I don’t know about you but I watched in great surprise the other day as they unveiled a statue of Ronald Reagan in the Rotunda of the Capitol. The occasion was the fifth anniversary of his death. I was surprised because there used to be a rule in the Congress that no member of Congress could be considered for such an honor until the 25th anniversary of his death had come and gone and his reputation stood the test of time. This rule apparently does not apply to Presidents or was waived when the Republicans approved the statue idea a few years ago when they had majority control of Congress. No doubt it was seen by Republican leaders as a way to guarantee their political “saint” would have a place of honor no matter what history may say about him.
And so there it stands – a statue to honor the man who testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 on the extent of the Communist Party’s penetration in Hollywood, a statue to honor the memory of the fiscal “conservative” who tripled the national debt during his 1981-1988 Presidency, the governing “conservative” who grew the federal government exponentially during his eight years of service, a economic “conservative” who presided over two recessions; indeed, a statue to honor the man who spent countless hours in the Oval Office regaling visitors with tales of the more than 50 B-grade movies he made during his 20 years in Hollywood.
Look, he was a wonderfully affable man who made us feel good about him and about the America he saw, shining like a “city on a hill.” He was a great confidence builder. And no one could read a Peggy Noonan speech any better than our 40th President. But shouldn’t more be required before one gets a statue in the Rotunda? I think so.
Of course, neither party is in a hurry to erect a statue to Bill Clinton. If not for his amoral ways, they might have considered one, but no, his actions of moral turpitude besmirched his reputation, eroded his credibility with the American people and weakened the President’s moral authority on the world stage…so much so that one member of Congress wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post suggesting that his actions may actually require his resignation. But didn’t he give us a strong economy, creating millions of new jobs, putting more people at every economic level on the road to prosperity? But that darn blue dress! So much for the Clinton statue.
Neither man was perfect. The only perfect man we have had in recent memory was George W. Bush. We know that because, in answer to a reporter’s question at that now famous news conference, Bush said he could not think of even one mistake he had made. “Oh, some of the people I have appointed have disappointed me,” he said but no, he could not think of a single mistake he personally had made. Well, the least said about that one, the better. Suffice it to say, there will be no statue to Bush 43 in the Rotunda anytime soon. History will make sure of that and it won’t need 25 years to make a determination.
If you wonder why President Obama is taking on so much, tackling so many issues, launching so many initiatives, and seems to be busy on literally all fronts, maybe it’s because many of his predecessors squandered their time in office, preferring the road of political expediency, enjoying the perks of office, spending countless days on vacations, doing little to address some of the nation’s most vexing problems, and thus disappointed the American people. I have the sense President Obama wants to give the American people something more substantial upon which to judge his service – and I suspect he is willing to give them a full 25 years to evaluate his time in office.
