Ronald Reagan has been dead for more than twenty years, so why did the end of the new movie about his life still choke me up?
Reagan defied expectations at the box office this past Labor Day weekend, grossing just over $10 million. Starring Dennis Quaid as the nation’s 40th president, the film stuck close to reality – something that seems to have irritated critics of conservatism, many of whom have made a living trying to re-imagine the arc of Ronald Wilson Reagan’s extraordinary life.
Detractors have long said President Reagan oversimplified complicated things – drawing distinctions between good and evil, light and darkness, freedom and bondage – to name just a few of the recurring themes he focused on. They called him reckless and a cowboy for declaring his strategy for the Cold War in just four words: “We win. They lose.” They accused him of ignoring the poor, all the while ignoring just how well his policies raised the living standards of American families.
Mark Joseph’s Reagan which is based on Grove City College professor Dr. Paul Kengor’s book, The Crusader is an inspiring film that reminds us of the many highlights of President Reagan’s life, but especially his ability to reach, grow and fight for the ideals upon which the nation was founded.
The casual observer sees Ronald Reagan as an unlikely president – a boy who grew up to become a movie star who eventually became the leader of the free world. They see it as almost accidental, a fluke. In that narrative, he led a charmed life and was maybe in the right place at the right time. But that wouldn’t be true.
In fact, President Reagan’s childhood was uneven. The son of an alcoholic, he navigated the embarrassment of one night having to pull his drunk, passed-out father off the front porch of their home. His mother was the spiritual leader of the family. He may not have been poor, but he certainly wasn’t rich.
When Reagan eventually made it to Hollywood after a career in Iowa radio, his movie career was spotty. He settled in as more of a “B-List” actor. He shilled cigarettes and appliances. His first marriage failed. He was ridiculed for his evolving political beliefs, especially his criticism of communism. He made enemies as president of the Screen Actors Guild. He was elected governor of California for two terms but failed in his bid for the presidency in 1968 and again in 1976. By then, his critics wrote him off as too old to lead anything, let alone the United States.
One of the more powerful scenes in the movie depicts a night singer Pat Boone and his wife, Shirley, along with pastor George Otis, spent with the Reagans at the governor’s mansion in Sacramento. They all had just come from a prayer meeting. Here’s how Pat described it:
We just had tea and some cookies and talked about what we just experienced. And Reagan was very interested in it, being a Christian himself. And as we started to leave, George Otis said, ‘Governor, can we have just a word of prayer with you before we leave?’
And so we just joined hands in a circle, and each of us led part of a prayer. And as [Pastor Otis] began to end the prayer, he said, ‘Lord, we thank You so much for this country, we thank You for our freedoms, our liberties, for the state of California, we thank You so much for this man.’ And he stopped, and there was a pause. And we waited for him to finish prayer.
And then, in a different voice, we heard him say, “My son, I am well pleased with you. If you continue to walk uprightly before me, you will dwell at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” And another pause, and then George finished in his own voice the prayer, and we looked up at Reagan. He was glassy-eyed because he’d been feeling the current coming from George Otis’ hand. All he could say was, “Well, that that was something.”
Of course we know how it all ended with Ronald Reagan being elected to two terms, but there’s another powerful and instructive scene that’s worth noting, especially as we navigate these coming challenges as a nation.
A highlight of the movie centers around President Reagan’s challenge to the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. One of the speechwriters featured in the movie is Dana Rohrabacher, a bearded California surfer who once camped out in Governor Reagan’s yard in order to talk with him. He eventually made it to Washington and the White House. He was later elected to the House of Representatives.
The famous speech was actually written by Peter Robinson. The 30-year-old writer drafted the challenge after meeting with Germans who hadn’t been able to see loved ones and friends on the other side of the dreaded wall for more than two decades. Only State Department and National Security Council advisers kept striking the language from the speech. They thought it was unnecessarily provocative and even unpresidential. It was cut out seven times – and Robinson added it back in seven times.
The president enthusiastically delivered the speech, inclusive of the controversial line. “Ronald Reagan could imagine a different kind of world,” reflected Robinson. “He could imagine a post-Soviet world. He could see a world without the Berlin Wall. If you put him in a position to give a speech in front of the Berlin Wall, he would feel a certain sense of duty to tell the truth as he saw it.”
The movie captures the energy and idealism of youthful conservatism – a quality that the aging 40th president still possessed. We’re reminded that wisdom may often come with age – but not always. Guts and vision can also accompany the idealism of the young.
Ronald Reagan never lost the wonder – and because of that, the work of his life never grew old.
As for the teary end, there is something poignant about sunsets and seasoned citizens riding off into it. I was one of the last of the general public to ever meet with President Reagan. It remains one of the highlights of my life. He was four years into his Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and he was having good days and bad days. The day I met with him was a good one. We stood and chatted on the 34th floor in his Century City office.
I told him about watching his 1981 inauguration in my third-grade classroom, on one of those school television sets high up on a cart. I’m sure he’s heard versions of this same story tens of thousands of times. But he still laughed and listened. “You’re really making me feel old,” he replied.
Reagan brings us all back to a special man and a special season in American life. There will never be another Ronald Reagan – but we’ll never grow tired if we continue working towards the ideals that drove him.
Image from Getty.
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