My first memory of anything political is the election of 1980. I remember sitting in the back seat of our car and asking my parents whom they had voted for. If I recall correctly, they said Carter (suckers).
I had seen Ronald Reagan speak on TV, and though I really didn’t understand what I was watching, my six-year-old brain knew that I liked the man. Over the next eight years, the rest of the country and I grew to love him as our President. As you watched him on TV, he seemed to speak to each one of us individually, and you could tell he cared about every American.
It was heart-wrenching watching Nancy lay her head down on his casket yesterday. This is the first President that I really remember, and I guess I have some sort of emotional attachment because it made me very sad, especially when they played Hail to the Chief as they pulled his casket out of the hearse. People were stopped on over-passes, clamoring to get a glimpse of the procession, and it seemed the entire country was in mourning as the news coverage showed everyone expressing memories of a great man that had passed.
Sure, every President has their faults, but President Reagan knew what America was all about, was determined to make her great again, and then went about and did that very thing. He was a great leader, a great politician, a great man – one of the best Presidents this country has ever had.
Rest in peace, Mr. President.