Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1911-2004
Published June 09, 2004
....About 106,000 mourners passed by the coffin from noon Monday until the public viewing ended Tuesday night, library officials said. The viewing period was originally supposed to end at 6 p.m. Tuesday, but the overwhelming turnout forced an extension to 9 p.m.
The steady stream was occasionally interrupted by the arrival of political figures and celebrities. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry stood quietly before the casket, made the sign of the cross, put his hand over his heart and left.
Visitors to the library Tuesday included Govs. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, and celebrities Morgan Fairchild and Bruce Boxleitner, who arrived as representatives of the Screen Actors Guild, which Reagan once led.
An interesting look at the man who saw America as a "shining city on the hill" comes from the program description of the PBS American Experience '98 Reagan bio-film:
- On the eve of his election, Ronald Reagan was asked, "What is it, Governor, that people see in you?" He responded, "Would you laugh if I told you that they look at me and they see themselves?"
Ronald Reagan was America's most ideological president in his rhetoric, yet pragmatic in his actions. He believed in balanced budgets, but never submitted one; hated nuclear weapons, but built them by the thousands; preached family values, but presided over a dysfunctional family. His vision of America divided the nation, yet no matter what people thought of him politically, Reagan always won them over personally. "People don't reckon with the power of charm," says son Ron Reagan. "When my father turns the high beams on, even somebody like Gorbachev tends to melt." A seemingly simple man, Ronald Reagan was consistently underestimated by his opponents; one by one, he overcame them all.
....Reagan was produced with unprecedented access to the Reagan family. Nancy Reagan agreed to be interviewed on camera for the first time since leaving the White House, as did three of Reagan's four children, and the family also provided home movies. Also for the first time, Edmund Morris reveals insights gleaned from his twelve years spent working on Reagan's official biography. Among the forty-two people interviewed are members of Reagan's inner political circle‹his "California Cabinet"‹and his counterparts on the world stage, including former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who negotiated historic arms agreements with Reagan.
"I don't think Ronald Reagan has gotten the credit he deserves for ending the Cold War," says producer Austin Hoyt. "Gorbachev deserves enormous credit, too‹but for losing it gracefully. Reagan wanted to win the Cold War. He saw the Soviets were vulnerable, and went for the kill. In the process, he scared a lot of people half to death, including himself."
"Reagan was not a man given to introspection," notes producer Adriana Bosch. "As his son Ron told us, 'No one ever figured him out, and he never figured himself out.' We had to search long and hard for Reagan's personality and found many clues which allowed us to draw what we think is a revealing sketch: distant and appealing, determined, willfully optimistic, and always playing the hero."
- Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1911-2004
- Published: June 09, 2004
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- Section: Politics
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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My view is perhaps more nuanced.
At the time one of my cousins used to joke his kids would think the president was named "Fucking Reagan."
hey jim:
i am with you on that. but tonight i am saying it with my new blogcritics.org
t shirt that really accentuates my gut.
i got the email below today from
kip addotta....the comedian i think.
Dear Jack,
God bless President Ronald Wilson Reagan!
Thank you Nancy Reagan!
is there some vast right wing comedian conspiracy?
i just thought is was odd.
jack
You and your new Blogcritics shirt rule, Jack E! We need way more ruling Blogcritics shirt wearers.
I'm not sure Dennis Miller and Kip make a vast conspiracy.
Got my BlogCritics mousepad and coffee mug today. They're great! :)
Oh, and Jim: Have you ever said anything positive about any American?
The fact you hate the US AND Reagan further cements my belief that Reagan was a great man, with all the right enemies...
Jack E --
Hmmm... you may have something there... "Accentuate Your Gut" with a BC t-shirt. OK. These are ideas, only ideas.
How about: "What better place to hide your vodka than a Blogcritic's coffee mug?"
OK, I'll stop.
How about:
"Masterbate to cyber-porn? No problem! The BlogCritics mouse pad is mostly white. It will hide ALL evidence of your self-abuse..."
Yeah, that was a little sick. So what? :)
Interesting selection of articles with multiple angles. Good job with the research.
I think the Hitchens analysis was very negative but also very interesting:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2101842
Hitchens was pissing on a grave. Just like he did with Mother Teresa. Just like he'll do with Maggy Thatcher (if his liver holds out that long)...
Come on, though, RJ. What Hitchens said about Mother Theresa was so ballsy and provocative, even if it was cruel. If you find me hilarious, you should worship him. He called her a necrophiliac and had various astute criticisms of her message, ideology, and image. Someone track down the original article, because I'm too lazy.
Hitchens is cruel and picks the worst times to assail our cultural saints, but he's almost always dead-on, as he was when he called The Passion of the Christ "homoerotic, fascist sadomasochism."
http://slate.msn.com/id/2096323/
In a time when most writers try so hard to play the middle and have very little of interest to say for fear of being controversial, Hitchens is one of the best at dissecting sacred cows for the truth. I don't agree with many of his political positions lately, but he's a very talented judge of personality and persona.
wow.
Dropping Christopher Hitchens' into casual conversation! This Booey guy really is smart!
Nice work on the compilation, Eric.
random thoughts:
I can't figure out if the current hero worship/airlift to Mt. Olympus is real/justified, political, or just some strange, deep socio-psychological thing Americans are chasing after?
Some consolation that comes with a shared cultural mourning -- and we fear this might be the last biggie NOT related to a 9/11 type of incident?
Is there a feeling of meaning, patriotism, etc. that is not necessarily that related to the reality and deeds of the man himself, but more related to a ubiquitous vapidity in most of our lives?
Is this some form of an implicit antidote to the bad news from Iraq, the loss of anonymous life over there, a subconscious response to the triviality of contemporary life?
To go from watching "The Good Life" and "Fear Factor" to watching a nationally televised wake is quite a shocking juxtaposition, but maybe the interest shows an inherent national need?
And I wonder who could ever garner such a level of attention in the future, ie. is this the last of an obsolete exercise? An end to the social/cultural atmosphere that can even create such a person? Can you imagine another American getting this treatment during our lifetimes? (I couldn't imagine Reagan getting it, but that's another story)
I dunno, but I suspect it might be the last of a soon-to-be extinct national mourning exercise?
Reagan represented a lot of things to people over a variety of 'times' -- 1911-2004 covers quite a number of generations, events, etc. Maybe that's a large part of it.
And there's definitely some 'father figure' thing going on, but I'll leave that analysis to the voodoo experts.
Thanks for the compliments Bob and Shark! Hitchens's view is perfectly valid, but he does seem awfully eager to be the first iconclast to pounce.
Very interesting questions and obsservations Shark - I hadn't thought about the 9/11 angle. I wonder if Bush benefits from the comparison to Reagan - as many have now made explicitly - or if he suffers by comparison. Surely he is not the communicator, nor does he possess the style that Reagan did.
Maybe the enthusiasm Reagan is receiving is a subconscious "you're no Reagan" directed at Bush, but I don't know.
And we really DO need a lot more people buying Blogcritics merchandise. I don't want to pressure any more than I have about donating, but picking up some Blogcritics merch is win-win all the way around. We REALLY need the income one way or another. Thanks.
Ah, pressure.
As for Ray-gun, I am avoiding all of the funeral/tribute hoohah -- let those who wish to do so unite in mourning. I have more important things to do, like watching "Elimidate."
Suffice it to say that I wish no one dead and offer condolences to Nancy and the kids. As for lib commentary, I'm down with Hitch on this one and furious with Ted Rall, who hoped verbally that Ray-gun would be a "crispy-brown" about now. Might Reagan go to Hell? Perhaps. But if there is a possibility that I will end up in heaven, there is a possibility that RWR will as well. The Creator is merciful, and that is a good thing.
i really enjoy the humor or r j elliott, even though i don't always agree.
the comment about the white mouse pad is sick, twisted, perverted and funny as hell. not to mention a great selling point.
jack e. jett
Jack, the boy is as serious as a heart attack. Which he seems to be about to have in regard to the demise of a 93-year-old man who lived too long. What puzzles me is RJ Elliott's continual references to Reagan and urination. Somehow, in his mind, the two go together.
An abomination to progressive politics, the thousands saying goodbye to Reagan reminds one of Franco's funeral in Spain. Such a spectacle only confirms America's love affair with fascism. Burn in hell, Ronnie!
I just wanted to add that Elimidate rules. That's my political statement of the day.
That is all.
"[T]he comment about the white mouse pad is sick, twisted, perverted and funny as hell. not to mention a great selling point."
Thanks, JEJ! Sick, twisted, perverted bastards like myself become fully-erect after garnering such praise.
Oh, shit. I blew a premature load again! Darn it... [wipes self with mouse pad]
Heh... ;-P
"What puzzles me is RJ Elliott's continual references to Reagan and urination. Somehow, in his mind, the two go together."
Didn't Reagan have an enlarged prostate?
Anyway, I'm just glad MD is still reading my comments, golden-shower references and all... :-P
Thanks for the excellent article on Reagan, Eric.
More than can be said for some of the comments. Almost hesitate to join such a crowd.
I didn't like many of Reagan's policies but respected his ability. He at least knew how to be president, which is more than can be said about some.
One comment in the article is a little strange: "The young boy turned to his mother and the teachings of her Fundamentalist church, The Disciples of Christ, which gave him a belief in predestination and a strong sense of good and evil." The Disciples of Christ do not believe in predestination. They do believe in good and evil.
Sincerely,
Roy Davison
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Fuck Rotten Ronnie, he presented a smiling face of terror during the 80s, while he was directly responsible for the murder, rape and torture of hundreds of thousands around the world, while looting the 'murrican treasury (remember the Saving and Loan bail-out of the Bush boys?)
Never mind the incipient and daily threat of casual nuclear war.
Y'know, it seems I can't say "fuck Ronald Reagan" enough to relieve two decades of pent-up stress.