Goodbye to the Gipper

I got a phone call this afternoon with the news that Ronald Reagan had passed away--the fourth President to die in my lifetime. From ages 10 to 18, he was the man I called President. We never really talked about him in my college history classes -- his administration didn't quite qualify as history yet -- just old current events. But what a history! If you're one of those Gen-Xers nostalgic for the '80s, you can't help but talk about Reagan. I remember "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Reaganomics. Doonesbury's Reagan-as-Max-Headroom strips. Calling Khadafi flaky. TV stations dusting off Bedtime for Bonzo and Knute Rockne. Nancy's "Just Say No" and the gossip about her astrology. Most of all, I remember his enduring popularity, even in the face of the outrageous Iran-Contra scandal. Criticize him? We might have. But in spite of it all we loved him, too. Mr. President, I salute you sir.