MEMORIES OF PRESIDENT REAGAN - FAREWELL AND THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT

Twenty five years ago today was the beginning of the Reagan revolution. As he took the oath of office President Reagan restored to America her greatness and gave himself to each of us with an assurance that we all needed in ourselves and our country. His impact on history is still being measured and felt. He brought us together as a nation as few before him and no one since. Even in death President Reagan brought us together by the millions in a celebration of the life of this great American. He will always be missed as we will always look for another Reagan and find that all will fall short in comparison. Shortly after his passing in 2004 and at the on set of this blog I wrote a tribute to President Reagan and as we come to the end of this week celebrating the beginning of the Reagan Presidency I would like to share with you again my tribute to President Ronald Wilson Reagan.

He always referred to them as, "the "L" word", ("L" of course meaning liberal). They.... well they regarded him with disdain in many ways yet that disdain contained a great respect for a great man. They said," Oh he's just an actor." He said, "I don't see how you can be President without being an actor." He then became one of our greatest Presidents and possibly the greatest of the twentieth century. They said, " we have to accept communism and for our own safety live under it's threat." He said, "Mr Gorbechev tear down this wall, " and the wall came down along with the collapse of the, "evil empire," and those states held under its iron fist. They said, " we, as Americans must grow accustomed to a lesser way of life." He said, "America will always be a shining city on a hill," and we were once again proud to wave the flag and shed a tear as we sang of, "the rockets red glare." They said, "The answer to our problems is government expansion and more entitlements." He said, " Government is not the answer to the problem, Government is the problem!" With those words entitlements decreased, regulations relaxed, government intrusion in our lives lessoned and we as a country prospered. They said, "we'll pay for it with more taxes." He said, "give the people their money back and watch what they do." His trust and faith in the American people brought the largest tax cut, (up until that time), in American history and the people did not disappoint him. Millions of jobs were created, income grew at a record pace and the country recovered from the worst economy since the depression. He left office after eight tremendous years and they said, " his influence will fade." That influence only grew as we realized how much he meant to us. He then shared with his beloved America the fear and sadness of a failing mind due to a devastating disease. Even then his faith in us and his belief in America shined through the sorrow. As the years passed they said, "all of our problems come from the excess of the 80's ." On June 5, 2004 his long battle ended as he left his beloved America for the last time. On his behalf, the American people responded to them by the millions with an outpouring of love for this man from Dixon, Illinois who taught each of us how to be an American! Now he sits beside Lincoln and Washington as the guardian angels of liberty and freedom, forever reminding us that this, "shining city on a hill, " this country and this flag that we so dearly love will always be a beacon of hope to the world. Thank you and farewell Mr. President!......Ronald Wilson Reagan 1911-2004

Ken Taylor