by Logan Blakeslee
Given today’s political climate, Ronald Reagan’s 115th birthday warrants our undivided attention. The Gipper can still teach us something new about our country—and politics.
There is no shortage of differing opinions on President Reagan’s life and legacy. To the Left, he was the devil incarnate (before Trump), and to the Right, he was a jovial St. Michael, wielding a righteous sword over America’s foes. Countless historians have dashed themselves across the rocks in trying to understand the oddly reticent Reagan, wondering just how a mere Hollywood actor upended American politics forever.
In trying to piece together my own perspective on President Reagan as a young teenager, a few sources left considerable impressions on me. The first was a recording of Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech from 1964. It was the first time that I had heard his voice, and his powerful rhetoric captivated me at a critical moment.
At the time—in my youthful ignorance—Socialism sounded appealing to me, on paper, and I was not averse to the likes of Vladimir Lenin or Fidel Castro. Socialism offered easy answers like free housing, health care, employment, etc. The Soviet Union, despite its collapse, looked strong compared to the sheer consumerist culture of America. However, I failed to consider that the price for free living was freedom itself. “A Time for Choosing” shook me awake from a stupor into which I was unaware I had been lulled. It forced me to confront the reality that countless refugees fled socialist regimes in search of freedom, and I was taking my own liberty for granted.
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