The Gipper was back, not quite so strong of voice as before, not quite as youthful-looking for someone who seemingly never aged when he sat in the Oval Office.
Gracious as ever, smiling as ever, beloved as ever by the Republican faithful, the man of the `80s spoke with no apology about the greed and crazy overextension of everything that occurred when he was in office.
He took no responsibility for the savings-and-loan scandal (which apparently raged on while he slept in the White House), nor the mountain of debt that he left behind. About those empty office buildings on every landscape in America, he made not one single word of mention.
No-fault Ronnie, playing the hero again.
He did not lament the fact that the party, and the country, seemed to be terribly divided along racial, religious and economic lines. He could not recall those times when he played these various political ”cards” to his advantage, refused to promote healing when it was called for, and deliberately pushed a skewing of income in America.
He did want to mention how he was responsible for the fall of communism, how he almost single-handledly won the Cold War by building up the military to the point that it could incinerate almost every corner of the globe. The Gipper wanted to set the record straight. He apparently feels he hasn`t gotten enough credit.
Only a fool would not grant him a role in this historical change, but only a bigger one would give him exclusive rights to the claim. The Soviet machine was already grinding to a halt when he came along. Mikhail Gorbachev was trying to get it running again, but to no avail. The Gipper didn`t recognize what was going on for years; as a devoted anticommunist, he called the Soviet Union ”the Evil Empire” as if it had not changed since the 1950s. What killed communism was the economic and political misery that it spread everywhere, and the effort by Gorbachev to reform something that was simply incorrigible. Even with a modicum of modern communications, Soviet and Eastern European people could see that those in other countries they didn`t even respect were leading better lives.
They had lost hope in their system. When they looked to the government for help, it was not there. There was only the legacy of decades of past inefficiency, long, cold lines for food, and a falling standard of living. And so communism tumbled, making a very large ash heap, because the people could stand it no more.
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It reminds you, to some extent, of this dangerous point in American history, when a system we all cherish is in similar trouble: pessimism, hopelessness, a record of government inefficiency and division, homelessness, and nearly four years of stagnant income growth.
To have Ronald Reagan stand up there, basking in the glory and the cheers, without taking so much of an ounce of responsibility for this trouble grates at the soul. He selectively claimed the parts of the Reagan record that suited him. But there were no mea culpas. His appearance only reminded the delegates of past glories and the weaknesses of their sitting president.
How can you blame all this on George Bush? One has to grant that he has enormous deficiencies as a leader, that he does not have the magical qualities of a Gipper to make people believe fairy tales.
Bush, unfortunately, was put into the role of leading the shovel brigade. He bailed out the savings and loans and tried to deal with the burgeoning deficit and jump-start the sagging economy. But by the time he came along, Reagan had sapped all the juice out of the economic battery. It was dead.
And who was in charge when communism actually fell? It was Bush, not Reagan, and most Americans would agree that Bush handled this task fairly well, although in retrospect he put too much stock in Gorbachev.
Bush might have been clueless as to the enormous forces unfolding before him, but one can never forget that communism collapsed on his watch. He had to act to squash Saddam Hussein after Reagan (with Bush`s complicity) had helped build his military machine.
They called Reagan the Teflon president. Mistakes simply did not stick to him, because as a cheerful, single-minded, insouciant man, he simply waved them off and took no responsibility. He always seemed to find the blame elsewhere.
It was good that he chose to come back and make one final big speech on television. It was well-delivered as usual by a man endowed by the Creator with superb vocal chords. But his being there on the TV screen gave all of those who lived through the `80s a wonderful opportunity to point out to their children and their grandchildren the man responsible for stealing their futures.