25,000 innocent hemophiliacs who died of Aids because of Reagan's refusal to have he blood supply tested will have no statues erected. And Reagan didn't defeat the Soviets, he just happened to be in office when they finally collapsed from their own weight.

Peggy, I thought you said that our present president was Reaganesque. maybe you can que up his new and improved TELEPROMPTERS????????????? He is so wellspoken. As Dear Hillary said in the primary, " He has given some wonderfully inspiring speeches. " He hasn't actually done anything or led anything, "PRESENT 143 TIMES in the Illinois state senate." Did you think he would transform himself into a great leader? Leads from BEHIND IN THE ARAB SPRING comes to mind.

Chauncey Gardner is his name.

It was nice of you to recognize this from behind so soon.

I know that this woman lived thru the 1980s, but you'd never know it from reading this piece. She makes it sound like Europeans loved Reagan. Those of us who remember the protests and general stupidity of the times know that's not the case. In his time, Reagan probably could not have been elected dog catcher anywhere in Western Europe. Yet, today it's almost universally accepted that he did the right thing. So, today when Europeans scold us for every problem the world has ever known, we should simply ignore it.

Now that the cold war is long dead and buried, we should let those European losers fend for themselves. How long will they survive with their socialist economies and feeble armies?

I was born in 84 and vaguely remember Reagan in office. What I do remember is that his kindness and quiet strength impressed on me even at that age. Even though I didn't understand what was going on, I understood this man and where he came from.

I really do hope we have another president like Reagan. Not necessarily the exact same policies. But someone who is smart, straightforward, and makes the nation proud again to be an American. I do miss those times even though I was barely old enough to remember them.

I recently went to the Reagan Museum and Library in CA. I was so angry by the end of the tour. Where is our modern day Reagan? His insight into what was wrong with America then fits so perfectly with what is wrong with America now. The parallels are uncanny. He was by no means perfect and did some things that he would later regret, but he knew when he did wrong. This is unlike the current occupier of the WH. The US could stand to have someone who knew the problem was the gov't intrusion into business, God bless the USA.

"25,000 innocent hemophiliacs who died of Aids because of Reagan's refusal to have he blood supply tested will have no statues erected. And Reagan didn't defeat the Soviets, he just happened to be in office when they finally collapsed from their own weight." You need to get your history from some place other than the Democratic Underground! Reagan forced the Soviets in to an arms race in which they could not compete economically. They spent themselves into economic catastrophe trying to keep up with America on offensive and defensive weapons systems. Much the same is happening with your god, BHO, trying to compete with the European Socialist System. He will collapse our system as a result of his reckless spending to make us like the Socialists there!

@GregBillings,

There have always been many, many ills of the world that past presidents have had little to do with and little actual effect on. That is why there are so many "Secretaries" (you know, State, HHS, Education, etc.). It is in their purview that things like blood supply testing rest. I'm sure that things like the genocide of thousand in numerous countries, and the poverty and disease in others, can't be laid at any one president's feet, either.

Also, the Soviets collapsed under their own weight only after Mr. Reagan stood up, called them out (Evil Empire?) and backed up his stand by strengthening our military and our position in the world. They could not, particularly under their system, keep up with the U.S. economically or militarily. If we would have had a foreign policy and economy then, like we do now, we might very well have come to a HOT war instead of a cold war, and the Soviets would still be seeking to bury us.

Wow, Peggy!!! You hit another one out of the ballpark. This Canadian thanks you.

@gregbillings

there are those that would argue that the world is flat if it would keep them from crossing party lines.Reagan was ten times better that anyone who came after him from either side.Reagan was even better than FDR. Hell,Harry Trumasn was better than FDR. You can badmouth Reagan all you want but he loved this country & believed in it & he got it going again after the debacle of jim-blow-carter passed,which is much,much more than I can say for the jermiah wright believer we are lumbered with that is trying to tear this counrty apart.He only got elected bacause he was black & you may call that racist & so be it,but it is still the truth. He would have been laughed out of town if he was any other color.

We need a Ronald Reagan, so says this Lady Noonan!However, she did not suggest who might be, sort of one like him, amongst the present republicans aspirants for Commander in Chief! Is it because she is fully convinced that there is no such a great one amongst them, that would match Ronald Reagan? Yes, if Ronald Reagan had been immortal and continued to lead this country, America would not now be the most far-reaching and brutal Empire circling the globe with its military might, while the homeland is fast falling apart! Yes, typical of all previous Empires with the British Empire demolished by some brave American Patriots, giving birth to this Nation. And yes, while the Founding Fathers are and have been weeping bitterly in their graves for many many decades, if not beginning soon after the last one left the scene, in a figure of speech! If America wishes to regain its own destiny it must immediately make a 180 degree turn around from the present road to hell, called Empire, and who in reality said that? "Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty". By George Washington. "No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious or an economy of time more valuable". By George Washington. "The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale". By Thomas Jefferson. "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none". By Thomas Jefferson. I challenge anybody to prove to me that the Founding Fathers are and have not been weeping bitterly in their graves for a very long time? Sadly, there are so many born Americans I find, as a legal immigrant now going on 55 years, that know little or nothing in reality, as to who the Founding Fathers were and for what they stood for. "We are teaching the world the great truth that governments do better without kings and nobles than with them. The merit will be doubled by the other lesson that religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of government". By James Madison, letter to Edward Livingston, 1822. "Every child in American should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with the ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country". Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in American, 1788. Sadly sometime long ago the Federal Government took over the education of our youngster, when in reality public education is the best factory so to speak, of producing in reality nothing but good sheep minded Americans! Yes, Public Education is the greatest tribute to Socialism/Communism. And yes, each party claims to do a better job than the other, while the rat hole keeps getting more and more dollars to keep dumbing down Americans. America, the time is way past and unless you make good again with your Founding Fathers you are doomed no matter who becomes the next Commander in Chief. However, Ron Paul, as far as I am concerned is the only aspirant that might turn America around, and off of the road to hell! I rest my case. But in closing this: "I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within". By General Douglas MacArthur.

@ H.D. Schmidt

"I challenge anybody to prove to me that the Founding Fathers are and have not been weeping bitterly in their graves for a very long time?"

Ok, you're on. Corpses don't weep.

As you might say, I rest my case!

Thank you for pointing out the obvious, you twit. It's clueless CINO's (Conservatives In Name Only) like you that gave us Obummer in the first place.

I generally respect the opinion of Peggy Noonan, but this paean to Ronald Reagan is an exception. Whatever may have been his contribution to ending the Cold War (and thatis generally exaggerated) was offset by his wrongheaded and unjust economic policies, his attacks on the integrity and even the legitimacy of government, and his lack of vision about how the world was and is changing.

While I admire Ms. Noonan's loyalty to Dutch Reagan, and having read several books about him in forming my broader view of Reagan, the man; it is clear that his presidency was a proxy for something far worse than the public image crafted by the GOP and polished by those like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of the right wing radio crowd. To begin, Dutch capped off his rise to the nomination in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the site where 3 young Civil Rights workers were murdered by the Klans of Mississippi and buried in an earthen dam. We hardly need another presidential aspirant playing to the 'states rights' crowd and the racist elements in this nation, which is slowly grinding to a place where minorities will be the majority of the population.

Second, Dutch had nearly 187 members of his administration and cabinet indicted or convicted of criminal activity, thus far President Obama has none. And, Iran-Contra leads the way in the totality of those numbers in which his administration skirted the law to enact their own foreign policy, outside of the authority of Congress. It can even be argued, if not for the so-called failing memory of Dutch; he might have been impeached for these activities, which based on the words here of P. Noonan herself; he was fully in charge and in control of his programs and policies.

He certainly, can not have it both ways, when the actions of those said policies are revealed to be corrupt and illegal.

Finally, there are the numerous wealth gaps ushered in by the Reagan administration which while putting up great numbers for the markets, in terms of employment and growth; used the debt ceiling 18 times and raised taxes at least 11 times to push forth an economic program, affectionately called "voodoo economics" that left this nation with its largest share of poor Americans in a generation.

It is here, important to separate the image of one Dutch Reagan with the results of GOP ideology and politics; used to push radical policies that left a large segment of the population buried in personal misery, debt and delusion. There is no doubt that Dutch was used by the GOP as a 'fatherly' figure to showcase an agenda of greed, financial bailouts and shipping of American jobs overseas; he was the comforting face to the same 'yet to be born Tea Party' folks, who could see only what was good for their religious beliefs, mores and values, leaving behind a part of America, left only to pick up the pieces.