I have some wonderful letters of his, to my dad and our family, when he was Governor of California. The man was wellspoken on many topics and had a keen intellect. The Reagan "personality" is not some Noonan scripted delivery - but he had a distinct personality that came through very clearly. He was simultaneously very focused on the matters at hand and always had a clear vision of the way he wanted things to be. Once he researched and made up his mind about something - he stuck to his guns.

He was one of the genuinely good guys of the political scene - who wasn't full of you-know-what. He also knew that evil, in whatever form, must be exposed and a light cast upon it.

"The smiling idiot" portrayal is just character assassination that started with the "just an actor" and evolved into the "teflon president" - the left hated that the man was genuinely a good guy and that portraying him as some heartless monster never, ever worked.

Alzheimer's has taken him away from us and IMHO the operations to relieve the water on the brain were botched.

Who but Reagan, after he had been shot and as he lay dying (and yes he was moments from death) could joke with the emergency room personnel and say, "I hope you are all registered Republicans!"

May Nancy have the strength to stay beside him each day, unrecognized now, and may others learn something about love by watching her cope with each more difficult day.

SDAI-Tech1