Restrospective Part I: All Was Calm in Reaganland
My formative years were during the 1980s. In 1979 I began kindergarten. My parents, my siblings, and I lived in a little town in Iowa. Jimmy Carter was still president. In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected. In those years I might have known who the President was, but I didn’t care one bit about politics.
In the second grade though, one kid from the class I was in brought something to show and tell. As far as I can remember, this is what happened. At one point he (or a parent) had written a letter to Jimmy Carter (I have no idea when), and had gotten a letter back. He brought it in framed, all proud about it.
Reagan was the President by that time. I thought, “I want to write to the President too.” I wrote letters to the White House two times, and two times I received back this pamphlet. I don’t even know if it’s still around somewhere at Mom and Dad’s, but I think it had a white cover. The scene on that cover was a picture of the White House.
On the inside was the story of Ronald Reagan, from his early days all the way through his election as president. I remember one of the pictures very clearly. It was a black and white photo of his years playing football. He was kicking the ball, and one foot was planted on the ground, while the other was pointed straight up in the air, and the ball was flying off of his kicking foot. It was a great photo.
This is a man who seemed to be in touch with the American people. He brought dignity to the Office of the President. He was the kind of fellow you would want to be your dad or your granddad. At the time, I was kind of disappointed to get a book, and not a letter from the president, but what that tells me is that he was probably a lot busier DOING HIS JOB instead of screwing everything up like Jimmy Carter. There is a reason Carter was a one-termer. He was a terrible president. I don’t think I’d be framing his letter.
I remember my early grade school years, playing while the sitcoms of that era or the evening news was on in the background. There really seemed to be an air of tension in those years as the existence of the Evil Empire (the USSR) continued to have a chokehold on Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Geographically speaking, there was a boundary beyond which you could not go freely. It was a region under a shadow, a shadow which cast its pall even into the free world. .
Those who were children in the 1950s in the US grew up with this air of tension, the looming possibility of nuclear annihilation. This air continued through the 80s, but began to lift as the Soviet Union’s power began to wane. The weapons were still there, but things had changed.
As a child growing up in the 80s, I never elected Ronald Reagan, but he was my president. I remember the landslide of 1984. I was excited when he kicked the Democrats pants in that election. I remember looking at a map blanketed with states that elected Reagan, and the tiny little area that was carried by Walter Mondale. Perhaps you’re saying, “Who?” At that age I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so happy about it. It was just that to me Reagan was the good guy.
These days I know why. He was a great communicator who connected with the American people. He cut taxes giving back to Americans their hard earned money when government had gotten way too big. And as the leader of the Free World he stood up to the tyrannical Soviet Union. We mustn’t forget that great conservative legacy. If I always call myself Republican, I will always be known as a Reagan Republican. I will strive to elect those who stand for the great things he stood for, and desire to continue that legacy. If the party changes someday, I will seek out those ideals wherever they go.
This fall, if you want higher taxes, bigger, less effective government, mindless national defense policies that put our country in danger, more bad judges, and endless abortion, don’t vote in this election, or simply vote Democrat.
But if you want a stronger America, more of your hard earned dollars back in your own pocket, a safer homeland, fewer pointless investigations, and an end in sight to Roe v. Wade (the modern American version of the Holocaust), among other positive policies and possibilities, vote Republican. -Cal Samuel August
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