RiP

[lagilman]

After a warning this morning that "the end was soon," word came tonight that Ronald Reagan has died.

Reagan was, in many ways, my "first" president, in that I started paying attention to politics around the time he was elected (I had been aware of Carter, Ford, and Nixon, but as events-happening-on-tv, not in any way that impacted me). His presidency was when I came awake, you could say. I didn't agree with the man on many if not all of his policies, but you can't hate a man who feeds foreign dignitaries jelly beans. And nobody but nobody should have to go through (or have their family go through) what the past ten years were like for him (and Nancy). Having gone through it in my own family, I can say with absolute certainty that it's a curse on everyone. And so not so much sadness at his passing after a long and interesting life, as a sense of relief that the agony is over. RiP, Ronnie.

Comments

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Agreed wholeheartedly on the curse for all aspects. The one bright ray of sun in all of this has been watching Nancy not only find the strength to deal with the burden with class and dignity, but to start sharpening her claws on those who would use her husband as an icon for whatever THEY want.

Amen--

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

There are few curses worse than senility, especially the big A. Ronnie was far from my favorite president--his rise has led to where we are with powerful ultra-conservatives, and they frighten me. But I don't think he was a bad man, and I grieved for his living death. He's free, now, and so are his family members--

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

My oldest memory is protesting Regan, so I never had any great fondness for him, but he was the same age as my grandfather, and I used him a milestone for how old my grandfather would have been. So I kinda feel a little lost oddly--I guess when they'd mention him, I'd think of my grandfather, and they won't be talking about him much anymore.