July 4, 1986

SOME loved him, others loathed him, but few did not respect him. Ronald Reagan deeply loved this country and believed in its exceptionalism. He thus secured liberty for friends and opponents alike during his tenure. While he was not without fault, most of his critics loathed him simply because he proved them wrong.

Here he gives an address on July 4, 1986 as part of the relighting ceremony of the Statue of Liberty.

One aspect of his orations was his sincerity. Some impugned him as just an actor playing the role of Commander in Chief. The evidence in the video above speaks for itself. Here was a man that need not read his speech. The notes were aides, but the content came from his heart and his convictions.

He governed largely within a principled framework, a decision support system largely uncontroversial until the latter half of the last century. He did compromise but as a necessary condition to achieve a better result over none at all. Tip O'Neil lead the Democratically controlled Congress necessitating compromise. However, his compromises never made one believe that they were simply for political expedience.

Principled decision making is one of the values Dad wishes to instill in his children. Reagan makes an excellent example. He was unashamed of his principals and so could explain and defend them. One needn't agree with those principals to understand how he arrived at his position, a quality sorely missing from some modern political leaders.

Dad acknowledges Instapundit.com for the pointer.