My post this morning brought in emails that proved both sweet and sad, and I thought I’d offer a couple of the loveliest. From one reader:
Regarding your post about Ronald Reagan in The Corner: Last night my wife and I watched an episode of What’s My Line from 1952-53 era where Ronald Reagan was the Mystery Guest. He came across as very friendly, funny and down to earth. Reagan was trying to disguise his voice, and used a number of different dialects. We commented that if the Reagan haters had that footage they would have taken it out of context and used it as an example of some bumbling fool rather than an example of someone having fun.
My wife had recorded the episode with a digital video recorder and made sure our son had a chance to see the man who later became a hero to so many of today’s conservatives. Our son is in his second year at Santa Clara University and is the lone conservative voice as one of the school newspaper’s opinion page columnists. It is good that he can see that conservative icons aren’t always the stuffed shirts the MSM makes them out to be.
From another reader:
When he was still out and about, his offices were in the Fox Plaza, home to many of Twentieth Century Fox offices. It may surprise you to know that even us crazy lefties working in Hollywood were always thrilled to catch a glimpse of him striding through the lobby. He was an important man for all Americans.
Hearing that the office is officially closing is sad, I was wondering to myself the other day if that office was even still open. I did not vote for Bush and wasn’t old enough to vote during the 80’s but I’ll never forget the day that President Reagan pointed his finger at me and gave a smile. I was always amazed that a man who stared down communism would bother to take a moment to smile at a regular citizen.
Funny, friendly, down to earth—and always ready to wink or smile at a regular citizen. That was Ronald Reagan.