When Ronald Reagan arrived at George Washington University Hospital with a bullet lodged in his chest, his vital signs were shaky and he was weakening fast. Service Service agents reached into his limousine to help him to the emergency room, but Reagan waved them off. The president slowly got out of the car, hitched up his pants, straightened his shoulders, buttoned his suit jacket, and walked stiffly through the hospital doors. Once inside, he collapsed to one knee; it was only then, in private, that he allowed the agents to help him. "He believed it was part of the role of the president of the United States to show strength and confidence to the American people,'' recalls former White House media adviser Michael Deaver. ''You never saw weakness."
advertisement
That moment, which followed a nearly successful attempt on Reagan's life in March 1981, captured the essence of the man who shattered the philosophical underpinnings of the New Deal, made conservatism a governing ideology, dominated the American consciousness, and reshaped the world for eight years. His emphasis on positivism and strength, even though at times Panglossian and excessive, served as the cornerstone of his power and his political appeal. His success was based on his ceaseless promotion of an exalted vision of America and a theatrical, telegenic approach to presidential leadership that gave him a direct connection to the voting public.
There were so many such Reagan moments that the 40th president long ago entered the small pantheon of chief executives who lent their names to an era and defined a political tide that spread throughout much of the world. Admire him or detest him—and there were millions of Americans in each category—Reagan presided over a remarkable shift toward cultural, political, and economic conservatism, much of it brought on by ideas that Reagan had promoted for two decades with an incandescent charisma and the performing skills he had perfected as a Hollywood actor.
Most important, he was at heart a nostalgist who sought the restoration of his vision of a gloried, optimistic past. Yet the contradictions of the Reagan era were so enormous that debate still rages over whether President Reagan was lucky or smart. That debate remains a large part of his legacy.
But there was little debate about the depth of his political skills, or the historical significance of his presidency. When Reagan died last week at age 93 after a long struggle against Alzheimer's disease, the comments that poured in from politicians of all ideological stripes reflected a deep and abiding respect for both the man and the politician. Another former occupant of the Oval Office, President George H.W. Bush, said Reagan "could take a stand...and do it without creating enmity on the part of other people." Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry called Reagan's love of his country "infectious."
Americans were attracted to Reagan's sunny optimism in part because it was such a stark break from the recent past. In the two decades before he became president, John Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon Johnson was hounded from office during the Vietnam war, Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace, and Jimmy Carter was rejected by voters as a failure. Author Garry Wills points out that Reagan was "the opposite of a chameleon" because he did not change with his surroundings; instead, environments adapted themselves to him." "Reagan's communication skills moved the country to the right," adds historian Michael Beschloss. ". . . He was admired as a folk hero, and he was the perfect example of how to fill the chief of state role. As a communicator, every president will remain in the shadow of Ronald Reagan."
