Ronald Reagan

No matter who one supports in this election, one thing should be clear: Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave. Perhaps we should be thankful, for his sake, that Ecclesiastes states that “the dead know nothing”.

The current contenders for the Republican nomination exemplify what has happened to the coalition that Reagan worked so hard to build. You have a split among the National Security Conservatives, Social Conservatives, and Fiscal Conservatives. It is sad that questions abound about whether the Party, as a whole, will unite behind the nominee. It is sadder still, when the usual response is that Hillary Clinton will unite the Republican Party against her.

Each slice of the Conservative pie is pulling for its own interest, almost without regard for the other slices. Each candidate attracts a difference part of the Conservative pie in order to win the nomination.

Ronald Reagan stood for principles and so did the Republican Party under his leadership. Not only did he unite the party, he united the entire nation. In 1980 and 1984, he won in landslides. He won in landslides because it wasn’t about winning elections to him. He was foremost concerned with going about preserving the American way of life. One of the ways he went about doing that was to bind together the different wings of the Conservative movement.

Reagan is revered by Conservatives and respected by Liberals. This author considers him to be his hero. It is apparent that Reagan’s influence is still alive today. There isn’t a candidate in the GOP field that hasn’t attempted to compare himself to Reagan in some form or fashion. On the Left, even Barack Obama had praise for him.

Why is Reagan praised? He is praised by Conservatives because he united the country, defeated Communism, won in landslides, united the ranks of the Republican Party, was “The Great Communicator”, and was the ultimate standard bearer for this thing we call “Conservatism”. Liberals respect him because of his effectiveness at communicating his message and was a political force.

However, this is where Conservatives go astray. We praise Ronald Reagan for what he did, all the while forgetting that it was who he was that enabled him to do great things.

Who was Ronald Reagan? Ronald Reagan was a man of principle. He fought for what he believed in and stood by his principles, no matter what the situation. His policies did not come about as a result of trying to attain or hold on to elected office, but rather from his core beliefs of what was truly right. You see, Ronald Reagan knew something that was once known by nearly everyone in America. His writings, statements, and actions showed that he knew that he alone was responsible for his own actions and he had to answer to God for his actions one day.

His foremost desire as President was to achieve what was right for the nation. He also understood that he did not battle against people, but against policies and ideologies. Ronald Reagan could not bring himself to hate anyone, not even the man who tried to assassinate him. He never pursued an action for the sake of political expediency.

With Reagan, his true strength had nothing to do with his accomplishments. His true strength was his character. To borrow a phrase from Peggy Noonan, with Ronald Reagan, “character was king”. Today’s and tomorrow’s Conservatives would do well to remember that.