Remembering Reagan

What I learned from visiting the Reagan Ranch and how we should honor Ronald Reagan’s life and legacy today, from a conservative millenial’s perspective.

Today marks our most popular president’s birthday, born February 6, 1911.

You learn a lot from someone in how they spend their sunset years, looking at how they’ve changed, who they credit for their success, and who they lift high.

Top left: the home. Left middle: the highest point of the ranch. Bottom Left: Caroline from YAF gave me an epic tour! Top Right: the dock and pond that Reagan put in. Bottom Right: part of the stable.

Make no mistake, Ronald Reagan loved God and hard work. This could not be more evident in the way he built and preserved Rancho Del Cielo, where he spent his final years after the presidency.

President Reagan called Rancho Del Cielo his “open cathedral,” where he worked hard building fences, tiling his floors and digging a pond he stocked with goldfish. He frequently rode his horses on the dusty trails of his 688-acre sanctuary.

Reagan considered building this very dock as one of his greatest accomplishments.

At the highest point, where Air Force One would land, Reagan would overlook miles of other mountains and valleys and he reflected on Psalm 121:

I will lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who guards Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you during the day, nor the moon during the night.

The Lord shall protect you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from now and for evermore.

Governor Sarah Palin standing in Reagan’s favorite place.

That’s my greatest takeaway from the Reagan Ranch — President Reagan built the ranch so he could be closest to God. Though the Gipper is gone, his character can be felt at the ranch — his humility and his humor lives on.

From his humble childhood in Illoinois, crediting his mom with planting a seed of faith in him, to his acting years in Hollywood, Reagan had seen it all.

And that’s one of the biggest reasons Reagan connects with the average person—you and me. He’d been through a lot, had many changes—I mean he used to be a Democrat, for goodness sake’s. Personally, I connect with him on many levels. I grew up on a horse farm, so I fell in love with the ranch, but I also loved how much he valued his time with God and getting into the presence of God, something that my mom also instilled in me.

This was a place for retreat, but he also brought the world into his humble abode. Reagan spent so many vacations during his presidency at the ranch that it became known as the Western White House. He signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 at the ranch and hosted British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Oh, how I wish I could’ve seen those visits!

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan ride around at the rach.

Leaving the Great Communicator’s sanctuary, I was left speechless. Think about it, the leader of the free world, so humble and aware of God’s presence, gave us so many things, but the greatest was his love for God, for others, and for country.

Today, every candidate, on both sides of the aisle wants to be the next Ronald Reagan, or at least embody his character, from Sarah Palin to Barack Obama.

Although he is gone, Ronald Reagan is not forgotton. We remember him in so many ways — from his influence as a young man to his sunset years at the ranch—Ronald Reagan lived a life worth studying and honoring.

David Henrie (left) will play Ronald Reagan during his lifeguard years, when he saved 77 lives in one summer.

I look forward to the many ways we can continue to honor The Gipper—one being the upcoming biopic about our 40th president featuring David Henrie.

His humility, hard work and his humor live on, thanks, in large part, to the Young America’s Foundation, inspiring so many young Americans, like myself, to honestly remember the life and legacy of Reagan and restore America to the ‘shining city on a hill’ that Reagan spoke of.

How will you remember and honor Reagan’s life and legacy? Also, please share your favorite Reagan quotes below.

P.S. A huge thank you to Caroline and the Young America’s Foundation for sharing the ranch with Todd Starnes and me. (Caroline is the daughter of Cindy, one of my favorite Liberty Belles!) Also, a huge thanks to my favorite professor and Reagan scholar, Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, for letting me help him do research for his book, 11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative, which I highly recommend you get!