FACES AND PLACES: "Ronaldus Maximus": The Great Liberator (06/20/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

"Ronaldus Maximus": The Great Liberator

The recent national outpouring of respect and affection for Ronald Reagan only confirms the title Rush Limbaugh conferred upon the late president: "Ronaldus Maximus."

Against all odds - the academic and liberal elite told us it couldn't be done - the man from Dixon, Ill., helped topple the Soviet Union.

Would the Soviet Union have collapsed anyway? Perhaps. But as a recent editorial in the Kyiv Post pointed out: "Had the empire dissolved in a way over which the Kremlin and the Communists could have exercised foresight and control and not in a wave of national liberation, it would have been unthinkable that the Russians - or the Soviet Ukrainian elite - would have let Ukraine slip Moscow's grip." Had the Soviet Union disintegrated gradually, "Ukraine would probably now be a southern province of the Russian Federation and Kyiv would be Russia's most pleasant city."

"When talking about Ronald Reagan, I have to be personal," wrote 1983 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former President of Poland Lech Walesa in the Wall Street Journal. "We in Poland took him personally. Why? Because we owe him our liberty." Similar sentiments were voiced by former dissident and Czech President Vaclav Havel soon after hearing of the passing of America's 40th president. "America lost a leader, we lost our Savior, exclaimed Kat Zeman, a former citizen of Communist Czechoslovakia. Former Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky recalled "that the phrase 'evil empire' became a household word in Russia."

Asked once about his policy regarding the Soviet Union, President Reagan replied: "It's simple. We win, they lose."

In her eulogy at the National Cathedral in Washington, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher noted that the people of Prague, Budapest, Sofia, Bucharest, Warsaw, Kyiv, even Moscow are leading better lives today thanks to Ronald Reagan. Former Canadian prime minister and fellow Irishman Brian Mulroney, noted that Mr. Reagan "inspired his nation and transformed the world." His influence was felt from "Erin to Estonia."

Watching the Reagan funeral ceremonies - a mix of military pomp, celebration, and religious reverence - absorbing the eulogies and tributes from family, friends, and associates, and reveling in re-runs of his speeches, I was reminded of what a wonderous eight years our nation had under this warm, optimistic, patriotic and cheerful man. He stirred a deep chord in our hearts. I feel certain that the thousands who lined the sidewalks as his funeral cortege passed in Washington and again in California, the tens of thousands who stood in line for hours to pay their respects in the Capitol Rotunda, and the testimony of many Reagan staffers who helped create the "Reagan Revolution," shared my feelings.

Not everyone celebrated Ronald Reagan during his lifetime, of course. American elitists never did understand the man and were shocked by the outpouring of gratitude during his farewell. For those on the left, the man was and will always remain the epitome of everything they find distasteful, even despicable. He was a servant of God and a dedicated anti-Communist in both word and deed. His loving marriage to the same woman for 50 plus years is a model of marital fidelity. He was a man of principle and strong convictions who believed that God had spared his life following the assassination attempt. "Whatever time I have left," he once told Margaret Thatcher, "belongs to the Big Fella up there."

Academics and media moguls were rarely kind to Ronald Reagan during his presidency. He was accused of being intellectually shallow, a Midwestern cornball, a cowboy, a one-speech president, a prisoner of his staff, trigger happy, the laughing stock of Western Europe, an amiable dunce whose every move was dictated by cue cards. His easy and jocular manner was viewed as a sign of a hopeless insensivity to the travails of the world. The American people knew otherwise. Running for re-election, Mr. Reagan won in a landslide, winning 49 states.

Ronald Wilson Reagan came into office at a time when the United States was suffering from double-digit inflation and double-digit interest rates. The Soviet Union was on the march on five continents. His predecessor had complained of a "national malaise" and urged Americans to rid themselves of their "inordinate fear of Communism."

Mr. Reagan reduced taxes, turned a stagnant economy into a vibrant engine of growth and opportunity, and pushed the Soviet Union into oblivion. On those rare occasions when his detractors grudgingly granted him his due, they attributed it to "luck."

In past surveys of American historians - the Sienna College poll (1994) and the Arthur Schlesinger poll (1996), for example - Ronald Reagan came out 20th out of 41 and 25th out of 39, below Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton. Since Arthur Schlesinger and most American historians are notoriously left of center in political ideology, these surveys were hardly objective. In order to overcome this bias, the Federalist Society polled 78 scholars in history, law and politics in 2000 and Ronald Reagan came out eighth, or "near great." Only George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano were rated "great." I am certain that as time passes, Ronald Reagan will join that august trio.

My spirits were lifted by America's fond farewell to Ronald Reagan. Despite the carping of Dan Rather and other twits who complained that too much time was being devoted to the death of one man, I felt as if the country was united again, that the red and blue states were now red, white, and blue states if only for a brief moment. The Gipper had won one more for the good guys.

I know this is wishful thinking. Fearful that Mr. Reagan's final triumph will somehow affect the election, revisionists are even now chipping away at the Reagan legacy. Let them. It won't matter.

Ronald Reagan who gave us hope while alive, has united us in death. Vichna Yomu pamyat!

Myron Kuropas's new e-mail address is: [email protected].

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