By Steve Byas

I recently went to see the “Reagan” movie, and it brought back lots of memories of the 1976 effort of Reagan to take the Republican presidential nomination away from Gerald Ford, his victories over Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale, and his eight years in the White House.

By no means do I think that Reagan was perfect, but of all the presidents of my lifetime, he was clearly the best. In fact, since 1984, when Reagan won a 49-state landslide, I have been voting against, rather than for someone for president.

But what I remember most about Ronald Reagan is the first time his name meant anything to me at all. It was 1964, and I was in the fourth grade. I asked my dad what he was planning on watching on TV that night, and he said, “Ronald Reagan is going to be giving a speech for Barry Goldwater.”

Now, I knew who Goldwater was – the Republican nominee for president. But I had no idea who Reagan was. Dad said that Reagan was a movie actor.

As Reagan spoke, I distinctly remember thinking, Why would anyone not vote for Goldwater? What Reagan was speaking about – free enterprise, limited government, anti-communism – to me was what I thought America was all about.

Soon after that, we had a mock election at my grade school, and Goldwater got two votes. I never did figure out who the other kid was.

From that point on, I have been conservative politically. Sure, there were other influences on my thinking, including my family. I later read books like None Dare Call it Treason, by John Stormer, and Nine Men Against America, by Rosalie M. Gordon. Such books only reinforced what I had heard on that fall night in 1964 from a Hollywood actor that I had never previously heard of.

During those eight years of Reagan’s presidency, I did not have to live in fear as to what attack upon our freedom might be coming from the White House. I did not agree with every thing that he did, such as sending the Marines to Lebanon. By that time, I had become a convinced non-interventionist, after reading a biography of Robert A. Taft in college. After a terrorist drove a truck, heavily wired with explosives, into the Marines barracks, Reagan withdrew from Lebanon. Later, he confessed that sending the Marines to Lebanon was the biggest mistake of his presidency.

Admitting a mistake. It is hard to imagine any president since Reagan admitting a mistake. Yet, I think Reagan was genuine. He ran for president to accomplish something – end communism in the Soviet Union – rather than to be something. When he stood before the Berlin Wall and uttered those famous words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” I thought he was naive. I was wrong. I admit it.

In my life, I have supported candidates that have let me down when they got in office. The biggest example ever was Mickey Edwards, elected to Congress in 1976 (with Reagan’s help). Reagan came to Oklahoma and did a fund raiser for Edwards. I was a volunteer in Edwards’ campaign, and as such, got to go to the fund raiser for only six bucks.

After the conclusion of Reagan’s remarks, I went forward and got his signature on the program. Unfortunately, the signature is on a program supporting Mickey Edwards.

In recent times, Edwards has supported Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and now, Kamala Harris for president. He is a member of the globalist organizations, Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspin Institute.

The late M. Stanton Evans had a rule – our friends never get elected, because if they do, they are not our friends. Edwards illustrates the truth of the Evans rule. Ronald Reagan, on the other hand, is an exception.

Steve Byas is Editor of the Oklahoma Constitution and author of several magazine articles and books, including History’s Greatest Libels. He may be contacted at byassteve@yahoo.com