Farewell Mr. President

He always referred to them as, "the "L" word", ("L" of course meaning liberal). They, well they regarded him with disdain yet that disdain contained a great respect for a great man. They said. Oh he's just an actor. He said, "I don't see how you can be president without being an actor. He then became one of our greatest presidents and possibly the greatest of the twentieth century. They said, " we have to accept communism and for our own safety live under it's threat." He said, "Mr Gorbechev tear down this wall, " and the wall came down along with the collapse of the, "evil empire," and those states held under its iron fist. They said, " we, as Americans must get accusomted to a lesser way of life. He said, "America will always be a shining city on a hill," and we were once again proud to wave the flag and shed a tear as we sang of, "the rockets red glare." They said, "The answer to our problems is government expansion and more entitlements." He said, " Government is not the answer to the problem, Government is the problem!" With those words entitlements decreased, regulations relaxed, government intrusion in our lives lessoned and we as a country prospered. They said, "we'll pay for it with more taxes." He said, "give the people their money back and watch what they do." His trust and faith in the American people brought the largest tax cut, (up until that time), in American history and the people did not disappoint him. Millions of jobs were created, income grew at a record pace and the country recovered from the worst economy since the depression. He left office after eight tremendous years and they said, " his influence will fade and he shared with his beloved America the fear and sadness of a failing mind due to a devastating disease. Even then his faith in us and his belief in America shined through the sorrow. As the years passed they said, "all of our problems come from the excess of the 80's ." On June 5, 2004 his long battle ended as he left his beloved America for the last time. On his behalf, the American people responded to them by the millions with an outpouring of love for this man from Dixon, Illinois who taught each of us how to be an American! Now he sits beside Lincoln and Washington as the guardian angel of liberty and freedom, forever reminding us this, "shining city on a hill, " this country and this flag that we so dearly love will always be a beacon of hope to the world. Thank you Mr. President!......Ronald Wilson Reagan 1911-2004

Ken Taylor