When I was young I was, by all means, against Reagan.
I remember that the first article I ever wrote was against him.
Reagan was elected 40th President of the United States in 1981.
I was seventeen at the time. I was born just a few days before the assassination of President Kennedy.
I recalled it because at the time my parents had a house in a village near Barcelona.
And I remembered perfectly well having written that article on a piece of graph paper on the terrace.
Unfortunately, I didn't keep it after many moves throughout my life.
For years, it was on the table next to me, but I no longer have it.
But I also remember the headline. It went something like this: "My God, the devil Reagan has won".
In spite of everything, I thought Jimmy Carter was the good guy. Even after the Iran hostage crisis.
For me, Reagan was just a supporting actor. I couldn't even remember any of his films.
Besides, he was extreme right-wing.
In my mind, the Cold War was still active. Reagan's election as President could only make things worse.
I was wrong. In the end, Reagan was a great President.
As Margaret Thatcher once said, he won the Cold War without firing a shot.
Reagan was probably one of the Presidents who most connected with the American middle class.
As Peter Robinson, a former White House speechwriter, explains in his book ("How Reagan Changed My Life") Reagan's life was not an easy one.
The son of an Irish Catholic father and a Scottish Protestant mother, his great-grandfather was an alcoholic.
His divorce from Jane Wyman, his first wife, was a personal blow.
Moreover, when his career was in decline in Hollywood, his ex-wife's career was skyrocketing.
That is why I feel I am still indebted to Ronald Reagan.
That is why I strongly recommend the above-mentioned book.
Even after all these years, "How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life" is the perfect insight into the White House mixed with the author's personal experiences. / Written by Xavier Rius, Spanish journalist and editor of online newspaper e-notícies.
