President Reagan

An Essay by Congressman Donald Manzullo

Rain.

It finally came on the day of his funeral, the day we would say good-bye to one of the most significant figures in our history.

It threatened the day before, as authorities pondered the impact of the massive thunderstorm on the tens of thousands of people waiting hours in line to enter the Rotunda to gain a glimpse of the flag-draped casket on the catafalque where Lincoln’s body had rested.

But just as the storm reached within a few miles of the Capitol, it divided and went around a huge crowd, pelting those to the north and the south.

Freda and I were about the last to visit him in the Rotunda on Friday morning as we hurried to catch the bus to the National Cathedral for the funeral. People along the routes where his body traveled waited by the thousands on both coasts, holding up signs, some in particular thanking him for their freedom. They were the ones from the Cold War-trapped countries, hailing this American president for setting in motion the political times that crumbled a Wall.

He awakened within us Americans the fire of freedom that we had taken for granted, and he lit the spark of liberty in those who were on the wrong side of the cement and barbed wire barriers.

I heard Lady Margaret Thatcher list some of the capitals of those countries: Belgrade, Sophia, Budapest, Bucharest, even Kiev and Moscow, and I pondered the reaction in those cities as the former Prime Minister referenced them.

And just as we were gathering to leave the massive cathedral, Congressman Hal Rogers from Kentucky tapped my shoulder and said, “Don, there he is, Lech Walesa.” I had seen him on TV as he approached Mr. Reagan in the Rotunda, saying without words, “How do I say thanks for what you did to help free Poland?” I approached Walesa and introduced myself to him. He was quite tired but then smiled broadly when I told him my sister-in-law is Polish-American.

He is but one of many emblems we saw this weekend. None can forget Mikhail Gorbachev approaching that casket, touching the American flag, patting it. How could he forget the words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall!” It was the final reunion between two men who stood at opposite ends of the Cold War: only one could prevail and perhaps the other thank, though not outwardly, the victor for his leadership.

As the political commentators argued over Reagan’s domestic policies, very few disagreed on the impact he made on the world.

He stirred us up without trying. I never met him, though I saw him at Dixon High School during the 1980 campaign and in Washington, DC when he was first sworn in. My brother, Frank, who was a Reagan delegate, has a picture of himself, Reagan and friend Pete McKay proudly hanging in the family restaurant. Frank spent an entire day with Reagan. Grassroots volunteers like Frank simply decided they would do whatever possible to get Reagan elected.

To this one who would not enter the Oval Office without a coat and tie, who prayed for his would-be assassin before he prayed for his own life-threatening wounds, who led his older son into a relationship with Jesus Christ, who made us proud by calling us a city shining on a hill, who shared his God-given spiritual gifts of encouragement and leadership with a nation and then the world, how could we possibly say good-bye? Perhaps President Bush said it all when he said President Reagan left us some time ago, but only recently died.

He epitomized hard work, decency, honesty and persistence. He ran the good race, fought the good fight and left a better world. He made us appreciate our flag even more. He was firm and forgiving, reaching out to John Hinckley’s doctors and offering to forgive him face-to-face if that would help him (the doctors decided against it.) He personified simplicity of spirit and an undying faith that God will move people to do what is right and that ultimately God controls the destiny of nations – and our souls.

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