...President Reagan.
The History Channel's blurb on their web site lists him as "Lifeguard, soldier, actor, governor and 40th President of the United States", leaving out radio sports announcer. And while it sounds trite to call him a lifeguard, I heard one a story about a party at the Reagan Ranch in the 60s or 70s out by the pool, and there were a bunch of kids playing. One fell in, and the people Reagan was talking to were astonished when he jumped in and saved the child in mid-sentence; they hadn't even noticed the kids playing, but he had his eye on them the whole time.
Most people know that he commanded the Army Air Corps' Hollywood film unit during WWII, but few know that his original Army Reserve service, including his commission, was in the Horse Cavalry. Due to his eyesight, he was not cleared for overseas service, and spent most of the war assigned to either motion picture units or war bond drives. I'm sure he hated that, but equally sure he was proud to do his part.
I think that what pisses off so many people about Ronald Reagan is what pisses so many people off about America: His good natured confidence, his willingness to do what is right in the face of opposition, and simply being right.
The bad guys and the Euro-Weenies can swhine about "cowboys" all they want, but when the chips are down, you'd much rather have an American Cowboy on your side than some brooding, conflicted European metro-sexual.
No comments:
Post a Comment