Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader by Dinesh D'Souza

Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader
by Dinesh D’Souza

This is a great book on emphasizing lessons that those in leadership positions would do well to read. When I first saw this book, I flinched at the “ordinary man” as I do at the phrase “common sense”. Just as “sense” appears to be all uncommon, it seems that Reagan was a rare gem who can never be replaced. Reagan was extraordinary both as a leader and a man. Sadly, our nation is plagued by politicians, financial managers, CEOs, and a host of other areas that are plagued with corruption. One of the fallacies popular today is the private sector is corrupt but the government is beyond becoming corrupt. Our leaders have no business pointing out to us how we should manage our money. When one considers the magnitude of the Federal Debt, I say “Physician (or Politician), heal thyself!”

Too many think the government needs to step in to eliminate corruption or foul play in the private sector without recognizing that many in the government are plagued with the same disease. Neither every politician nor all in the private sector have been corrupted. The few have made the reactions of others much more unbearable on the rest of us rather than punishing evil doers. Ronald Reagan came from a time when a man’s word was binding. Time gave way to where we would say that a man’s handshake is as good as a contract. Today, it seems that even a contract is barely worth the paper it is printed on. What has happened to our country? We have forsaken the values that transformed us from ordinary to extraordinary. We need to call for a national restoration on the values based on the Bible. It is not enough to say we need to base our values on the doctrines of the Founding Fathers. Relying on the teachings of the Founding Fathers is a good start, but ignoring the source for their wisdom falls short.

This book reveals that Ronald Reagan had a set of principles that guided him throughout his life. Many of these were formulated by his mother as he grew up in Illinois. Anyone who studies his youth realizes the kind of man Ronald Reagan would become. I remember Nancy Reagan commenting on what some considered a mysterious nature of Ronald Reagan as “What you see is what you get.” It is no more complex than that! People would scratch their heads as to say “It cannot be that simple.” but it was. Here was a man who loved his country, decency, patriotism, sentimentalism, humor, stories, principles, truth, justice, fairness, equity, and other principles that many today mock as trite. Some seek to dismiss this book as missing the glaring mistakes that Reagan made. To my knowledge, no one ever said Reagan was perfect and made no mistakes. Ronald Reagan certainly never said that. Now, he made far fewer mistakes than his predecessor (and his successors).

Ronald Reagan once said when asked how he thought his legacy would be, "I'm confident that history will judge us fairly." I am glad that he put his faith in history to render the verdict since he is no longer here to speak for himself. He has left us a legacy that; although his absence at events such as Presidential Inaugurations is not commented on by the press, those who knew him remember. It is up to us to remember the principles that he demonstrated to us and to teach them to our children. Indeed, he was an ordinary man who stood by guiding principles to become extraordinary. He told us that we are capable of doing the same. As he said,

“It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together with God’s help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans.”

One of the principles that Ronald Reagan had complete confidence in was that Americans are in a better position to govern themselves rather than the government. Too many today expect the government to do something for every crisis rather than recognizing that many difficulties are solved by ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things each and every day.