The Eternal Optimist: Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004)

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I think they broke the mold when they made Ronnie. He was a man of strong principles and integrity. He had absolutely no ego, and he was very comfortable in his own skin; therefore, he didn't feel he ever had to prove anything to anyone. He said what he thought and believed. He could move from being a sportscaster to moving pictures and TV, to being Governor of the largest state in the country for eight years and then to being President for eight years, and somehow remain the same wonderful man. Perhaps this was helped by his strong, unshakable religious beliefs.

Ronnie always believed that God has a plan for each of us and that we might not know what it is now, but eventually we will.

He never took off or landed in a plane without looking out the window and saying a silent prayer. I don't think many people knew this. He was the eternal optimist--the glass was always half full, not half empty.

I think his faith and his comfort with himself accounts for that optimism. Since he felt that everything happens for a reason, he never saw things darkly. After he was shot and we almost lost him, he lay on his hospital bed staring at the ceiling and praying. He told me that he realized he couldn't pray just for himself, that it wouldn't be right, and that he also had to pray for John Hinckley. Hinckley's parents sent him a note and he wrote a nice one back to them.

Later, Cardinal Cooke visited Ronnie in the White House and said, "God was certainly sitting on your shoulder that day." Ronnie replied, "Yes, I know, and I made up my mind that all the days I have left belong to Him."

Ronnie was a very private man but also gregarious, and he loved seeing and meeting people. After being married to him for 52 years, I have so many memories. He was very sentimental and romantic and tender. On my birthday, he always sent my mother flowers to thank her for having me, and he wrote me beautiful, touching letters when we had to be apart.

Some time ago, he went for a walk and passed a house with roses in front. He bent over to pick one, and the Secret Service agent reminded him it wasn't his house. He looked stricken and said, "But I want to give it to my lady." He picked it and brought it home to me.

You cannot talk about Ronnie without mentioning his wonderful sense of humor. I think he could tell stories all day without repeating himself--a joy for people with him, but he also made use of it politically. If things got a little heated and tense, he would break the tension with a story. By the time he ended, the mood would have changed, and they got on with the business with no rancor.

Ronnie always told his children, "If you go into a store and feel that the clerk is being rude, stop and think that she may have had a tough day, and put yourself in her shoes." I remember that he told his son, "A gentleman always does the kind thing." Yes, Ronnie could be stubborn--but always with a smile.