Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004

On election night in 1980, I was terrified. From my bedroom, I could hear the radio in my parents’ room down the hall. Jimmy Carter was losing. Months before the election I’d heard tales about how Ronald Reagan would send blacks to the “back of the bus” if he won. He won.

But the sky didn’t fall, ice caps didn’t melt and old Jim Crow didn’t return. In fact, from what I hear, blacks prospered economically under Reagan’s watch.

I went through the 1980s scarcely aware of politics. While Reagan demanded that Gorbachev tear down the Berlin Wall, I was celebrating the return of the mini-skirt. As the Cold War ended, I was extending adolescence and enjoying my reign as kegger queen.

See stories about Reagan from the Washington Post and Washington Times.

Around the blogosphere:

Baldilocks says, “Out Like A Lamb.”

Ramblings’ Journal says, “Let the mudslinging begin…”

Dean over at Dean’s World offers some honesty, and Joe talks about why Reagan was “loved in the end.”

A toast from Blogs For Bush.

Dave at Left Coast Conservative wishes for the impossible.

The brutally honest Rick recalls his I-voted-for-Jimmy-Carter days.

Right Wing News lays it out. Reagan rebuilt the military, cut taxes, defeated the Soviet empire…and more.

Early next week, Ronald Reagan’s body will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. I may stop by.