Having worked in Ronald Reagan’s White House and sat with him after Washington, the notion that anyone could recapture his guileless personality, epic role in history, leadership style, optimism, good humor, and moral compass seems impossible. Dennis Quaid, as Reagan in the movie, comes close. The movie is worth watching – as biography, history, and entertainment.
Reading the negative reviews of “Reagan” written by those not alive when Reagan led America, and America led the world, is like hearing someone describe ice cream, cotton candy, bearnaise sauce, or effervescent water – having never experienced it. Many critics were boldly anti-Christian.
Of course, negative reviews had no effect on me. I was curious how Hollywood might treat the Gipper, in a time of anti-American hubris, rewrites of history, leftism all the rage, and a modern plague.
Look around and you see arrogance and ignorance in vogue, from history and office holding to journalism, and politics preloading keyboards with hate. Knowledge and reflection – interviews and experience – are no longer needed by “reporters” who google, assume, and opine, like producers.
If one never knew Reagan, did not live through his history, knew nothing of how he led, and … feared the movie might boost Trump, what would you do? Pan it. The media did. I went anyway.
Truth is, I was pleasantly surprised because so much of what was presented held to facts, hard as that is. The movie presents Reagan much as he was – authentic, earnest, cheerfully corny, at times genuinely funny, faithful, and a man of heart, idealistic yet clear-eyed on evil, humble but firm.
“Reagan,” the movie, condenses 70 years of this good man’s life – and great leader’s finest hours – into poignant moments and decisions, retold by a grudging Soviet intelligence officer, and – one sense – admirer. Reality, as my life intersected this time, is close to what the movie suggests.
The movie progresses from young Reagan’s rough and faith-centered upbringing through his early adulthood, watches the Cold War refocus the world after WWII, and then tracks Reagan’s growth into a leader. It does not try – as many movies do – to push fake wrongs or sully his clear-eyed view of evil.
The movie showcases an uncommon idea, destiny – Reagan’s and America’s. It implies the Soviets saw Reagan as a threat long before he rose to power. Why? He had their number. He made hard choices based on faith in God, clear values, and the American people. The “movie Reagan” never falters, which irks all the lefty reviewers. Truth is, the real Reagan never faltered either.
In reality, the real Reagan led confidently during a period of profound economic and security turmoil. He resolutely disposed of fear and appeasement, a refreshing change from Nixon’s détente – convergence with communism – and Carter’s resignation or “malaise,” collective handwringing.
While the real Reagan called America a beacon to the world, he was himself a beacon, recognized as such by the Pope, Margaret Thatcher, and the American people – who gave him 49 states in 1984.
With faith, constancy, certitude in God’s goodness, and appreciation for freedom, his convictions were refreshing; they have stood the test of time. He had a lightness of heart which comes to those who listen for and act on conscience. This too irks the leftists, who practice not listening.
In the end, this movie was more than a retelling of facts when we need to hear them, more than a win by good actors, more than a shaft of light from our past – helping us again find good leaders.
The movie is a historical marker, a way of understanding ourselves as a reflection of Reagan, even as he understood himself as a reflection of us. The movie reminds us – or should – that America, like Reagan, is different, idealistic, grounded in faith, the last beachhead of freedom. We were that in Reagan’s time, and we are still today. We just have to realize what that means.
To put the movie’s message in the words of a Frenchman who studied us in 1835, Alex de Tocqueville, we are different from all the nations that have ever been. Why? The movie’s message is why. It is not just about Reagan, but about us, who we Americans are at our best.
Wrote de Tocqueville, 145 years before Reagan sat in the Whtie House, “Americans are exceptional,” they have faith in goodness, believe and work for it, and never give up. “Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good…” Then he added, “…and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
What is the Reagan movie about? It is actually about our goodness and resolve to see hard things through, based on faith. We were this in Washington’s time, in Reagan’s time, and – if you scratch the surface of most Americans – still are today. That is the message. Live it or lose it.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
