Right with Reagan

If you've watched or listened to any news today, you know that it would have been Ronald Reagan's 99th birthday. Many have noted and commented on the elevated status our 40th president now enjoys among not just conservatives, or within the Republican party, but with everyone across the entire American ideological spectrum. Now, it seems, everybody wants to be right with Reagan.

All this reminded me of the time of our country's founding when two other Americans enjoyed a similar status. (Actually, it would be more accurate to say these two Americans set the standard for just such a status.) During the debates over the ratification of the proposed constitution, both sides, the Federalists, who were for it, and those who came to be labeled Anti-Federalists, who were opposed, felt the need to, if I may, be right with these two men. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were easily the most prominent and broadly trusted Americans of that era. As it happened, both were in favor of the new constitution and the Federalists were eager to point to their support in order to assure allies, allay fears, and, ultimately, ensure ratification. The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, had the unenviable task of opposing that which Washington and Franklin advocated. And they knew it. When one reads their arguments against ratification today, you can almost feel them tiptoeing around the presence of Franklin and Washington in the debate. Such was the status of these two men that those who publicly disagreed with them had to do so carefully lest they alienate their larger audience.

This kind of standing is extremely unique, the most rarefied. By this I mean that virtually everyone, that is, politicians, policy entrepreneurs, pundits, and even historians, feel the need to have people of this stature on their side in whatever endeavor they are undertaking. Or, if not, and they desire to retain any hope of actually succeeding, they simply must take the time to explain why not.

As far as I'm concerned, besides Washington and Franklin, in American political history only Lincoln possesses that selfsame quality. Until now. Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, and...Reagan? We can, and no doubt will argue, but that's a lineup I can get behind. Happy Birthday Gipper!