Growls

Tomorrow, February 6, 2011, marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ronald Reagan, America’s 40th President (1981-1989). Steve Forbes, writing at Fox News on Friday, tells us what Reagan taught us:

“It is not just Reagan's specific achievements, though, that inspire people today, that leave so many of us yearning for his brand of leadership. It is also his profound faith in the essential goodness of the American people and in the exceptional role the U.S. has been destined by the Almighty to play in the world. Reagan was a master of the stage. But the Great Communicator's power came from deeply held convictions, not from superficial eloquence. Reagan's words represented his core. There was no slight-of-hand in his speeches; he didn't use liberal language to disguise or hide his agenda.

“People, young and old, feel that Reagan had an optimistic understanding of what this nation could achieve and a deeply felt gratitude for so much of what we had done before. Like our Founders, RR knew well the underside of human nature; his father was an alcoholic, which scarred his childhood enormously. But Reagan also knew that a society whose institutions, culture and aspirations were designed to bring out our best instincts, while checking our worst, could achieve what no other society had done before in creating opportunities for innovators and allowing all of us, as Abraham Lincoln would have put it, to improve our lot in life.

“Reagan's presidential achievements bore out his optimism. He knew that if the federal government did its part to provide a more stable dollar and reduce the burden of excessive taxation and regulation, combined with a strong, purposeful foreign policy, the United States would soar ahead - and the rest of the world would follow.”

Laura Clarizio posted a nice summary about the 40th President of the United States at Examiner.com today, including quotes and a video of a portion from his “Tear Down This Wall” speech.

For more about President Reagan, visit The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library.

UPDATE (2/6/11): Four of many essays about the late President that have appeared around this weekend.

• "Ronald Reagan's America," by Jeffrey Lord, former Reagan White House political director, in Friday's American Spectator. Jeffrey Lord writes, "In the great 20th century struggle between the Communist/socialist world view and freedom, Reagan repeatedly drew fire for bluntly speaking what came to be understood as essential truths."
  
• "Reagan vs. the Progressives," by Paul Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College, in Friday's American Spectator. According to Kengor, "We must learn what Ronald Reagan learned: The progressive left isn't going away, ever-awaiting the next step in the evolutionary chain. It's an eff and flow, but always creeping toward centralization; or, what Reagan called 'creeping socialism.'"
  
• "Reagan Reclaimed," by Steven Hayward, in the February 7, 2011 issue of National Review. Hayward writes, "And in discussing Reagan's greatest acknowledged achievement -- ending the Cold War -- liberals conveniently omit that they opposed him at every turn."
  
• "Reagan Revealed," by Deroy Murdock, posted February 4, 2011, at National Review Online. Murdock discusses two books by Annelise and Martin Anderson -- Reagan in His Own Hand (670 scripts for commentaries handwritten on yellow legal paper and aired on 236 radio stations from 1975 to 1979) and Reagan: A Life in Letters (about 1,000 of Reagan's letters although more than 10,000 remain).