Reagan Left When No One Wanted Him To | The American Spectator

In January 1989, I was too busy playing soccer in the schoolyard. But something astonishing happened. Ronald Reagan gave his farewell address from the White House, and nobody wanted him to go. Most politicians don’t leave; they’re kicked out. Nobody wanted to kick Reagan out, except for fools and communists, which are one and the same.
Reagan did his job. America shone. And it was free. And the West was illuminated by the light of America’s freedom. Mission accomplished.
The great Republican president simply had to leave because of the law, but the America he left behind was infinitely better. His farewell speech feels more like an effort to comfort and keep citizens from crying over his absence than an attempt to justify himself. Maybe because when you do things right, you don’t need to keep insisting on how well you did them — unless you’re a writer or journalist (without an OnlyFans channel) in the 21st century, in which case you have no choice if you want anyone to pay attention.
Even the most hostile media reported that Reagan’s approval rating at the end of his presidency was over 60 percent. That’s more than you’d find in the happiest marriages if you asked people how much they value their partner’s actions. That’s more than your best friend loves you. That’s more than the joy a cold beer brings in the middle of a desert.
Reagan said goodbye, claiming he had achieved a restoration of traditional American values. I can’t think of anything more urgent today. Conservatism is simple: less government, lower taxes, giving wings to individual initiative, and rediscovering pride in your own flag. It’s simple, but you have to want to do it.
“And how stands the city on this winter night?” Reagan said, “more prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet f…