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Politics COMMENTARY


President Obama, You’re No Ronald Reagan!


Presidential historian Craig Shirley debunks the comparisons.


P


BY CRAIG SHIRLEY


resident barack obama has openly admired former President Ronald Reagan’s ability to fundamentally


shift the nation’s political frame of reference. This naturally gives rise to the question of whether Obama is the Democrats’ Reagan, as many on the left have claimed. Obviously, the answer is no. Reagan expressed himself differ-


ently, using the pronouns “we” “us” and “ours” when discussing the gov- ernment or his administration. John F. Kennedy, similarly, used to say, “your government” or “this govern- ment” — but never “my government.” Obama, however, favors the first


person pronouns “I,” “me,” and “my.” American conservatives find intellec- tual grounding in the American Revo-


34 NEWSMAX | MARCH 2015


lution. Reagan often cited the Ameri- can Revolution, and quoted both the Founders and the Framers, especially his personal favorite, Thomas Paine. Reagan, like Paine, embraced “com- mon sense” in all its iterations. The American Revolution rejected monar- chy and centralized authority. American liberals, by contrast, get


their inspiration from the French Rev- olution. President Obama, for exam- ple, has gone so far as to call France “central to our imaginations” because of its “culture and civilization.” Few American conservatives would utter such a phrase — certainly not Reagan. Obama almost never quotes or


cites the men of Philadelphia, and indeed has complained that he is “constrained” by the Constitution. In this he echoes the same protests of another “big executive branch” devo-


tee, Woodrow Wilson. Ronald Reagan often cited Jefferson, and he believed the natural law, and God’s directive, for men’s destiny was that they be free. For men to be free required a nation built upon laws that applied equally to all.


The Framers envisioned a rela-


tively low-key presidency populated by men who were restrained in their use of power. George Washington, in character, rejected all titles that sug- gested royalty or monarchy for the


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