Reagan’s family await merciful release (THE GREAT MAN ALERT)

The Sunday Times ^ | September 29, 2002 | Sarah Baxter,

[MadIvan]

HE was a key figure in ripping down the iron curtain and ending the cold war, which brought the 20th century to a close with America as the only superpower. Yet Ronald Reagan’s horizons have shrunk to his bedside as Alzheimer’s disease ravages his mind.

Michael Reagan, his elder son, believes that death would be a merciful release for the former American president.

“It’s time for him to go. It’s very sad,” he said in an interview. “I’m going to hate the day Dad dies. You think you are ready for it, but you never are. But I sometimes pray that if God wants to take him home, then take him home.”

Reagan, 91, sleeps on and off for 18 hours a day, according to his son. He was always a sound sleeper, even when his policies were under attack in the 1980s.

His waking hours are a nightmare of befuddlement.

Reagan fell in the bedroom of his Bel Air home in California in January 2001, broke a hip and has been bedridden ever since. He is fed, washed and cared for 24 hours a day by medical staff, but can neither leave his bed, even for the most basic functions, nor make himself understood.

“Some days are better than others but they are all sad days. You see a man who is referred to as the Great Communicator and he can’t communicate because he doesn’t know who he is. He talks gibberish,” said his son.

Reagan does not know that his daughter Maureen died last August of melanoma at the age of 60. On the day of her funeral he stayed at home. “You wouldn’t have wanted to tell him,” said Michael. “Even if he could comprehend, he would have no way of expressing his feelings.”

Michael, 57, was adopted as a baby by Reagan and his first wife, the actress Jane Wyman. According to family legend three-year-old Maureen was in a Hollywood chemist’s when the pharmacist asked what she wanted. She put 97 cents on the counter and said: “I want a baby brother.” Her birth had been difficult, so the family chose to adopt.Today Reagan’s son is a radio chat show host in California who buried some of his family demons with an autobiography more than a decade ago. The children had many run-ins with their emotionally distant father but Michael now visits him once a month. “He doesn’t know me, but I go there for Nancy, to show up. I hug and kiss him,” he said.

“In some ways I go there out of guilt. We’re not like every family — I was at boarding school from the age of five, so I’m seeing him more than I used to. It’s the way our family works, by appointment — it’s always been by appointment.”

Nancy, who was 81 in July, still looks at Reagan adoringly, said Michael. She wants others to remember him the way he was but even she confessed last week that she was lonely. She was not sure that her husband knew her any more and said: “When you come right down to it, you’re in it alone and there’s nothing anybody can do for you.”

The strain is beginning to tell on her. “She’s frail,” said Michael. “She’s much frailer than she would have been because of Dad’s illness. She’s a professional worrier. She’s always carried a burden of some sort. She worries about what people are saying about Dad, about his place in history.

“I worry that when Dad goes Nancy won’t be far behind because she lives and breathes for Dad.” She need have no fear about history’s verdict on Reagan, whose virtues are frequently invoked in this post-September 11 world.

“George W is closer to my father’s ideology than he is to his father’s,” said Michael, who believes that the September 11 attacks would not have happened under Reagan. “He responded to the Muammar Gadaffis. They knew where he stood.” Despite backing Bush, he thinks his father would have disapproved of the “giant conversation” under way over Iraq.

Libya was bombed in 1986 after a terrorist attack on Americans in West Berlin. “Dad didn’t hold a press conference saying what we’ll do with Gadaffi. He just did it,” said Michael.

Reagan’s descent into Alzheimer’s was remarkably rapid after he left the White House in 1989 and soon became impossible to conceal.

Michael said Reagan’s great ally, Margaret Thatcher, was guest of honour at a birthday party for him in 1993.

“Dad gave Maggie a great introduction, as he always did, and she got a standing ovation. Then the applause stopped and Dad reintroduced her. Everybody stood up and applauded again as if nothing had happened.

“After that Nancy and Dad felt it was time to start thinking about getting the word out about Alzheimer’s.”

In 1994 Reagan published a touching letter about his plight in which he said: “I only wish I could spare Nancy from the painful experience.”

He could not. By 1997 he was still active — some golf, walking on the beach — but his mind was faltering. He would spend hours sweeping leaves from the swimming pool and his secret servicemen would quietly put them back, simply to keep him occupied.

Every now and then he would show a flash of insight, his son recalled. “My daughter Ashley hugged him and said, ‘Grandpa, I love you.’ He looked directly at me and said in a full voice, ‘You know why I’m hugging her? Because she’s a she.’ ” He’d remembered how Michael had complained about his lack of hugs as a child.

Now Michael understands that Reagan was a typical post-war father. At the time, however, the children were often unforgiving and even today the family is politically divided.

At the launch of the battleship USS Ronald Reagan last year, Nancy’s children Patti Davis and Ron Reagan stayed away. “They’re the 1960s generation, the liberals. To them the ship was a killing machine,” said Michael. “I felt sorry for Nancy that day. She fought hard to have the ship commissioned before my father died. It had never been done in anybody’s lifetime before, so it was an honour. I was there with my wife and children. George W Bush was there.

“Nancy and I have not always had the greatest of relationships and I began to wonder if the problem was not that she’s so angry with me but that she’s jealous that the Wyman kids — Maureen and I — would show up no matter what was going on in the family.”

Maureen was Nancy’s chief support until she succumbed to her own illness. In the past year Patti has grown closer to her mother and believes the reconciliation makes her father happy. Nancy said last week: “She thinks he has a feeling of the two of us together. As she says, his soul doesn’t have Alzheimer’s.”

Michael is grateful. “When Maureen passed away, Patti stepped up and she’s there with her mother all the time. It’s been good for Nancy and it’s great for Patti. She’s finally getting close to Dad.”

Maureen sacrificed her own health, Michael believes, by campaigning non-stop for an Alzheimer’s cure instead of fighting her cancer.The time is nearing when Reagan will join her. “Maureen has been waiting for him for a year and has probably got a good spot for him beside her. She’d love it. No brothers, no sisters, no moms. Just her and Dad.” For Michael, it is a consoling thought.

[nicmarlo]

The world will grieve at his passing and, perhaps, for a moment, will once be unified in their thoughts: he was a Great Man whom God smiled upon. How lucky was this country, America, to have him, and call him, President.

[Kwilliams]

I sure wish I could have known him or been aware of his presidency.

Sadly, I was born as he left Washington. However, his principles will always be alive from his writings and the memories of those who lived during the Reagan Revolution.

[Polybius]

History will be far kinder to Reagan than Clinton. Not to mention Carter and the Kennedys.

Yesterday, as my wife drove, we got a Kennedy half-dollar in change at a toll booth. As we drove down the road, I gazed at the portrait of Kennedy and wondered what exactly JFK did to deserve to have his portrait alongside Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR and Washington on U.S. coins.

Aside from the Camelot nonsense and assasination sympathy, I could not come up with much.

When Ronald Reagan passes on, he deserves to have his portrait on a U.S. coin and he will have earned the honor.

[LibKill]

This is the man that beat the Soviet Union.

I was particularly proud to serve in the USMC while he was Commander In Cheif.

If I live to be a thousand I will remember him with love and respect.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Kwilliams]

My Fellow Americans,

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzeimer's Disease.

Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.

In the past, Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had my cancer surgeries. We found through our open discourses we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing. They were treated in the early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.

At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life's journey with my beloved wife Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer's Disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.

In closing let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin this journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.

Thank you my friends. May God always bless you.

Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan

[dredhawk]

Ronald Reagan Trail dedicated in Illinois

Miscellaneous Front Page News Keywords: REAGAN, TRAIL, ILLINOIS
Source: Fox News
Published: August 25, 2000 Author: Jay Hughes, Associated Press
Posted on 08/26/2000 06:23:45 PDT by prisoner6

Ronald Reagan Trail dedicated in Illinois
6.27 p.m. ET (2241 GMT)

By Jay Hughes, Associated Press

DIXON, Ill. (AP) — A motorcade wended through the prairies and Illinois River valley paths once walked by a young Ronald Reagan, marking the inaugural trip on a freshly marked trail tracing the footsteps of the former president.

Friday's daylong journey on the new Ronald Reagan Trail began in Dixon, his boyhood home, and ended in Eureka, where Reagan attended college. Along the way, participants took in the sights of the 40th president's formative years.

"It connects together the institutions that played a major role in the development of his character,'' Dixon Mayor Jim Burke told about 200 people who gathered at the city's Wings of Peace and Freedom Park, about 100 miles west of Chicago.

Reagan's daughter, Maureen, said the trail represents the beginning of her father's accomplishments, including his contribution to ending the Cold War. Reagan, 89, suffers from Alzheimer's disease and no longer makes public appearances.

"The trail that starts in Dixon is a very long trail,'' she said.

The trail is an effort to bolster tourism in Illinois, also the former home of President Lincoln. Nicky Stratton, executive director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, said historic sites linked to Lincoln draw about 500,000 visitors each year.

"I think any time you can theme an area for visitors, it creates the feeling of a cohesive experience,'' she said. "When you create a heritage district of some kind, it makes it easier for the traveler, because it gives them a package.''

On Saturday, Dixon officials planned to host the first Ronald Reagan Film Festival, which they hope to turn into an annual event. The former actor's films will be shown, with free tours of several buildings, including Reagan's childhood home.

They also planned to give away sample packages of Jelly Belly jellybeans — one of the former president's favorite snacks.

---

Although I don't usually get into this sort of thing, I wish I could hije the RR trail.
Lord it's a beautiful morning, but I miss having The Gipper running things.

sigh

BTW I did try searching for "trail" to see if this had been posted and came up empty. I alos spent some time scrolling back. Still, since this was last night's story I'm skeptical that it wasn't already posted.

So, a bit of help please. Maybe I'm just dense and can't figure out the search. Do I put the word in quotes? Can I search for phrases? What about multiple word searches?

On the web in general I use go2net because I can search for "any" "all" or "phrase". Can I do a similar search here?

prisoner6

1 Posted on 08/26/2000 06:23:45 PDT by prisoner6

[Jim Robinson]

What can we do to reignite the Reagan Revolution?

[dredhawk]

Things Named in Honor of Ronald Reagan



ARIZONA

The Ronald Reagan Fundamental School

3200 West 16th St.

Yuma, AZ 85364 [1984]



CALIFORNIA

Ronald Reagan Elementary School

10800 Rosslyn Lane

Bakersfield, CA 93311 [1998]

Ronald Reagan California Republican Center

1903 S. Magnolia Bl.

Burbank, CA 91506 [renamed 1996]

Headquarters of the California State Republican Party. Its former name was simply ACalifornia Republican Party Headquaters.@

Ronald Reagan Building

State of California

300 S. Spring St.

Los Angeles, CA 90013 [1990]

The ARonald Reagan State Office Building.@

Reagan Center

Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles center of Childhelp USA.

Ronald Reagan Suite

Century Plaza Hotel

2025 Avenue of the Stars

Los Angeles, CA 90067 [dedicated 1999]

This suite, which occupies the entire 30th floor of the hotel, was often used by Ronald Reagan when he visited Los Angeles during his Presidency. Was formerly called the Plaza Suite.

Ronald W. Reagan Federal Courthouse

411 West 4th St.
Santa Ana, CA 92701 [1999]

Ronald Reagan Leadership Program

812-B Anacapa St.

Santa Barbara, CA 93101 [1998]

Affiliated with the Young America=s Foundation, current owners of Rancho del Cielo (formerly the Reagans’ ranch) near Santa Barbara.

The Ronald Reagan Library and Center for Public Affairs

40 Presidential Drive

Simi Valley, CA 93065 [1991]

Ronald Reagan Freeway [renamed 1994]

State Route 118; runs close to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Formerly named the Simi Valley-San Fernando Valley Freeway.



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA [including metropolitan Washington, DC area]

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20004 [named 1995; dedicated 1998]

Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy

The Heritage Foundation

Washington, DC

Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicene

George Washington University Hospital

Washington, DC 20037 [1991]

Located at the hospital to which Ronald Reagan was taken immediately after the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt on him. Dedicated by Reagan at the tenth anniversary of the assassination attempt.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Arlington, VA [renamed 1998]

Formerly named Washington National Airport. Located just south of Washington, DC.





The Ronald Wilson Reagan Republican Center

National Republican Senatorial Committee

425 Second Street NE

Washington, DC 20002-4914





FLORIDA

Ronald Reagan Avenue

Miami

Formerly named Southwest Avenue.

Ronald Reagan Turnpike [renamed 1998]

Formerly named Florida=s Turnpike. Runs 312 miles, from north-central Florida to south of Miami.



GEORGIA

Ronald Reagan Parkway

Gwinett County

Lawrenceville





ILLINOIS

The Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Center

Alzheimer=s Association

919 N. Michigan Ave.

Chicago, IL 60611 [1995]

Reagan Boyhood Home

816 S. Hennepin Ave.

Dixon, IL 61021 [dedicated 1984]

Ronald Reagan lived in this house during part of his teenage years (1924-1928). It is now locally operated as a museum.

Ronald W. Reagan Middle School

620 Division St.

Dixon, IL 61021 [renamed 1996]

Formerly named Madison School.

Reagan Drive

Eureka, IL [1979]

Runs along the southern edge of Eureka College, Reagan=s alma mater.

Reagan Physical Education Center

Eureka College

300 E. College Ave.

Eureka, IL 61530 [Renamed 1970]

Originally dedicated in 1961 as AThe Reagan Center,@ in honor of both Ronald Reagan and his brother Neil (Moon). Constructed to house all of Eureka College=s athletic facilities. Acquired its present name in 1970.

Ronald Reagan Peace Garden

Eureka College

Eureka, IL 61530 [2000]

Garden includes a piece of the former Berlin Wall.

Ronald W. Reagan Exhibit

Eureka College

Eureka, IL 61530 [1994]

A permanent museum exhibit covering Ronald Reagan=s entire life.

Ronald W. Reagan Leadership Program

Eureka College

Eureka, IL 61530 [established 1982; began with students in Fall 1983]

Birthplace of Ronald Reagan

111 S. Main St.

Tampico, IL 61283 [dedicated c. 1980]

Locally operated. Includes a museum and a gift shop, which are located next door to the building in which Reagan was born.

Reagan Park

Tampico, IL [dedicated 1985]

Formerly Railroad Park.

Ronald Reagan Highway

U.S. Highway 14; runs from Chicago north to the Wisconsin state line.

Ronald W. Reagan Trail [2000]

Runs from Dixon, IL (location of the Reagan Boyhood Home), through Tampico (Reagan’s birthplace), to Eureka (home of Eureka College, which Ronald Reagan attended).



MISSISSIPPI

The Reagan Hope Home

Located on a ranch that is part of the Mississippi Sheriffs= Boys= and Girls= Ranches.





NEW YORK

Ronald Reagan Boulevard

Warwick





OHIO

Ronald Reagan Highway

Runs across the northern suburbs of Cincinnati.



TEXAS

The Reagan Leadership Society

389 MSC Student Finance Center

Texas A&M University

College Station, TX 77843 [1997]

A society dedicated to building student leadership for the Texas A&M campus and the community at large. Its student founder named the society in recognition of Reagan=s "ability to communicate, his ability to inspire confidence, and his kind personality."

Ronald Reagan High School

20730 Huebner Road

San Antonio, Texas 78258 [2000]





VIRGINIA -- see District of Columbia





FOREIGN / OTHER

AGrenada Salutes Ronald Reagan, Leader of Freedom@ Commemorative Stamp Collection

Grenada [1996]

Proceeds from sales go to the Ronald Reagan Scholarship Fund (see next entry).

The Ronald Reagan Scholarship Fund

Grenada [1996]

Fund is used to send students from Grenada to the United States for study.

Ronald Reagan Strategic Defense Initiative Test Site

Marshall Islands [1999]

An area used by the United States as a missile range.

USS Ronald Reagan [nuclear aircraft carrier (CVN)] [scheduled for christening in 2001]







Last updated August 2000

[Willie Green]

What can we do to reignite the Reagan Revolution?

Vote for Pat Buchanan?
Perhaps readopting the Contract with America...
The Contract was the impetus behind the Republican Revolution that recaptured the Senate the last time.
Of course since then, RINOs have successfully buried such issues as term limits and the balanced budget amendment...
Don't know how else to "reinvigorate" the GOP when unifying principles are cast aside as "too controversial" or "unrealistic/unworkable".

[VOA]

HE was a key figure in ripping down the iron curtain and ending the cold war, which brought
the 20th century to a close with America as the only superpower. Yet Ronald Reagan’s
horizons have shrunk to his bedside as Alzheimer’s disease ravages his mind.

Shrunk my rather-ample @ss!
At this moment Ronald Reagan knows more than one Bill Clinton will ever know about
truth, freedom and integrity.
And this is not to deify Ronald Reagan, but just to say what an exemplar he was among mankind.

(And I wasn't ragging on the writer...just letting it fly...)

[VOA]

Michael Reagan, his elder son, believes that death would be a merciful release
for the former American president.

Whenever I hear the topic of adoption, I think of Michael Reagan.
I can't think of any better example of why adoption can be an wonderful alternative for
couples unable to bring forth their own off-spring.

Of all the Reagan children, Michael appears to be the one who "got it" when considering
who and what his father meant to the country and the world.

[VOA]

Yet Ronald Reagan’s horizons have shrunk to his bedside as Alzheimer’s disease ravages his mind.

One last comment before I go...
how many aging men, suffering from Alzheimers...have a United States Aircraft Carrier
being built with with name slapped on the end of the ship!!!

Not too many in the history of this country or of the world, I'd bet!

[Jacob Kell]

"At the launch of the battleship USS Ronald Reagan last year, Nancy’s children Patti Davis and Ron Reagan stayed away."

Ingrate brats. They should have shown, at least out of respect for their father. God bless you Ronnie. We'll never forget you.

[dredhawk]

I'll never forget. I drive part of the
Reagan Trail (Illinois RT29) once a week.

[Jacob Kell]

Some might say that Kennedy prevented WOrld War III back in 1962 with the Cuban Missle Crises, but that's the only thing. A big thing, but the only thing.

[Aric2000]

It saddens me to see the Great One suffeing like he is.

The day he dies is the day I break down and cry. I don't cry for anyone outside my family. This man will be missed by me, my family and so many millions of others.

He is the reason I joined the military, he made it so that it was OK and right to be patriotic. When everyone else was saying how terrible the US was and we were feeling so self destructive. He came to our rescue.

He picked us up, told us again, that we were a great nation, the shining city on the hill. The GREATEST nation that has ever existed. He was right, and is right.

We are the GREATEST nation in the world, We are that shining city on the hill, the great beacon of freedom.

He will be missed!! It is up to us to pick up that torch and carry it forward, into the new generation that has been brainwashed by the liberal establishment. WE need to tell the masses, that YES we are STILL the greatest nation, we are still that shining city on the hill, we are the beacon of freedom and truth and will forever be that.

THe liberal lies about Reagan must be quashed.

The Gipper was and is the greatest president of my lifetime, and I will miss him greatly.

I am proud to say that he was my commander in Chief, and if he had sent me into harms way, I would have said where and how far do I need to go. For you sir, I will die!! Because my life will not be used in vain. It will have had a purpose, a reason. I trusted him with my life, and wish that I could feel that way again. Bush is close, but he is NOT Reagan.

GOD Bless you President Reagan, you will be missed!!

[dredhawk]

http://www.blackhawkwaterwayscvb.org/ronaldreagantrail.htm
http://www.americanpresident.org/KoTrain/Courses/RR/RR_Campaigns_and_Elections.htm
http://www3.ftss.ilstu.edu/REAGAN/photo.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ab543861364.htm

[Aric2000]

You've given us a good start with this website Jim, now it is time to spread the word out further.

How to do that? I don't know, But I am sure that there are many on here with ideas that are workable.

Let's start a thread, how to reignite the Reagan revolution.

A thinktank if you will, you have some of the greatest minds in the country on this website. Let's use them!!

I'll help in whatever small way that I can.

[nicmarlo]

Might I humbly change your words to:

Even at this moment, Ronald Reagan knows more than one Bill Clinton has known or will ever know about truth, freedom, and integrity.

God bless President Reagan. May his past presidency continue to bless our future.