TODAY MARKS AMERICA'S INDEPENDENCE FROM GREAT BRITAIN, BUT ALSO MARKS BRITAIN'S TRIBUTE TO AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT – AT 10:20 A.M. ET:  The British have graciously picked today to unveil a statue of Ronald Reagan in London.  From The Telegraph:

Ronald Reagan assumes his lapidary place in Grosvenor Square today, alongside Franklin D Roosevelt and Dwight D Eisenhower...

...We in this country have particular reason to be grateful to the Gipper. When General Galtieri attacked the Falkland Islands, he did everything he could to support us short of formally entering into hostilities with Argentina. The United States offered Britain immediate logistical and intelligence support...

...What distinguishes Reagan, though, is not simply his Anglophilia. Every president from Theodore Roosevelt to George W Bush has been, in practical terms, pro-British: Barack Obama is the exception. No, what sets him apart is the magnitude of his achievement. At home, he reversed the disastrous decline of conservatism and began the work of constraining government. Abroad, as the inscription on his statue puts it, he won the Cold War without firing a shot.

COMMENT:  Several commentators have pointed out that Reagan endured endless ridicule during his political career.  One Washington hand called him "an amiable dunce," others dismissed him as a washed-up movie actor. 

But Reagan was a well-read, informed, and thoughtful international politician who had a clear idea of where he wanted to take the United States, and took us there. 

Great men and women are usually known for one great accomplishment, even if some of their efforts end in failure.  Lincoln guided the nation through the Civil War.  Roosevelt did the same in World War II.  Washington created the American presidency.  I believe Reagan will be known primarily as the man whose policies led to a peaceful end to the Cold War and the establishment of freedom in Eastern Europe.   In this he had the help of Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. 

And great men and women are usually known for a phrase, a line they spoke or wrote that defined who they were.  When Ronald Reagan said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," we knew exactly who he was. 

July 4, 2011