The Legacy of a Great Leader

As the seemingly endless presidential campaign has narrowed to the two major party’s presumptive nominees, some conservative Republicans are nostalgically longing for the Reagan years, and regret that a conservative leader of President Reagan’s stature seems not to have emerged.

President Reagan was an extraordinary leader, and many eloquent voices call him the greatest American of the 20th Century. In her moving eulogy for the late President, Lady Margaret Thatcher pointed out the daunting, historic tasks he set for himself. “Ronald Reagan,” she said, “sought to mend America’s wounded spirit; he sought to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism.”

These she said were “causes hard to accomplish and heavy with risk.” Yet this great, “providential figure” was a man “who knew his own mind, had firm principles, expounded them clearly, and acted on them decisively.” We know that with his unfailing optimism, humor, charm, and persistence under fire, he accomplished all that he set out to do. He won the cold war without firing a shot, and left America and the world far more free, safe, and prosperous.

President Reagan accomplished the impossible and made it look easy. His presidency was very much the culmination of what has been called “the greatest generation.” It was a generation that was forged in the Great Depression, tempered by war, and whose patience, fortitude, and faith was proven through uncertain and dangerous decades when the Cold War’s outcome was far from certain. It takes nothing away from President Reagan’s epic accomplishments to recognize that his great triumphs were the result of service and sacrifice rendered by millions of his generation over the course of their lifetimes.

It is not surprising that in our own difficult day we long for a monumental leader like President Reagan to deal with problems that seem overwhelming. Domestically we are experiencing out-of-control government growth, spending and deficits, growing political support for big government, socialist programs, record costs for oil that not only threaten families, but threaten economic havoc in our nation and throughout the world, a growing trade deficit, the export of American industry and jobs, and the continuing breakdown of the most basic units of civilization, marriage and the family. Internationally we are experiencing a weakened economic and strategic position relative to hostile governments, two costly wars with no end yet in sight, and the constant threat of terrorism with its potential for catastrophic destruction.

These epic threats, like the threats that confronted “the greatest generation,” will not be resolved with one Congress, one presidency, or even one great, historic figure. Overcoming these threats will likely consume the century ahead, and triumphing over them will likely require principled, resolute, and unifying figures like Ronald Reagan to lead the way.

As conservatives and Republicans, we need to remember that the triumph of Ronald Reagan was prepared over decades both by great names and by unknown Americans who were faithful to their present moment, relied on God’s protection, and did what they could, where they were, with what they had. Many did not live to see the great victory to which they contributed, but they share in our triumphs nonetheless.

While Ronald Reagan may have come closer to our ideal of political perfection than any other American in the 20th Century, today we face a choice between two candidates. In that choice, Senator McCain is exceedingly closer to President Reagan than is his opponent. McCain shares Reagan’s love and optimism for the United States and he believes to his core -- and spent over five years of intense suffering in the Hanoi Hilton because he would not renounce these beliefs -- that the US is a force for good in this world. He also believes, as did President Reagan, that individual Americans create our nation’s wealth, build our communities, invent today’s breathtaking new technologies of tomorrow, educate our young, and possess primary responsibility for raising new generations. All of this is in direct contrast to his opponent who believes that these are the responsibilities of nameless bureaucrats working in a labyrinth of government departments, bureaus, and agencies.

Each of us has a God-given role to play in the great epic struggle of our day. In that struggle we need first and foremost to arm ourselves with faith, as though everything depends on God, while we work in our homes, communities, civic groups, and political parties, as though everything depends on us. When we trust in God’s mercy and grace in that struggle, we not only labor to achieve President Reagan’s vision of the “great, shining city on a hill,” we participate in the eventual triumph of good over evil that God has promised to all those who put their trust in Him.