Tag: Reagan

Presidents, Polls, Professors, & the Public

  

Young America’s Foundation is an organization devoted to conservative principles in culture and government. While it doesn’t claim to be openly Christian—other conservatives are welcome—the concepts it promotes are consistent with Biblical principles. In the last few years, it has established the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, where it holds a number of significant seminars and conferences. The organization also bought the Reagan Ranch in the mountains outside Santa Barbara, and is keeping it as Ronald Reagan had it… Read more »

Death of a Vision? Or a Rebirth?

  

About seven years ago, a vision took shape in my heart and mind. Yesterday that vision may have died, but I am hopeful that it’s merely a prelude to a resurrection. Let me explain. I’ll start first with the basic facts, then go on to what I think the Lord may be teaching me through this episode. I’ve always admired Ronald Reagan: his character, his principles, and how he attempted to convert them into action. I’ve equally admired Whittaker Chambers,… Read more »

Restoring Humility to the Oval Office

  

Policies, as essential as they are, aren’t the only consideration when choosing leaders. Character is of equal significance. One of the key traits I seek in a candidate is humility. Pride is the cause of untold miseries. An arrogant leader is prone to mistakes based on his unrealistic evaluation of his own personal importance. What really gets to me are the polls that show a majority of Americans think Obama is likeable. Since when? This is the man who wrote… Read more »

Chambers, Reagan, & the Spiritual Crisis

  

I finished another semester last Friday. The goal of my teaching is always to point students to Biblical truth; history is the vehicle. At the end of my course covering the second half of American history—after I’ve spent weeks showcasing the loss of Biblical principles in America over the last century or so—I like to close the course with a couple of quotes from those who clearly witnessed this loss and sought to reverse it. Whittaker Chambers and Ronald Reagan… Read more »

Location, Location, Location

  

I have no problem with presidents taking vacations. With modern communications technology, no president is out of touch with world events or incapable of fulfilling the mandates of the office, no matter where he may be. Therefore, I don’t criticize President Obama for taking a vacation at this time, particularly in the last part of August when Congress is in recess. But if he is not out of touch with the world at large, his choice of vacation spots reveals… Read more »

Bitter Division & Truth-Telling

  

There’s been a lot of talk lately about how the political arena has become bitterly divided. As a historian, let me first say that this is not unique in American history. There have always been periods of strong division: the 1790s, the Jacksonian era, the entire 1850s through the Civil War, the beginnings of the Cold War in the late 1940s-early 1950s, Vietnam and Watergate. And for those who think everyone loved Ronald Reagan [which is what you might surmise… Read more »

The Simple Solution

  

In my last post, I outlined what I consider to be the most pressing problems we face as a nation. At the end, I said I wanted to address a more foundational need that is essential if we are to turn things around. What I’m about to say might sound simplistic to some, but I believe it is the root of all our problems and, if taken seriously, is also the solution. Critics of Ronald Reagan used to say that… Read more »