Very few times in history do you have the opportunity to witness a leader that is spectacular. For me, that was the first time I heard Ronald Reagan speak.

In 1980, we had just built a new house and interest rates were at 18%. Can you imagine? We got the loan on our house at 12.75% right before it shot up to 18% and I thought I was the smartest guy around. Most people cannot even envision those kinds of interest rates, but our economy was in steep dive in 1980. Ronald Reagan steps on the world stage and says he is going to change the way Americans think about freedom and economics. I was so captured by his straightforward leadership, and he seemed larger than life. He was the man for that time in America history like Lincoln was for the Civil War period and FDR was for the late 1940s

Reagan was, simply put, an amazing leader and an amazing President. He literally changed the course of history both nationally and globally.

Six years after he left office, Reagan he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The following is an excerpt from what I believe was his final press conference.

‘Sunset of my life’

In a letter to the nation nearly six years after leaving office, Reagan announced that he was “one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease.” Reagan closed the note on a characteristically optimistic quote.

“I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”

There are imitators of leaders and then there are real leaders. Reagan was the real deal. KT