Lux Lucet

Growing up in the 70’s, the first president I remember was Richard Nixon.  Of course, what I really remember about Nixon was the disgraceful Watergate scandal.  The uproar over it seemed to drag on forever and left me with a decided negative impression of politicians.  Not that that’s all bad.  It’s certainly better than implicitly trusting and worshipping them the way so many seem to.  Even the Scriptures exhort us, “put not your trust in princes,” so it’s not as though being skeptical of the government is unchristian.  But that doesn’t excuse Nixon’s actions.  His lying caused enormous damage to the nation at a time when sound leadership was desperately needed. 

The election of 1976 brought us Jimmy Carter.  What I remember about Carter was his lecturing us about what we can’t do – we can’t turn the heat up, we can’t turn the air conditioning down, we can’t put out Christmas lights,  we can’t free the hostages in Iran, we can’t even make Billy Carter go away – and finding him thoroughly depressing.  And depressing pretty much the mood of the whole country at the time. 

That all changed in 1980.  Reagan was elected, and suddenly it seemed as though the country had its swagger back.  Reagan was known as the great communicator, and with good reason.  He could articulate the case for freedom and limited government with simplicity, charm and power.  And though his actions didn’t live up to his rhetoric, it’s not fair to say that he was all hat and no cattle.  He stood up to the Soviets, he backed Fed Chairman Paul Volker’s successful fight against inflation, he cut income taxes and successfully battled organized labor during the illegal PATCO (the air traffic controllers union) strike of 1981.  Reagan, in short, was the most effective and best president of my lifetime. 

Here’s Reagan’s speech at the 1964 GOP Convention in support of Barry Goldwater.  It’s a classic.  Much of what he says is still relevant today, and for those of you who did not live through the Reagan presidency, this will give you some idea of why his is still a revered figure.