David Davis: Reagan's Clarity, 30 Years Later
[Mr. Davis is a member of Parliament.]
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. One wonders how the man who, by sheer force of belief, ended the Cold War without a shot being fired would have responded to 9/11 and to the global financial crisis.
Born in a rented apartment in Tampico, Illinois, few could have predicted that the son of a shoe salesman would become one of the most revered political figures of his generation. His first career was as an actor with Warner Bros., spending many years featuring in B-movies, where, he joked, "the producers didn't want them good, they wanted them Thursday."
When the 69-year-old Reagan became president, he encountered a barrage of intellectual snobbery from the European and East Coast establishments. The then British ambassador to the U.S., Sir Nicholas Henderson, opined that "Reagan believes there are simple answers to complex problems. The main worry is not just age, but whether he possesses the mental vitality and political vision necessary."
But Reagan proved them all wrong. He became the first Cold War president to serve two terms without becoming involved in a major armed conflict, despite it being an extraordinarily unstable and volatile period in world history...
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Today marks the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. One wonders how the man who, by sheer force of belief, ended the Cold War without a shot being fired would have responded to 9/11 and to the global financial crisis.
Born in a rented apartment in Tampico, Illinois, few could have predicted that the son of a shoe salesman would become one of the most revered political figures of his generation. His first career was as an actor with Warner Bros., spending many years featuring in B-movies, where, he joked, "the producers didn't want them good, they wanted them Thursday."
When the 69-year-old Reagan became president, he encountered a barrage of intellectual snobbery from the European and East Coast establishments. The then British ambassador to the U.S., Sir Nicholas Henderson, opined that "Reagan believes there are simple answers to complex problems. The main worry is not just age, but whether he possesses the mental vitality and political vision necessary."
But Reagan proved them all wrong. He became the first Cold War president to serve two terms without becoming involved in a major armed conflict, despite it being an extraordinarily unstable and volatile period in world history...