Introduction to The Last Jeffersonian

(First published February 2, 2003)

Welcome, and thanks to all of you for your interest in The Last Jeffersonian: A Newsletter of Thoughtful Discourse. Some of you have waited quite a while for this issue; others have subscribed more recently. Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy what you read here.

Let me introduce myself briefly. Eleven years ago, I decided to write a book about Ronald Reagan. I wanted to write an essay, not much more than a hundred pages, that would explain why we should pay attention to what Reagan said. The book turned out longer than that, and while I wrote the book more people began to see what an important figure Reagan was. The original question didn’t go away, though: Why was he important?

I won’t try to answer that question here, but I’ll say this: after I finished the book, my interest in Reagan didn’t end. His life and his thought connect to so many other great events, institutions, and ideas. I don’t expect that every article in this publication will be about Reagan only, but the themes of his life can guide the exchange of ideas that occurs here.

Ronald Reagan turned 92 on February 6. We all wish he were well enough to have celebrated the occasion with Nancy. As it is, we don’t know how the day went for him. The most we can hope is that he rested well.

Let me close with an invitation. My hope is that The Last Jeffersonian can include your contributions. (I know, the newsletter and the book have the same title, but I’ll always be clear about which one I’m referring to.) Please write to me with article ideas, commentary, letters, interesting links, and so forth. We’ll see what evolves.

That’s enough for now. Thanks again to all of you for your interest.