If inspiration was Reagan's spear, humor was his shield. He used it time and again to ward off challenges to his leadership. When questions arose during presidential debates in 1984 whether he was growing too old to govern, Reagan had a ready retort: "I will not make age an issue. I will not exploit my opponent's youth and inexperience." The dean of political journalists, David Broder, wrote the next day, "It may well have been that the biggest barrier to Reagan's re-election was swept away in that moment." But the most telling display of humor was entirely unscripted and was the defining moment of his presidency. Wheeled into the hospital as he lay gravely wounded by an attempted assassin, Reagan looked up at his doctors and said, "Please tell me you're all Republicans." Coming out of surgery, he told Nancy, mimicking a line from Jack Dempsey, "Honey, I forgot to duck." Americans saw during those hours that Reagan had "grace under pressure"—Hemingway's definition of courage.
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There was something larger afoot here. What many Americans heard and saw in Reagan was what they wanted to believe they had in themselves. They wanted to believe that they, too, had been Huck Finn when they were young, that they had grown up and gotten the girl, that they could take a bullet and joke about it. The president of Mexico came to Washington some years ago and said he had not painted a picture of his people; rather he held up a mirror and let them see themselves in it. That's what Reagan was doing through his stories, his heroes, and his humor. Most of them liked what they saw and smiled back.
Slipping into Alzheimer's in November 1994, Reagan wrote a note to his countrymen that was a fitting farewell: "In closing let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you. Sincerely, Ronald Reagan."
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