Eric's Beijing Diary

I saw it on a pop-up this morning. Reagan is dead at 93. The great communicator has left us. Reagan has been a part of the American political scene for half a century, but I remember him first as the host of Death Valley Days.

Not being from California, my first awareness of him politically was when he entered the race for the Republican nomination in 1968. He really didn't have a chance, because Nixon was pretty much the standard bearer of the Republican party that year, but I think perhaps Reagan was taking the opportunity to make a risk-free (he was governor of California at the time) run for high office that would put his name before the people as a legitimate candidate for the job.

It is an extraordinary challenge to sum up the life of this quintessential American, but more than anything, I think, it is his enormous optimism and zest for life that defined him as a person and as a leader.

Reagan was extraordinary as a person because he always lived life with enthusiasm, and he was extraordinary as a leader for the same reason--his leadership grew out of the experiences of his life, and the conviction that the principles he stood for were proven and dependable. The vast majority of politicians come from the legal field. Most lawmakers are lawyers by profession. I guess that isn't so strange, but Reagan was refreshing as a political leader precisely because he did not come from that background. Nor was he born into a political family. On the other hand, his resume as an actor sometimes fooled the unwary into thinking that he was "shooting from the hip" when he talked about economic issues. The fact is that Reagan was a studied economist. He was an actor by profession, but an economist by training. As a student at Eureka Christian College, he starred in every play he could. But he did not major in drama, he majored in economics.

When I read his memoirs, An American Life, some years ago, I was impressed with how much that book is as much about life as it is about politics. Reagan was so impressive as a person because he lived the American dream during the time when it was hardest to attain. He got his start in radio during the depression.

Because he became president, his career as an actor has been talked about a lot. But Reagan was a "B movie" actor. He mostly starred in second rate productions. He was probably too much of an individual to be a big time star. For one thing, he never had a stage name. His name was always real. And somehow, his characters were, too. They always seemed to be some version of him. In the old westerns, he always supplied his own horse, and he had an odd way of dismounting by swinging his leg over the horse's head and jumping to the ground. I can't imagine a modern director giving him so much license.

As a political entity, the watershed year for Ronald Reagan was 1976. He ran against his own party incumbent (Gerald Ford) in the primaries. I was skeptical about him as a candidate, and perhaps a bit miffed at what appeared to be a show of disloyalty. But history has put the matter in perspective, mainly because he didn't get the nomination, and we were all forced to suffer the most boring fall campaign in my memory. I will never forget it. November of 1976. I went to the public library in Monmouth, Oregon to cast my vote. I still hadn't decided who I was going to vote for, yet. I guess I thought maybe I would figure it out by the time I got there, but I was wrong. I walked around the library several times, trying to make up my mind, but it was no use. I finally went in and did something I have not done before or since. I filled out the ballot, leaving the Office of President blank. I just did not have the stomach to vote for either Ford or Carter.

I call 1976 a watershed year because it was that campaign that put Reagan before the people as the "Great Communicator." I remember it well. The Reagan campaign had purchased a half-hour of prime time for $100,000. I watched it in the Student Union at Oregon College of Education. It was a little side room--for some reason I was all by myself. But it was an extraordinary experience. Somehow, it was clear from that moment that Reagan was here to stay.

Nineteen eighty was definitely Reagan's year. I remember in the summer of 1979, sitting on the beach on the shores of Resurrection Bay, where John and I were working for the summer, and listening to Carter talk about a "national malaise." I was so deeply frustrated with this complete vacuum of leadership. Reagan entered the campaign in 1980 as the ultimate contrast to Carter's "down in the mouth" approach. This morning I was listening to Neal Conan on NPR, and he reminded me of Reagan's response to Carter's vagueness about the economy:

"If he (Carter) wants a definition, I'll give him one. Recession is when your neighbor loses his job, depression is when you lose yours, and recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his." Poor Carter didn't have a chance. I felt sorry for him, in a way, but he just wasn't up to the job. I think there are reasons why Carter was in the White House for the time period that he was, most significantly, perhaps, the Camp David accords, but in 1980, it was clearly time for him to go. It has often been said that Reagan succeeded because if his deep conviction that what he was doing was right. But greatness in leadership is not defined by decisiveness alone. It is that of course, but is also the ability to be proven correct a relatively high percentage of the time.

But there was something else about Reagan that made him irresistible to the American body politic. When he could not persuade his detractors, he had a way of disarming them in such a manner that they almost seemed to enjoy it. I remember one time watching a press conference hosted by Reagan after he had just been ill. It was during the Iran-Contra affair, and the sharp-tongued Andrea Mitchell rose for a question. She started in on Reagan, but then her voice broke. Frustrated, she said, "I think I've caught your cold!" Reagan smiled, "Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Ms. Mitchell started laughing and the tension was broken.

He was famous for those one-liners. When Nancy entered the emergency room where he had been taken after being shot, he looked at her, shrugged, and said, "Honey, I forgot to duck." When the anesthesia was being administered, he looked up at the doctors and said, "Please tell me you're Republicans." His sense of humor and optimism was contagious, and it gave a nation the encouragement to believe that their leader would rally.

But by far the most significant contribution Reagan made as a leader was his relentless attack on Soviet totalitarianism. In the early sixties, Kennedy went to Berlin and said, "I am a Berliner." Nice thought, but when the statement was over, he got on a plane and flew back to the United States. But when Reagan went to Berlin, he said, "Mr. Gorbachov, tear down that wall!" He put it in his speech, and the State Department took it out. He put it back in. The State Department finally told him in very strong language that he absolutely could not make that statement. He made it anyway. I think CNN has to be given part of the credit, because they played that line over and over, but clearly that was the challenge that rent the veil Churchill named the "Iron Curtain."

I will never forget it. I was washing dishes or something in my apartment, and I heard that Hungary had decided to take down the portion of the wall separating them from Austria. I thought, "This will never work. Now people who want to go to the West will just make their way to Hungary and walk into Austria." During the next few weeks, that is essentially what happened. The trickle became a flood, and the rest is history. By the time the wall came down, it was almost anticlimactic, and Reagan's posture had rendered it all but impossible politically for Gorbachov to stop it. This process had been developing for several years, and I think I know when it started.

On a Saturday afternoon in August, 1984, Reagan was preparing to give his weekly radio address, and the sound engineers asked him to say something into the mike. Reagan said, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." It was a joke, of course. It wasn't supposed to be news. But the media picked it up, and it was played around the world. If he had just said, "testing, one, two, three," none of us ever would have heard it. But in an odd sense, this message spoke what everyone knew was true. The Soviet system was unlawful, and had to go.

Reagan's approach to leadership was simple and straightforward. When the air traffic controllers struck, Reagan reminded them that they had taken an oath and held them to it. I remember Richard Allen telling about his first briefing with Reagan after he became National Security Advisor. He asked Reagan what should be the American posture vis-a-vis the Soviet Union relative to the various Soviet-sponsored insurgent actions in different parts of the world. Reagan said, "How about this: we win, they lose."

Finally, I would say that Reagan will always be remembered because, although he was quintessentially American, he never talked as if America was something that should be reserved for the few. In recent years, the words of Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty have become almost a farce, because, while the Lady stands in the harbor holding forth the lamp of liberty, the attitude of many in power is to hold on to what they have, and not share it with anyone else. The Lady says,

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

But those words ring pretty hollow in an America whose foreign policy is guided unashamedly by self interest. The Americans seem obsessed now, with keeping for themselves what was given to them, or their parents, or their grandparents at a time when they themselves were homeless, "tempest-tost" or poor.

In his farewell address to the American people, Reagan told the story of a sailor on the carrier Midway who was helping rescue boat people from the South China Sea. One of the boat people looked up at him and said, "Hello, American sailor, hello freedom man!" Just before I left America, I remember watching a brief news clip showing some Coast Guard sailors chasing an Hispanic refugee around in the ocean near Florida, trying to keep him from touching shore. This poor would-be immigrant was no match, of course, for these modern "freedom men" with their high powered boat. I was heartsick to see how far down America had come from a day when the arms of liberty were held open wide, in Reagan's words, "to anyone who had the will and the heart to get here." But, in a sense, it was just one more sad reminder that Reagan's passing is almost anticlimactic. The Reagan we knew and loved left us some time ago, due to the horrible debilitating effects of Alzheimer's. And the America that he so heartily embraced, and so enthusiastically espoused has, itself, already passed into history.



Ronald Reagan, in a hand-written message to the American people, November 5, 1994:

My Fellow Americans,

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease.

Upon learning this news, Nancy & I had to decide whether as private citizens we keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.

In the past Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had my cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing. They were treated in early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.

At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life's journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer's Disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.

In closing let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin the journey that will be 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.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan