The Gipper
Prior to President Reagan's death yesterday, the only presidential passing I had experienced was President Nixon's death in 1994. From a policy standpoint - pulling us out of Vietnam and giving the South Vietnamese a fighting chance, opening relations with China, creating Earth Day - I am a huge fan of Nixon, but obviously even in death he remained a controversial and unfortunate figure. President Reagan has a very different legacy. Old Man Gipper called a spade a spade, he said the Soviet Union was an "evil empire," which it was. He made the American armed forces the worldbeaters they are today: occupations are another matter, but we can easily carry out two or three Iraq-style takedowns a year; if the Chinese move on Taiwan, they will find themselves in a world of hurt. He carried himself with the confidence to overcome our hangover from the '70s. He was the President of the Unites States when I was a kid; to me, he defined everything a president should be. My greatest regret is that The Newsletter's production schedule won't allow me to devote a column to the great man's death until late September at the earliest. Curses.