I know he was a popular governor and a beloved (at least in some circles) two-term president. He was even pretty good on "Death Valley Days," hawking 20 Mule Team Borax.
But I don't see why we have to name everything in the world after him.
Ever since President Reagan left office in 1989, and with increasing frequency since he announced he had Alzheimer's Disease in 1994 and died 10 years later, there has been more and more pressure to name things after him.
He got an airport (which is ironic when you consider that firing the air-traffic controllers screwed up the system for years), a massive federal building in Washington, D.C., (and we all know how much he loved big federal buildings) and everything from freeways to schools, hospitals and maybe even churches.
Some folks have suggested adding him to Mount Rushmore. Others wanted Reagan to replace FDR on the dime.
There's even a group devoted to making sure that something is named after him in every county in the USA.
Great, but why did Thomas Starr King have to suffer for it?
King didn't suffer much personally. After all, he died in 1864, nearly 50 years before Reagan was born (although Bob Dole was already around). But King, one of the greatest men in California history, is having his statue bumped from the National Statuary Hall to make room for -- you guessed it -- a 7-foot tall Ronald Reagan.
Wonder who King was? Here's part of what his bio says in the Hall:
Thomas Starr King, "the orator who saved the nation," was born December 17, 1824, in New York City. The sole support of his family at age 15, he was forced to leave school. Inspired by men like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Ward Beecher, King embarked on a program of self-study for the ministry.
At the age of 20 he took over his father's former pulpit at the First Unitarian Church of Charlestown, Massachusetts. In 1848 he was appointed pastor of the Hollis Street Unitarian Church, Boston, where he became one of the most famous preachers in New England. He vacationed in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in 1859 wrote a book about the area entitled "The White Hills: Their Legends, Landscapes and Poetry."
In 1860 he accepted a call from the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco. In California during the Civil War, he spoke zealously in favor of the Union and is credited with saving California from becoming a separate republic. In addition, he organized the Pacific Branch of the Sanitary Commission, which cared for wounded soldiers.
The baby boom generation has often been accused of thinking the world began when they were born. Well, I wish Republicans would stop thinking the world began when Ronald Reagan was born.
King is just the sort of person who fades away into history, and that's a shame.
He deserves better than having his statue taken down, crated up and sent to Sacramento. After all, where are we going to put it there once they get that Terminator statue finished?
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3 comments:
You're right, Mike, you don't like Reagan, and what's worse, you are so biased against him, you refuse to give him his due.
You don't believe me?
let's examine your text:"He got an airport (which is ironic when you consider that firing the air-traffic controllers screwed up the system for years)"
Completely untrue.
Reagan HAD to fire those SOBs.
Any other President would have as well.
You forget that President Truman was forced by striking coal miners to send in federal troops.
I know you're a student of history, but it's quite distorted at time.
Oh, there are things to hate and love about Reagan, but that was a simple cheap shot.
The nation cannot allow a small group of ill-advised (and frankly well-compensated) workers from shutting down the air travel business and holding it hostage.
The baseball umpires also had to be fired years later for the same dangerous ploy.
Look, Reagan would have agreed with you -- if alive and capable of responding, he would have declined having his name associated with airports and buildings.
Mike, it was a cheap shot and not deserving of your talents.
You see, both Reagan and FDR would have decried being lionized so much.
You simply are being fair or accurate.
You must love FDR and dislike Reagan not to see that both men were greater than their followers.
What you should have written about is our sad fixation to give honor too late. There's a quote from the gambler character in the
The Great Gatsby" that eludes me, but it's something about "let us honor people while they're living and not after."
Just strain your bile out before writing. I, for one, expect greater things from a talent as gifted as yours.
Ernie
Ernie, you're being a little too tough on me by writing such a long post about one slightly snarky comment.
I disagree with you about the PATCO strike. Let's leave it at that.
But you got my point when you agreed that Reagan would find those particular honors strange.
Besides, the post was more about not forgetting men like Thomas Starr King.
Frankly, I don't care much for Reagan or politics in general, and the debate between you and Ernie isn't high on my list of prioties.
Still, there's one thing I will disagree with and that's your position on the PATCO firings.
My uncle was involved with the negotiations and before he died, he told me that every one of the PATCO leaders should have been indicted for conspiracy. And my uncle was a lifelong union man.
Apparently most people are unaware of just how corrupt and arrogant this union was and how they forced Reagan's hand and believed they could get what they wanted through coercion and collusion.
It's unfortunate that some members of the union paid a high price for the misconduct of their leadership, but remember more than one-third of the union eventually broke with the union leadership and crossed picket lines.
These were not scabs, but men and women of intelligence and courage.
Some day the real story will be told, but until it's totally released, let me share this .... it was not what was reported in the papers at the time.
It was a naked grab for power by ruthless men. Reagan, who once was a union man, tried to avoid this action and even sent emissaries to work out a deal to avoid, he was shut down, but not out.
When he fired the workers, Reagan believed it was his saddest day in office. He had no idea what was yet in store for him.
It was not a happy day in America's history.
Jeff, in Pomona
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