Maryland: Ronald Reagan

On Monday I contributed my two cents about Ronald Reagan to the National Review Online President's Day symposium. Well my old hometown friend Matt Palmer, a reporter for the Catholic Review took note and passed this very timely Reagan anecodote about his brother's correspondence with the 40th President of the United States. A snippet:

Politicians receive a lot of letters from constituents. Most send back a form letter that simply says ‘thank you for your interest.’ Jeff received something far different, however, in a March 25, 1985 letter embossed with the presidential seal.

My mother recently unearthed that letter from a box in our house.

-- Richard E. Vatz

In the ignominious history of politicians who used regular newspaper columnists as mouthpieces, sometimes in return for access, now comes Barack Obama and E.J. Dionne, Obama’s Mini-Me. Other presidents have had similar arrangements, including Walter Winchell and, in perhaps his only near scandal, columnist George F. Will was accused of covertly priming presidential candidate Ronald Reagan for a debate which he (Will) then evaluated without explicitly mentioning his role as debate aide. In the ensuing years Will has never had a hint of such questionable ethics. (On the other side, we have had official mouthpieces who became traitors after leaving their positions, such as Scott McClellan, former press secretary to George W.

Today is the 98th birthday of Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States and winner of the Cold War.
A few weeks before the 1964 Presidential election, private citizen Ronald Reagan spoke to the nation about “A Time for Choosing”.
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[img_assist|nid=1946|title=Congressman Steny H. Hoyer|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=180|height=270]Today's weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal has columnist Kimberly Strassel's wide-ranging interview of Rep. Steny Hoyer, in which the Majority Leader talks about the accomplishments and bipartisanship of the 110th Congress, the 2008 elections and Ronald Reagan's place among Democrats.