Thank you, Mr. President.

Even though I knew his health had taken a turn for the worse, it caught me by surprise when I heard that Ronald Reagan had died. And it caught me by surprise when I cried.

My appreciation for Ronald Reagan is personal. I became an adult during his presidency. And I know he left me a better America to live in.

In 1980, when I was a Freshman at Duke, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Afterward President Jimmy Carter brought back registration for a possible future draft. I expected the Soviet Union would subdue Afghanistan then go after the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. And I knew I could easily be drafted for the resulting war.

Even apart from Afghanistan, the Soviet Union during the Carter years grew stronger, in military might and in world domination. We were becoming encircled by the Soviet Union and its allies.

At home, the state waged close to the economic equivalent of war against my family. Although our business was modest, our taxes were as high as 70%.

I correctly saw the Democrats as largely responsible for this state of affairs, for this endangerment of our country and of my future. And I took it personally. I worked hard and successfully in 1980 and in 1984 for the election of Ronald Reagan and Republican allies. And, yes, this day I’m stinking proud of it.

Ronald Reagan literally turned the world around. At the end of his presidency, the Soviet Union’s influence was waning while ours grew. I never had to go fight that war. And my family didn’t have to pay that 70% tax anymore – the highest tax rate was 28%.

And about a year he left office, the unthinkable happened.

For some reason, I watched President Reagan give a commencement speech at Notre Dame early in his first term. In it, he predicted that Communism would one day be thrown onto “the ash heap of history.� The intellectuals mocked.

But one year after his presidency, the Berlin Wall fell. Not long afterward, the Soviet Union fell with it.

Because of Ronald Reagan, not just I, not just America, but the world experiences freedom only he, in his irrepressible optimism and will, had the courage to see.

Thank you, Mr. President.


To honor President Reagan, I will limit my posts here to those relevant to him through the day of his burial.