The Great Communicator is silenced

He was the father of the conservative movement of the last 20 years, his name spoken with reverence by those who decried big government and celebrated a return to “American values and prominence”.

He was the bane of those who feared his plans would steer the world off into directions we may have not wanted go. For every euphoric celebrant of his achievements, there is probably someone who spent many fearful days and nights pondering the potential harm of the Ronald Reagan years.

His legend long established; his passing was not unexpected. His last public appearance was many years ago, his body and mind trapped in the grip of Alzheimer’s. A disease, which for the last ten years silenced his voice, hid away his body and took him away from his family.

His place in history has long been secured; all that is left is for the Historians to write the final draft on his impact on the closing years of a century. His two terms of office, were eight years that saw the world change in many ways. He brought an insular nation back onto the world stage, the ghosts of Vietnam laid to rest during his era. He oversaw the largest increase of American military power of our time. He rebuilt a military machine that had left the fields of Vietnam unsure of itself, one that had returned home to a country that couldn’t decide how to respond to its place in the world.

Over the course of the Reagan years the United States would find its influence dispatched to the far corners of the world. Sometimes their destination would lead to great success, sometimes to a terrible failure with a heavy cost. In either instance there could be no mistaking a definite change in the American outlook, the last twenty years have seen a complete domination of the world scene by all things American, the seeds of that change came under the watch of Ronald Reagan.

Long before an Axis of Evil was declared, there was the proclamation of an Evil Empire. And if any one element defines the Reagan era it was the relationship with the then Soviet Union. It was a clash of two competing ideals, the crusade of a democratic conservative capitalism, against the march of communist influence. It was a cause the Reagan followers wore as though a heart on their sleeves.

At every opportunity he would position the United States as the main opponent to the wedge of the communist agenda. As Brezhnev gave way to Andropov, who passed the reigns on to Gorbachev it was the solid refusal of Reagan to give an inch that defined his Presidency. On his watch the collapse of a struggling bureaucracy, would soon reduce the Soviet Empire to a shell of its once might self. Those once tightly controlled satellite states became independent and for the most part Democratic nations. For some, freedom brought the opportunity to strike out on their own for the benefit of their people, for others chaos would ensue, leaving the template for the troubles we face some twenty five years later.

We sat on edge as two super powers armed themselves to levels thought impossible; providing the opportunity to destroy the world many times over should madness prevail. Yet strangely at the end of his second term, the world seemed more predictable than at any time since. The lasting legacy of the Reagan years in international terms will be the nations of Poland, a reunited Germany, Czech and Slovak republics, a shattered Yugoslavia still a hornets nest to this day and all the other Baltic republics which suddenly found themselves out on their own. Yes the totalitarian grip of the Soviet Union would probably one day have lessened on sheer weight alone, but the Reagan terms most certainly more than anything else, put the collapse of that system on the fast track.

Domestically the Reagan years were the beginning of the greed is good credo for Wall Street. Reaganomics and its trickle down theories of development never seemed to do much to tackle poverty, the poorest of the poor remained poor, the richest of the rich became richer. While he may have communicated in the same way as an FDR, economically his version of the New Deal left far too many people on the sidelines marginalized and forgotten. His years were early alarm bells for an economy that to this day, lives on a boom and bust cycle, with those that can least afford it the hardest hit when the cycle busts. The current stock markets began their dizzying climbs and spectacular drops during the Reagan years, instant millionaires would become paupers within the twin terms. His financial decisions would develop a troubling fiscal cycle that has repeated itself through the last twenty years.

But by far it was his ability to communicate that shone during his Presidency, his delivery of a speech, an aside after an assassination attempt or just a comforting hug to a soldier’s widow seemed to touch a chord with an American nation. Those that may have despised his politics, had to tip their hats at his statesmanship. When the occasion called, Reagan delivered. He would have the right words, the right expression, the right tone. It may have been scripted, rehearsed and presented for political gain, but even in the most partisan corners, the Reagan delivery would be met with admiration. He knew what the American people wanted to hear and wouldn’t let them down.

So now it’s time for the eulogies to be made for Ronald Reagan, his is the one state funeral that has been expected and no doubt planned out, for a number of years. It will be a pageant that has not been seen in the States for many a year.

Historians will debate his impact on history for years to come, depending on your political beliefs he was either the greatest facilitator of change in the last half of a century, or a man who led us dangerously close to the abyss. But that is for the long term look and for students of history to explore in depth.

For now we’ll watch as a nation bids farewell to a man that certainly changed his nations view of the world and its place in that world. The words will flow as will some tears; it is indeed the passing of an American Icon. Whether one agreed or disagreed with his policies, the Reagan years were one of those defining moments in a country’s life.

And that is why the next week will be filled with retrospective glances and respectful statements. A major influence of our current history slipped out of its earthly hold on Saturday, for that a nation will sit back and commemorate.