Two Ronald Reagan Anecdotes

I decided to blog these, Faithful Reader, before they vanish down the memory hole. (Okay. Okay. My memory hole.)

First, from an article excerpted from a book by Dinesh D'Souza, about the aftermath of the assassination attempt:

.... He was convinced when he returned from the hospital that he had a limited amount of time to achieve his ambitious agenda. Yet his goals were not only political but also personal. With Cardinal Cooke, who came to visit him, Reagan struck a spiritual note: "I have decided that whatever time I have left is for Him." The late Mother Teresa, who visited the White House that June, told Reagan, "You have suffered the passion of the cross and have received grace. There is a purpose to this. Because of your suffering and pain you will now understand the suffering and pain of the world. This has happened to you at this time because your country and the world needs you." Reagan was speechless. Nancy Reagan wept.

Second, from a blog by Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner:

I just witnessed something truly touching. I'm in Anchorage on business and I was sitting in a noisy restaurant when some one turned the TV to Ronald Reagan's sunset burial service. The entire restaurant went quiet. The noisy weekend crowd full of jaded, cynical business travelers like me, went almost completely silent. When they lifted up his casket to carry it to his final resting place, the crowd spontaneously stood up. It was truly a remarkable moment. I don't suspect I'll see anything like it again.

P.S. Here's another from a column by Mark Steyn, Jewish World Review, Jun. 8:

.... “The Great Communicator” was effective because what he was communicating was self-evident to all but our decayed elites: “We are a nation that has a government — not the other way around.” And at the end of a grim, grey decade — Vietnam, Watergate, energy crises, Iranian hostages — Americans decided they wanted a President who looked like the nation, not like its failed government. Thanks to his clarity, around the world, governments that had nations have been replaced by nations that have governments. Most of the Warsaw Pact countries are now members of Nato, with free markets and freely elected parliaments.

One man who understood was Yakob Ravin, a Ukrainian émigré who in the summer of 1997 happened to be strolling with his grandson in Armand Hammer Park near Reagan’s California home. They happened to see the former President, out taking a walk. Mr Ravin went over and asked if he could take a picture of the boy and the President. When they got back home to Ohio, it appeared in the local newspaper, The Toledo Blade.

Ronald Reagan was three years into the decade-long twilight of his illness, and unable to recognize most of his colleagues from the Washington days. But Mr Ravin wanted to express his appreciation. “Mr President,” he said, “thank you for everything you did for the Jewish people, for Soviet people, to destroy the Communist empire.”

And somewhere deep within there was a flicker of recognition. “Yes,” said the old man, “that is my job.”

Yes, that was his job.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 06/17/04 07:36:27 PM
Categorized as Farewell to the Great Liberator & Ronald Reagan.