The passing of Ronald Reagan reminds me of two enduring truths, which those who sneered at him never grasped. The first truth is that you can’t have peace with dignity unless you’re prepared for war. The second truth is that free markets — not government programs — offer the surest path out of poverty.
Category: History
In Memoriam
Ronald W. Reagan: February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004. He brought us peace through strength and prosperity through greater self-reliance. The greatest president of the 20th century now belongs to the ages.
D-Day and Other Great Days
Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of D-day (not the 60-year anniversary of D-Day, as current usage would have it). D-Day was the beginning of the end of World War II. Victory in Europe came on May 8, 1945, less than a year after D-Day. The Japanese announced their surrender on August 14, 1945, although they didn’t sign the surrender document until September 2, 1945.
We used to commemorate each anniversary of victory in Europe as V-E Day. Similarly, the anniversary of Japan’s surrender was known as V-J Day. Those memorable dates seem to have slipped off the calendar as World War II has faded into the past.
Let us hope that V-E Day and V-J Day are commemorated properly next year when we observe the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The men and women of the armed forces paid for victory in Europe and the Pacific with lives, limbs, and lost years. Those warriors who survive to mark the 60th anniversaries of V-E Day and V-J Day should be encouraged to celebrate their victories. The rest of us should celebrate the victorious warriors, living and dead.
By Their Supreme Court Appointments Ye Shall Know Them
Nixon: Rehnquist (later appointed Chief Justice by Reagan) — Belongs in the second tier, all by himself. His instincts are statist rather than libertarian, but he tries to adhere to the original meaning of the Constitution.
Ford: Stevens — What do you expect from Ford? A Republican in name only who interprets the Constitution the way a blind umpire interprets the strike zone.
Carter: He made no appointments, luckily for the nation.
Reagan: O’Connor, Scalia, Kennedy — O’Connor and Kennedy make up the third tier; they vacillate between libertarianism and statism. Scalia’s originalism usually overcomes his instinctive statism; he’s in the top tier with Thomas.
Bush I: Souter, Thomas — Typically conflicted Bush I appointments; from another John Paul Stevens to the best appointment since the 1920s.
Clinton: Ginsburg, Breyer — Clinton failed to nationalize health care, but stuck us with these two crypto-socialists.
Today’s Notable Birthday
Sir Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973) was born on this date.
Watson-Watt invented radar in 1935, specifically for the purpose of detecting aircraft. His “pioneering work…resulted in the design and installation of a chain of radar stations along the East and South coast of England in time for the outbreak of war in 1939. This system…provided the vital advance information that helped the Royal Air Force to win the Battle of Britain.” (From Radar Personalities: Sir Robert Watson-Watt.)
Had the Battle of Britain gone the other way, Hitler probably would have invaded England. A successful invasion would have sundered the U.S.-British alliance and ensured Hitler’s victory in Europe.
Rating Books, Movies, and Presidents
I have found that I rate books, movies, and music as follows:
• I have (or would gladly) read, see, or hear it more than once. (***)
• Once was enough, but I enjoyed it most of the time. (**)
• I made it to the end. (*)
• I tried but gave up on it. (0)
One person’s *** book or movie won’t be another person’s *** book or movie. By the same token, I’ve given up on many a book and movie that critics and friends have raved about. Among my *** books are Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, John Fowles’s The Magus, and Stephen King’s The Stand. Some of my *** movies are “The Philadelphia Story,” “Gunga Din,” and “My Man Godfrey.” Books and movies that I’ve given the goose egg include James Joyce’s Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake, anything I’ve tried by Martha Grimes and Elizabeth George, and such film “classics” as “Z” and “Last Year at Marienbad.”
Although I’ve read a lot of books and seen a lot of movies that rate ** and *, my preferences in music tend to be binary. Almost anything written between 1700 and 1900 gets *** (the tedious compositions of Wagner, Mahler, and Bruckner being the most notable exceptions). I give a big fat 0 to almost anything written after 1900 by a so-called serious composer: the likes of Berg, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Poulenc, Britten, Hovannes, Glass, and their more recent offshoots. For music written after 1900, I turn to Gershwin, Lehar, Friml, Kern, bluegrass, jazz (written before 1940), and rock of the 1960s to early 1980s.
Now that I’ve lived through, and remember, 11 complete presidencies — from Truman’s through Clinton’s — here’s how I’d rate them on my book/movie/music scale:
Truman **
Eisenhower ***
Kennedy *
Johnson 0
Nixon 0
Ford *
Carter 0
Reagan ***
Bush I *
Clinton 0
You can try this at home.
Presidential Election Patterns: Implications for 2004
Presidential elections seem to follow patterns. Let’s begin with one-term presidencies:
J Adams 1797-1801 (following Washington’s two terms)
JQ Adams 1825-29 (following Monroe’s two)
Van Buren 1837-41 (following Jackson’s two)
WH Harrison-Tyler 1841-45 (following Van Buren’s one)
Polk 1845-49 (following Harrison-Tyler’s one)
Taylor-Fillmore 1849-53 (following Polk’s one)
Pierce 1853-57 (following Taylor-Fillmore’s one)
Buchanan 1857-61 (following Pierce’s one)
Hayes 1877-81 (following Grant’s two)
B Harrison 1889-1893 (sandwiched between Cleveland’s two)
Taft 1909-13 (following TR’s almost-two)
Hoover 1929-33 (following Coolidge’s almost-two)
Carter 1977-81 (following Nixon-Ford’s two)
Bush I 1989-93 (following Reagan’s two)
Except for the string of one-term presidencies from 1837 to 1861 — when the country was truly deeply divided and about to go to war with itself — the other one-termers (but for B Harrison) followed two-termers. A two-term president, having been popular enough to win the second term, is a tough act to follow. (The exception here is Ford, who was only a fill-in for the reviled, second-term Nixon.)
There have been successive two-term presidencies, but they have come in two well-defined clusters. From 1801 to 1825, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe each held office for two terms. Then there was a gap of almost 100 years before another — almost unbroken — string of two-term presidencies, which ran from 1913 to 1977: Wilson (1913-21) followed by Harding-Coolidge (1921-29), then Roosevelt-Truman (1933-53) followed by Eisenhower (1953-61), followed by Kennedy-Johnson (1961-69), followed by Nixon-Ford (1969-77).
If, since 1977, we have reverted to something like a “normal” succession cycle — a two-term presidency, followed by a one-term presidency, followed by a two-term presidency, etc. — GW Bush supporters will not be happy come November 3.
Alternatively, because the country is again deeply divided — if not on the verge of civil war — we may be facing a new succession of one-term presidencies. That, too, would be bad news for Bush-ites.
Ranking the Presidents
They’re at it again, this time at Opinion Journal. Here are the rankings, with my commentary:
GREAT
1 George Washington. First in war, first in peace, always first in the rankings.
2 Abraham Lincoln. Still the tallest of the lot. Someday a president may stand taller physically (pray it’s not Kerry), but none will ever stand taller morally.
3 Franklin D. Roosevelt. He had the good “luck” to inherit a depression and stumble into a popular war. If he had been president in a different era he would have been considered a philandering failure.
NEAR GREAT
4 Thomas Jefferson. His greatness cannot be negated by historical revisionism.
5 Theodore Roosevelt. A hyperactive nut-case with good press.
6 Andrew Jackson. Another nut-case, with bad hair.
7 Harry S Truman. The right man in the right place at the right time.
8 Ronald W. Reagan. He ended the cold war, licked inflation, set the stage for the boom of the 1990s, and made anti-government rhetoric respectable. But that’s not enough for some people.
9 Dwight D. Eisenhower. The most cunning of the lot. His decade looks better all the time.
10 James K. Polk. Who? What?
11 Woodrow Wilson. The first of the pointy-headed ineffectuals to hold the job. Maybe he’d have done better if he’d kept his first name (Thomas).
ABOVE AVERAGE
12 Grover Cleveland. Great name and one of the last small-government Democrats. Would we remember him at all if he went by his first name (Stephen)?
13 John Adams. Belongs with Truman in the greatest crotchety president category.
14 William McKinley. Too bad he was shot while TR was his vice president.
15 James Madison. Sold “short”?
16 James Monroe. Excellent doctrine. Too bad JFK didn’t adhere to it.
17 Lyndon B. Johnson. Terrible foreign policy, terrible domestic policy, other than that, who’s complaining?
18 John F. Kennedy. Spent most of his time in bed (sick or with mistresses), so how can he be ranked?
AVERAGE
19 William Howard Taft. Best of the super heavyweights.
20 John Quincy Adams. Better in Congress than in the presidency.
21 George H. W. Bush. Stopped short of deposing Saddam, raised taxes, lost to Clinton. A three-time loser. But he leads the pack in names.
22 Rutherford B. Hayes. Replaced Grant’s bourbon with lemonade. Boo.
23 Martin Van Buren. The original Who? What?
24 William J(efferson) Clinton. Belongs with Nixon. Doesn’t deserve his middle name.
25 Calvin Coolidge. Most under-rated by far. He knew exactly how to be president: Keep your hands off the economy and out of taxpayers’ pockets. Another one who dropped his first name (John).
26 Chester A. Arthur. Another Who? What?
BELOW AVERAGE
27 Benjamin Harrison. Ditto to Arthur.
28 Gerald R. Ford. And double ditto. Could have been worse, though, he was born Leslie King Jr.
29 Herbert C. Hoover. FDR without the oratory.
30 James Earl (just call me Jimmy) Carter. Ford would have been better, which isn’t saying much.
31 Zachary Taylor. Yet another Who? What? The 19th century was replete with them.
32 Ulysses S. Grant. Bourbon drinkers can’t be all bad.
33 Richard M. Nixon. He and Clinton belong in a separate sleaze category.
34 John Tyler. Fathered the most children, and not even Catholic.
35 Millard Fillmore. I don’t “Know-Nothing” about him.
FAILURE
36 Andrew Johnson. Had the bad luck to succeed Lincoln and be a drunk, to boot.
37 Franklin Pierce. Another drinking president — seems like a trend.
38 Warren Gamaliel Harding. Who really killed WGH? Maybe he should have gone by his middle name, like Cleveland, Wilson, and Coolidge.
39 James Buchanan. Lincoln’s stepping-stone to immortality. Ranked last because he failed to prevent an unpreventable war. LBJ, Nixon, Carter, and Clinton were worse.
Politics and Prosperity 