reagan, however, committed the U. S. to a “let’s win” policy. He determined to lead America back to military supremacy in the world. He habitually challenged Soviet ideology. His stinging rebuke of the USSR as “The Evil Empire” contrasted sharply with the ever-so-careful, morally neutral language in vogue during the era of “détente.”

Critics were aghast to discover that Mr. Reagan not only uttered those judgmental words but actually meant them. He dared to base his policies on the biblical belief that moral imperatives apply to all people and nations. He eloquently asserted that many American ideals embody God’s will.

Unfazed by constant scoffing and scolding by opponents, in Berlin, he defiantly declared, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.!" Not long after, the Berlin Wall fell and the Iron Curtain disintegrated. Reagan’s "Let’s win" tenacity played a major role in the meltdown of European totalitarianism.

Did Ronald Reagan fulfill a divinely ordained purpose? 2500 years ago, in Persia, a relative of the newly crowned queen Esther asked her the same kind of question. The king did not know she was Jewish. When her own captive people were threatened by mass destruction, she faced a choice: stay silent and let the slaughter begin or step up to plead for her people and risk death. "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" her cousin asked (Esther 4;14). Her courage eventually triumphed and preserved her fellow Jews.

Americans owe our fortieth president enduring gratitude for leaving the nation and the world a better, safer place than when he took office. He seems to have come to power at exactly the right time.

Gary Hardaway has taught in universities in the USA, Lithuania and Canada. He holds a Ph. D. in foundations of education. "Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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