Labor Day weekend was the opening of the movie “Reagan.” 

It has been four decades since he was in the White House, yet the situation is eerily similar today. 

We will get to that later.  But first, I must say that this low-budget independent movie starring Dennis Quaid, Jon Voight, and Penelope Anne Down could have been directed by Christopher Nolan but was expertly directed by Sean McNamara who previously directed movies aimed at a younger audience. 

The film is based upon Paul Kengor’s 2006 book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.   It is presented from the prospective of a fictional former Soviet Russian KGB spy Victor Petrovich (who is a compilation of many characters) as recounted to a younger agent (and potential politician whom could be Putin). 

Many liberal critics have claimed this movie is propaganda but that is to be expected from the left.  The movie presents snippets of Ronald Reagan's life from childhood to his letter informing the nation that he had Alzheimer’s disease. 

This two and a half hour film has selected the most critical points of the 40th president’s amazing life, warts and all.  However, his time as a father (and therefore his children) are not included.  There is only so much time to tell how Reagan helped end the Soviet empire.  His determination and focus were essential.  Though he was criticized as a mental lightweight by the press and political opposition, his success proves his brilliance (and American exceptionalism). 

Ronald Reagan’s rise to the presidency was hardly simple. 

As a youngster he was bullied, but his mother forced him to stand up to them.  His father was a good storyteller, but was an alcoholic and not financially successful. 

Ronald learned to care about others as a lifeguard who anticipated potential accidents by studying the river currents in his Midwest town.  As an attractive athlete, younger women would pretend drownings to gain his assistance. 

In church, he learned to speak to audiences and memorize text.  While in church, he also learned to despise communism when a Soviet defector presented his view of life behind the Iron Curtain. 

The movie shows many real pictures of life from the 1940s to the 1980s, nationally and throughout the world, painting the background for the Reagan era.  The music is well coordinated to the situations within the scenes.

Having lived through this period, I remember vividly how Ronald Reagan changed my political world view.  Growing up in New York City, I was liberal and a Democrat, having voted for Jimmy Carter against Reagan in 1980. 

But for Reagan's re-election run, I voted for Reagan over Democrat Walter Mondale. 

When Reagan fired the air traffic controllers who illegally went on strike, he demonstrated resolve lacking in most politicos. 

Reagan forced me to evaluate the British Enlightenment and reject Marxism.  His “clear” understanding of right and wrong was critical to my conversion.  Today I lean libertarian, but that leaves me voting Republican.  While critics called Reagan the “Teflon president,” he was anything but as the nation stuck to him because he loved America, its people, and its heritage of freedom.

The confluence of forces in the Vatican (Polish Pope John Paul II), Prime Minister Margret Thatcher, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, unrest in Poland, and the limited economic base of the Soviet empire (petroleum) allowed Reagan to financially strangle the Soviet Politburo which ended their reign of terror, starting two years after Reagan left Washington.  When he told Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, he ignited the forces that ended Russian imperialism, ever-so briefly.

However, given the power grab that egocentric leaders crave, when weak, drunken Boris Yeltsin left office as president of Russia, Vladimir Putin (the former KGB colonel), at the time prime minister, was his designated successor.  When the Russians had the chance to vote Putin out of office, they chose the strongman Putin over democratic freedoms, not completely recognizing the implications of a man who would rule ruthlessly.  It was not the first time people made such an error, remembering how Adolf Hitler came to power and forced Europe into World War II.

As Petrovich explains in the film, people make the difference in historical outcomes.  J. Rufus Fears, the deceased classical historian, also pointed to the essential personal capabilities of a nation’s leaders who make the critical decisions that determine success.  As Reagan said, “we win, they lose,” and he was correct. 

But his political life offers lessons for us today, too.  He was denounced by the left as “Hitler”, uncaring about the victims of AIDS, an opponent of women’s rights (since he opposed abortion), a murderer, a bigot against minorities, the homeless, poor, and gays.  They saw his potential to return America to the values of our Constitution after the Carter malaise, recreating faith in American ideals.  This is unfathomable to the Marxists that now inhabit the Democrat party.

As Reagan’s acting career declined, his marriage to Jane Wyman suffered and his finances weakened, but his concern with politics gave him purpose. 

His leadership of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) exposed him to the methods of the Communist party, which he resisted.  This increased strength propelled him to the governorship of California aided by his second wife, Nancy.  Along with her, he tried unsuccessfully to defeat Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976, and was elected president in 1980. 

At the time, he asked citizens whether they were better off now than they were four years earlier. This propelled him to a huge victory. 

But within three months, an attempted assassination provided Ronald with that sense of purpose to alter the world’s deadly power cold war.

Today we are faced with a stark choice just as in 1980.  Reagan had an easy way with humor, words, and emotions.  He was driven much as Donald Trump, but his life had prepared him for hard choices.  He survived a bullet as Trump has.   Trump has navigated the world of business but was unprepared for the aggression of politicos whose world he threatened.  Both believe in the American Constitution.  Both were falsely maligned, though each has made mistakes.  Reagan’s life in the public eye taught him how to disarm his opponents, which Trump would do well to emulate. 

When Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter, the economy was in shambles, the U.S. had been humiliated by the Iranians, the Russians were in Afghanistan, discord among younger citizens threatened domestic peace, and distrust of our institutions was rampant.  Similarities to today’s situation should point the undecided voters toward Trump. 

But just as Reagan was depicted as a mad-man by the left, so is Donald Trump decried by his enemies (for they wish him destroyed).  They fear him because, like Reagan, he can change the culture of the electorate by realigning traditional hard-working Democrats with non-elitist Republicans seeking to restore federalism much as Reagan did four decades ago. 

Today the situation is more critical as we have decimated our industrial base giving it to China, Mexico, and other Asian countries. Today, we must contend with Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, international terrorists, internal Marxists (that Nikita Khrushchev felt would damage America), greater illegal immigration, and a weaker national sense of purpose. 

But brighter days can be ahead if the electorate rejects socialism.  This movie is a reminder that success is within reach.

Image: Screen shot from IGN video trailer, via YouTube