The Art of Politics

Wayward Son

Ron Reagan off the reservation...

With the passing of former President Reagan, his son Ron has been in the public eye along with the rest of the President's family. But Ron's been mugging for the camera. His remarks at the President's interment ceremony were a none-too-subtle jab at the current occupant of the White House:

"But he (President Reagan) never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians -- wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage."

One might ask - did he ever make the fatal mistake of using the funeral of his father to take a televised swipe at a sitting President? The answer is no - President Reagan possessed an acumen for propriety that apparently is neither genetic nor environmental. He also was unlikely to possess the hubris required to judge the personal religious beliefs of others, or to judge just who has a sincere faith, and who doesn't. There's no particular amount of profundity required to note the connection between faith - or the lack thereof - and political affiliation, as recently polled data shows some two-thirds correlation between faith and candidate preference. Could it not equally be argued that it's not Bush's faith that draws Ron's disdain, but Ron's own personal religious disconnect?

It gets uglier, and to borrow from Larry King, more vituperative. From his Salon interview last year, Ron Reagan remarked:

"My father was a man -- that's the difference between him and Bush."

We're always on the lookout for paragons of manly comportment, but we cannot help but chuckle when Ron Reagan, surely no countenance of manly vigor or appearance, decides to question the manhood of someone else. Such remarks are to be considered de rigueur for Salon, but not for the son of a former President by a son of a former President. Yes Ron, you share that in common with the current President...

It's strange to hear Ron acting as vanguard of his father's memory and stature, considering the profound lengths he went to in order to distance himself from everything his father stood for politically. It is Ron's brother Michael, a conservative radio host who was adopted by Reagan and his first wife Jane Wyman, who is more politically attuned to the former President's political principles and mores.

Ron Reagan is entitled to own the memory of his father as his father, but not own it as President - that is shared by every American, for good or ill. Those curious about Reagan as a father can go to Ron for direct revelation. Those curious about Reagan as political leader need to look elsewhere.

Posted by MEC2 at July 2, 2004 08:16 AM