THE DEATH at 93 of former United States President Ronald Reagan has released a flood of public pride and respect for a man most Americans now see as a great President. For the three days of official mourning the nation has been united in sorrow at his passing and tributes continue to pour in from the four corners of the globe. At the Reagan library in Simi Valley, California, over 100,000 persons, 60,000 more than were expected, filed by the body to pay their last respects. When it lies in State in the Rotunda of the Capital Building in Washington, another 250,000 persons will have viewed it. The formal funeral service takes place on Friday at the National Cathedral and will be attended by heads of state from around the world including Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain.
General public opinion now sees Reagan as an honest man of the highest integrity who was able successfully to combine a simple belief in mankind's universal instinct for liberty with a pragmatic approach to negotiating with communist ideology. He condemned Russia as an evil empire but did not hesitate to negotiate an arms reduction pact with Gorbachev when he came to power in the Soviet Union. In Germany, looking at the wall which divided East and West Berlin, Reagan demanded, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" and he is rightly credited with hastening the end of the Cold War. If for no other reason, this will be his legacy in history.
Under his administration, the Grenada invasion in this region was an episode of some controversy. We note, however, that the present administration in that island has ordered all flags on public buildings to be flown at half mast as a mark of respect.
Reagan embodied the moral values of the small mid-western town where he was born. For him the law was a shackle and when it was flaunted in the United States by the air traffic controllers taking strike action, he promptly fired every last one of them. Despite dire predictions of catastrophe, the system was successfully rebuilt from scratch. Originally seen as a second rate Hollywood actor, he soon stamped his personality on the Republican administration which he led. His humility and great sense of humour contributed to his reputation as the "Great Communicator" and many scholars are now of the view that he was no lightweight dilettante but a man who read omnivorously and someone gifted with an almost photographic memory.
It is a tribute to the American system of government and its Constitution that it has the ability constantly to renew and re-energise itself. After the Vietnam war, the Iran hostage crisis and the degradations of the Nixon presidency, Ronald Reagan was the instrument of such renewal. His place in history is assured.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
