THE DAYS OF OUR MOURNING
By Marilyn M. Brannan, Assoc. Editor
Unravelling The New World Order

“There was more to Reagan than rhetoric. . . . Ronald Reagan had both moral clarity and courage. He had the moral clarity to understand the truth, and the courage both to speak the truth and to do what needed to be done to support it.”—Natan Sharansky, former Russian dissident, champion of Soviet Jewry, powerful human rights advocate and longtime prisoner in the Soviet Gulag. Published in “The View from the Gulag,” The Weekly Standard, 06/21/2004 issue.

America, and the world, witnessed a time of nearly unprecedented mourning for one of our greatest leaders this past week. We continue to read that our media were “stunned” by the outpouring of respect and admiration for a man who left the presidency 15 years ago and had lived in seclusion at his California home for the past 10 years. A vast mantle of national mourning stretched across the nation: the pageantry and solemn dignity of the memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington; the several hundred thousand Americans who waited in line for hours to pay their loving respects to Reagan’s memory at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda; the quiet and more intimate goodbyes of a smaller crowd gathered at dusk and waiting patiently to say their “last good-bye” on a hill that overlooked the beautiful Simi Valley in California.

The remarkable reservoir of love and respect that Ronald Reagan had earned from the American people is attributed by some to his personality characteristics; Ronald Reagan was optimistic, good-humored, and kindly. But those qualities alone do not make a great leader. Others looked deeper, past the sunny exterior and the outward charm, and understood that it was the powerful foundations of Ronald Reagan’s character—not show-biz glitz and Hollywood influences—that molded him into a great leader.

Colonel Oliver North writes (“The Ronald Reagan I Knew”) that one of his most cherished possessions is a letter Ronald Reagan wrote in which he quoted Thomas Merton:

“We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, work without expecting immediate reward, love without instantaneous satisfaction, exist without special recognition.”

If one could isolate a single quality that defined Reagan’s philosophy of leadership, I believe it would be his real-life, hands-on expression of that profound statement by Merton.

We mourn the loss of one who not only accomplished remarkable things for the world and for his country during his presidential years; we mourn the loss of one who endeared himself to Americans by his gentle spirit, his graciousness to all human beings irrespective of their station in life, and his great good humor, by which (as Margaret Thatcher observed in her eulogy) he set about to “cheer us all up.”

There will never be another Ronald Reagan, as indeed there will never be another quite like any of us. Perhaps I may be excused for the wry observation that, in many cases, this is a good thing. But in the passing of this great man, America has suffered a profound loss. Ronald Reagan belongs to the ages now; I recall nodding my head when President Bush made that observation, then added, “but we preferred it when he belonged to us.”

As I listened to those who gave personal testimony of their experiences with this great American, I realized that the beliefs that shaped his personal character are the same ideals that moved our nation from its beginnings as a rebellious colonial outpost to the position of most powerful nation on earth: an unwavering belief that freedom is for all; a love of country and for virtue; love for God; and an unabashed acknowledgement that the blessings that have been poured out upon us have been conferred, not by the hand of government, but by the Hand of Almighty God.

The Battle for America’s Identity
I sensed as I watched the memorial, spread over a span of several days, that America was mourning not just the loss of this remarkable man; they sensed the loss of what he stood for—the things he defended, and the principles from which he would not be moved. Reagan’s passing rekindled in us an awareness that our proud identity as a great—and good—nation is slipping away under the onslaught of those who hate America and what she has stood for. We see the calculated expressions of disdain for honorable leaders, the increasingly malicious attacks on those courageous ones who have sworn oaths to defend our nation and our Constitution. They see the sleazy standards of our entertainment world and the cynical acceptance of the lowest standards of human aspiration portrayed daily in an increasingly godless society.

We mourn the loss of values that, sixty years ago, were generally accepted as central to the character of America. We are seeing, to our great sorrow, that the network of beliefs that once knit us together in a collective aspiration to be an honorable people is unraveling.

But in the spirit of this great American who has gone from our midst, let us take heart. Let us allow this time of mourning to awaken in us a powerful desire to defend what America has stood for from her beginnings. Let us not allow our great spirit to be crippled by cynicism and the tawdry values of some of our plastic, made-by-the-media “leaders” who would sell our birthright for political gain. Let us not lose heart as we did in the 70’s when cynics told us our system of government was unworkable, that America had lost its capacity for greatness. Let us never retreat from our position as defender of freedom and democracy.

The “Other America”
In 1977, Ronald and Nancy Reagan spent some time in Iran as guests of Iran’s Ambassador to Washington. While there, they spent time with Amir Taheri, who at the time was executive editor of Iran’s main daily newspaper, and was eager to learn more about the United States. Taheri had been told by the Shah in an interview a few weeks earlier that the U.S. had “entered an historic period of decline.” Without revealing the source, Taheri asked Reagan what he thought of that analysis.

“These are big words for me,” Reagan quipped. “But I can tell you that those who write us off make a big mistake.”

Taheri, when asked a few days later by Iran’s Foreign Minister what he thought of Reagan, responded, “He is great—the exact opposite of Jimmy Carter. He is the other America, the America of Gary Cooper.” (Amir Taheri, “No Chance at All,” June 11, 2004)

That’s the kind of leader America needed then and the kind of leader we need now.

Two Cowboys
Financial analyst Neil Cavuto wrote recently about the similarities between Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush: “There were enormous doubts about this cowboy actor, Ronald Reagan, when he stepped into the White House. There were enormous doubts about this cowboy Texas governor when he stepped into the White House. But each in his own and different way compels even his critics to take a second look.

“To be sure, each had his problems . . . Deficits loomed large for Reagan. They loom larger still for Bush. Reagan had Iran-Contra. Bush has Iraqi prisons. But Reagan made a nation forget the bad, and I suspect this president will make a nation and a world forget the embarrassing.

“The sum of each man's good accomplishments ultimately triumphs over the perception of all the bad. It worked for Reagan, who ended up wowing Europe. It will work for Bush, who just might end up surprising Europe”(Cavuto, “They Always Come Back,” June 12, 2004).

It could be, given the faith and support of the American people, that Bush will surprise more than just Europe. It won’t be easy. But it wasn’t easy for Reagan, either.