Ronald Reagan

February: a President and a Pope

The reigns of Ronald Reagan and Pope Benedict XVI resemble one another because both presided over periods of “Restoration” and were followed by a further fall.

The Gipper and JPII: an Alliance for Good

Pope John Paul II once said that, “In the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences.” That is one way to explain why a Polish pope, dedicated above all to defending the dignity of the human person, would step onto the world stage just as the most powerful country on earth was about to … Read more

California Screaming

Super Tuesday has come and gone, effectively narrowing the Democratic Party’s presidential race for these United States down to two: septuagenarians Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, both of whom are older than their Republican opponent by a mere four or five years. We have come a long way from the days when Ronald Reagan ran … Read more

Biden vs. Bork, 1988: Democrats Smear a SCOTUS Nominee

Editor’s note: this article originally appeared in the May 1988 print edition of Crisis. It has been edited for brevity. Many people have asked me what it was like to live through the nomination and hearings of my husband, Robert Bork. I usually answer that it was like being besieged in a battle where the reinforcements … Read more

How John Paul II and Ronald Reagan stopped mass murderers

Another long weekend, another mass murder. Seven were massacred in the latest rampage in West Texas rampage. It comes with the same, almost scripted reactions from all sides: punish my enemies, leave my supporters alone. Hearts aren’t changed. In the upcoming film, “The Divine Plan,’’ Ronald Reagan and St. John Paul teach today’s leaders a … Read more

On Vaclav Havel—and Chris Hitchens

Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator yesterday.   Vaclav Havel is dead. Among other forces and powers, he is among the seven individuals most responsible for peacefully ending the Cold War; the great liberators who brought freedom and democracy. They are Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, … Read more

Lessons of History?

  It used to be common for people to urge us to learn “the lessons of history.” But history gets much less attention these days and, if there are any lessons that we are offered, they are more likely to be the lessons from current polls or the lessons of political correctness. Even among those … Read more

Will Republicans Blow It?

  Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that a good catch phrase could stop thinking for 50 years. One of the often-repeated catch phrases of our time — “It’s the economy, stupid!” — has already stopped thinking in some quarters for a couple of decades. There is no question that the state of the economy can … Read more

Hearing ‘God’s Call’

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is being urged to seek the Republican presidential nomination. There is a genuine groundswell for Christie. Asked last week at the Reagan Library whether he will enter the race, Christie gave a very interesting answer. Citing the example of Ronald Reagan, he stated: “I know, without ever having met President … Read more

Politics Versus Reality

It is hard to understand politics if you are hung up on reality. Politicians leave reality to others. What matters in politics is what you can get the voters to believe, whether it bears any resemblance to reality or not. Not only among politicians, but also among much of the media, and even among some … Read more

If Only He Were Pro-Life…

Every election cycle, partisans distort the positions of those they oppose. I particularly recall one pro-lifer, a Mitt Romney supporter, who titled Sen. John McCain — he of the 0 percent NARAL rating — “the ultimate betrayer.” And I’ve heard many people, Catholic and Protestant, seriously suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is the anti-Christ, which … Read more

Sorry, Doug Kmiec, But This Catholic Isn’t Buying Obama

There must be something about February that brings out the weird, the unusual, and the strange in politics. That was my reaction when I read Douglas Kmiec’s article in Slate, claiming that Barack Obama is a “natural for the Catholic vote.” Now, I know and respect Doug as a brilliant legal mind and a good … Read more

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