Remarks Before Christmas 2003

(First published December 17, 2003)

Welcome to all of you who are receiving The Last Jeffersonian for the first time! Thanks too for your interest in Reagan and the country he loved.

The news when I started writing this issue last week dwelt on the storm that dropped three feet of snow on Boston. This week Hussein's apprehension draws our attention. And next weekend I'll be worried that I haven't finished (or started) my shopping yet. I'm happy to be reminded of a few things. It's good to have a warm house when it snows, the war in Iraq might not continue for ever and ever, and the holidays can be fun in the midst of so much to do. Even shopping becomes fun if you have a good attitude about it.

I tend to be pretty reserved about selling my book, but Christmas is coming and books make good gifts. When you order The Last Jeffersonian from Amazon, Amazon e-mails the order to my office. I can write a personal message on the title page, gift wrap the book, and send it wherever you like. Send your instructions to me via e-mail, and I'll ship the package right away. Please place your order soon, though: you know how quickly the holiday mailing deadline arrives.

Who among your family and friends would like to receive The Last Jeffersonian? Well, the individual doesn't need to be a Rush Limbaugh conservative or a rock-ribbed Republican, as we used to call them in North Dakota. In fact, the book is probably most appealing to people who haven't entirely made up their minds about Reagan, or to people who know their own mind but want to know what others think. Anyone who likes to read about America's political traditions would like it. Add an interest in how Reagan reformulated those traditions in the late twentieth century, and you have a perfect match.

In the November 25 issue of the newsletter, I made some remarks about the Showtime film called The Reagans. A friend kindly recorded the program, but I've only had time to watch the first hundred minutes or so. The film has strengths and weaknesses, but I don't want to try an "On balance,..." summary until I've seen the whole thing. I still think it's unfortunate that more people couldn't view it. Please write to me with comments if you were one of the people who did see it.

With the holidays coming soon, I wanted to end with this passage from Reagan's first memoir, Where's the Rest of Me? He wrote these words shortly before he entered politics:

This peculiar word "freedom" - with hundreds of definitions - has been debased in the coinage of communications. It might be helpful to go back to the original derivation of the word - a dozen language roots with a common ancestry: always it springs from words that mean "peace" and "love." Strangely enough, the word "liberty" traced back to its roots means "growing up" or "taking responsibility." And therein lies the whole story - we can have peace and brotherly love by accepting our responsibility to preserve freedom here where it has known its longest run in six thousand years of recorded history.