To me, the three greatest US Presidents of the twentieth century, and the three who truly defined America in that century, were Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.
(I'm going to age myself here...always dangerous) I was in my second year of college when Ronald Reagan was first elected in 1980. I'll tell you honestly, many people were worried. They were worried about how a former actor, and a man who some perceived to be a 'right wing' "nut" was going to manage the United States of America; which by the way, was at perhaps its lowest ebb in decades in terms of pride, prestige, power, and purpose.
But Ronald Reagan rose to the occasion like no one anticipated. Not only did he restore America's Pride, Prestige, Power, and Purpose, but, as Margaret Thatcher, that Iron Lady herself said, he "won the Cold War without ever firing a shot".
We can all pause to thank Ronald Reagan for preventing the "Nuclear Winter" from ever visiting itself upon our Earth.
I was a member of the US Military during the 1980's, and I cannot tell you enough how much Ronald Reagan restored our Pride and sense of Purpose during that time. That legacy lives on today. You could clearly see it if you glanced for a moment into the eyes of those Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who stood stoicly around his casket today. And you can see it in the eyes of every US serviceman and Servicewoman around the world.
God Bless Ronald Reagan
"Mr. Gorbachav, Tear Down This Wall!!"
THEY DID!!