1911-2004

Ronald Reagan, the man who won the Cold War and renewed our country's sense of itself as our country's 40th president, passed away this afternoon, in fact just two hours ago. There isn't a lot to say that hasn't been said in the decade since he withdrew from public view, but I'm sorry to hear it nonetheless. Agree with his policies or not, he'll be remembered as one of the most popular presidents of the 20th century and an icon to conservatives here and abroad (so much for keeping politics off the Canard).

The television news says his body will be flown to Washington where he will lie in state at the Capitol before being taken along a procession up to the National Cathedral for a state funeral, before being taken back to California for a sunset burial outside his presidential library in Simi Valley. Unless it happens during my morning work hours, I'll be there to watch it, and I'll be sure to blog it later.

I was in Washington on a brief trip when Katherine Graham died a few years ago, and with a friend I drove past her mansion in Georgetown. That was something else; the media tents crowded her backyard such that one couldn't even see the house from the street. As publisher of the Washington Post she wasn't on the level with a president, but she did have them all over to dinner at one time or another. I expect a similar media mania when he arrives this week. And justly so. Developing...

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posted by WWB at 6:10 PM |