| Submit your comments on this article |
| AP: Reagan has passed away |
| 2004-06-05 |
| WASHINGTON - Ronald Reagan, the cheerful crusader who devoted his presidency to winning the Cold War, trying to scale back government and making people believe it was "morning again in America," died Saturday after a long twilight struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, a family friend said. He was 93. |
| Posted by:Damn_Proud_American |
| #39 I have served under four commanders-in-chief during my military career and three since as a civilian public servant. None of them were even remotely in the same league as RR. Oh Captain...my captain....RIP |
| Posted by: TerrorHunter4Ever 2004-06-07 9:41:23 AM |
| #38 So passes one of the greatest men of our time and one of the greatest presidents of all time. God bless you Ronald Reagan -- and your family. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-06-06 1:04:29 AM |
| #37 Certain people seem to be divinely sent and equipped to do certain tasks. (SEEM to be? I must be getting squeamish) Reagan seemed to have a grace for leadership, especially for the direction in which he led. He was conservative when it wasn't nearly cool. He stood for the power of morality, when morality was sneered at. He was a believer, without the religiosity. He preached the greatness of America, when America was truly in decline. And he led us in HIS direction. And America is in a much better place because of him. Don't expect history to treat him overly kind. Those who write history books, for the most part, have an opposing ideology. He wouldn't have cared. Those of us who know will be able to set our grandchildren straight, when they come home from school with the Current Dim View. |
| Posted by: scott 2004-06-06 12:25:32 AM |
| #36 Thank you, President Reagan, for your efforts to defeat communism. You deserve at least some credit from everyone of Eastern European descent for freeing the lands of their ancestors. Rest in peace, sir. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2004-06-06 12:23:48 AM |
| #35 It is a terrible irony that, after ten years of Alzheimers, President Reagan died as one of the very few people who did not know and appreciate what a great man he was and the place he holds in the hearts of his fellow Americans. No one who did not live through the turbulent 60's, the assassinations of the Kennedys, Martin Luther King. George Lincoln Rockwell, Malcom X, et. al., Watergate, the Fall of VietNam, and the horrible debilitating death spiral of the Carter administration can truly understand what Reagan did for this country. He almost singlehandedly reminded us who we were and what we were capable of. He made us proud again to be Americans and started the American ascendancy of the last 25 years. Had he not lived, the world would be a different and lesser place. Ronald Reagan truly made it morning again in America. We shall not see his like again. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-05 11:23:42 PM |
| #34 I had the honor to meet Ronald Reagan on June 12th 1997, the day he gave his famous Brandenburg Gate Speech. He may not have won the Cold War alone, but without him we might still have a Cold War going on. Or worse. I hope he'll make it to Mount Rushmore. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-06-05 10:57:03 PM |
| #33 A giant of the 20th century has gone to his final reward. I am proud to say that in my small way I worked on his campaigns in 1980 and 1984. |
| Posted by: Douglas De Bono 2004-06-05 10:50:23 PM |
| #32 That's what I meant to say. |
| Posted by: Korora 2004-06-05 10:24:36 PM |
| #31 Korora: Ending? Winning. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-06-05 10:16:49 PM |
| #30 Rest in peace. You will be missed, and thank you for ending the Cold War. |
| Posted by: Korora 2004-06-05 10:06:17 PM |
| #29 I'd remember him as the man who made Fidel Castro ramble on for hours, impotently. It was so encouraging for those of us who were under Castro's yoke. I imagine that's how the people in the Soviet Union felt when he spoke his "Evil Empire" speech. Today I honor Ronald Reagan; hail to the fallen chief! |
| Posted by: Sorge 2004-06-05 9:53:39 PM |
| #28 I didn't vote in the 1980 election. There was no way I could have voted for Carter, but the thought of a movie actor as president didn't do anything for me, despite his record as governor of California. Four years later I had no hesitation about voting for him. No tears come to my eyes with Mr. Reagan's death. Only his body died today. Ronald Reagan died at some point in his struggle with Alzheimer's, probably about five years ago. He did bring tears to my eyes on a number of occasions. The most notable was the fall of the Berlin Wall, something I never expected to see in my lifetime. Another was the death of Ceaucescu. Yet another was the way he joked with his doctors when he'd been wounded by John Hinkley. In November 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev signed the INF treaty. Serious historians will regard that treaty and the diplomacy that led up to it as the high point of Reagan's administration and as the breaking point of the Cold War. Five years later the Soviet Union was dead. There were times I was on the edge of my chair during Mr. Reagan's administration. I was afraid he was going to get snookered when he met Gorbachev at Reikjavik. I wasn't at all sure what was going to happen in the wake of the KAL007 shootdown. I mourned with the rest of the country when our Marines were murdered in Lebanon, and along with the rest of the country I tuned out the predictable carping when we invaded Grenada. I went from being neutral, maybe doubtful about Ronald Reagan to being an enthusiastic supporter of Ronald Reagan. I think a lot of Americans made the same transition. He was a great man, and I hope he's honored in coming years as the great man he was. |
| Posted by: Fred 2004-06-05 9:52:06 PM |
| #27 #17 Actually, you should be watching MSNBC. Their coverage has been, IMO, first-rate thus far, and they've had Reaganites on nonstop to talk about him and his legacy. Hell, even Bill Clinton has been classy for once today; MSNBC just carried an interview with him in which he had nothing but good things to say about RR. |
| Posted by: Joe 2004-06-05 9:22:25 PM |
| #26 Someday when things are tough, maybe you can ask the boys to go in there and win just one for the Gipper. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-06-05 9:15:32 PM |
| #25 A great man who came at the right moment in our history. By the way, CNN has been fairly reasonable in its coverage. Big piece on Nancy right now. We ought to thank her, she was the "other half" of what made Ronnie great. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-06-05 9:08:37 PM |
| #24 God Rest You Gentle, Ronald Reagan. One of the greatest presidents this nation has ever had. Repaired our nation when capitalism was on the edge of failure due to big government (Remember double digit inflation, doubl digit unemployment and double digit interest rates under Jimmy Carter?), won the Cold War which threatened the very existence of the Nation and the Free World (Mr Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall), and set the tone for our nation since that time - Its Morning in America. Thank You Gipper - you made today possible, we owe you large. Rest well, you've earned it for more than anyone since, and all but a handful before. Present Arms! (One of the few times tears have worked up into my eyes for somone I never knew personally). |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-06-05 9:04:41 PM |
| #23 I had the distinct pleasure of meeting one of America's greatest man of the 20th century, Ronald Wilson Reagan. America and the world is just beginning to fathom the incredible greatness of President Reagan's legacy. President Reagan is now at peace. May God bless his family. Gipper, we shall see you again! |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-06-05 8:29:21 PM |
| #22 I always wondered why Ronald Reagan was so optimistic. Perhaps you need only consider the year he graduated from High School, 1928. Imagine starting your adult life on the precipice of the Great Depression. Who but a very optimistic, sunny person gets the job when there are 100 other desperate people applying. Take note. Even in the darkest moments, the true believers carry the day. |
| Posted by: Zpaz 2004-06-05 6:39:19 PM |
| #21 Peggy Noonan says it all in the title of her book, "When Character Was King." R.I.P. |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-06-05 6:37:27 PM |
| #20 RIP GIP, the world became a better place because of you. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-06-05 6:34:25 PM |
| #19 Reagan has his own style and never apologized for his lifelong political aim: the destruction of communism. Were we all so successful in such an important endeavor. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-06-05 6:33:24 PM |
| #18 The father of us all, and the greatest President I expect to see in my lifetime. It's still morning in America. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-06-05 6:05:49 PM |
| #17 Mark, I can't bring myself to watch CNN or BBC because I know they will indulge in sneering put-downs of the man, who did more to make a better future for more people than anyone else in my lifetime. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2004-06-05 6:05:28 PM |
| #16 He is amongst the greatest in history. |
| Posted by: Jake 2004-06-05 6:04:14 PM |
| #15 The greatest president of my lifetime, I was born in 1939. |
| Posted by: Harry 2004-06-05 6:01:46 PM |
| #14 R.I.P. Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004 |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-06-05 6:00:23 PM |
| #13 I'm in the car driving home and had NPR on the radio (good blues on Saturday afternoon). Anyway they're interviewing Hanes Johnson. When asked where Reagan will rank amongst all presidents, Johnson says: "I don't think he can be called a "great president" because his economic policies hurt the country far too much." Hearing that I almost drove off the road screaming at the radio.....I know...it's my own fault for listening to NPR. |
| Posted by: Mark 2004-06-05 5:54:34 PM |
| #12 The Greatest Generation is passing into the shadows now, led by the greatest of them all. We are all diminished by his passing. |
| Posted by: Joe 2004-06-05 5:45:13 PM |
| #11 Ronald Reagan was the tip of the spear in the fight to free literally hundreds of millions of people from bondage that is communism. May we continue on our most recent quests toward freedom - he would have it no other way! |
| Posted by: GenoRock 2004-06-05 5:44:27 PM |
| #10 My prayers are with the Reagan family. Goodbye Ronald, you will be missed. |
| Posted by: Destro 2004-06-05 5:32:00 PM |
| #9 A true American hero has passed on today. May God bless him for all the lives he saved during his time on Earth, and may we remember how he lived so that we may carry on his memory. If we can do even a tenth of what we did, our time will not have been ill-spent. |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-06-05 5:27:46 PM |
| #8 A truly great man! |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2004-06-05 5:27:18 PM |
| #7 Rest in peace, Presidenat Reagan. |
| Posted by: Brass 2004-06-05 5:22:24 PM |
| #6 Condolences to the Reagan family. Nancy Reagan is my hero. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-06-05 5:18:20 PM |
| #5 Damn, just damn. I can't begin to express my sorrow over the passing of this great man. |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-06-05 5:06:16 PM |
| #4 I think he's up there with Washinton, Lincoln and Roosevelt as one of our most important presidents. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-06-05 5:04:14 PM |
| #3 very sad news. :( |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-06-05 4:59:20 PM |
| #2 I'm watching Dan Blather cut in teh PGA golf with the news, and tears come to my eyes. Farewell and Godspeed President Reagan. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-05 4:58:41 PM |
| #1 God rest him at last and now Nancy, Patty and the family can stand down, too. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Come aside and rest awhile." What a guy. What a great American President. Thank God for this man's life which was such a blessing to our country and the world! |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-06-05 4:57:20 PM |