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From the Right by Ed Farnan

The Greatest of Presidents

Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2011 at 09:38 AM

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February is the shortest month of the year with only 28 days. Yet it is a month packed with importance that no other month can boast. It is the birth month of Americas three greatest Presidents and another President whose potential greatness was nipped in the bud after only 34 days in office.

It is a month who sets aside a special day for lovers when Valentines days is recognized.

The entire month is celebrated as Black History Month.

Of course it is the only month that honors the mighty Groundhog who determines what our weather will be for the next 6 weeks when February 2, dawns....What power!

But without the 3 greatest Presidents who lead our country through its most turbulent eras, we might not be here today as a nation to celebrate February.

President Washington, first and only Father of our country, whose strength and determination saw us through those dark days of Valley Forge and on to victory over the British. His leadership brought us the beginning of the greatest country on earth.

President Lincoln, who saw it as his sole most important role as the leader who would preserve our union. In spite of overwhelming losses, calls for his resignation, criticisms from every corner, he persevered through our country's dark days and kept us e pluribus unum.

Which brings me to our greatest President, the humble man from humble beginnings, an Irish American who loved the USA, President Ronald Reagan. With that unmistakable twinkle in his eye, the gift of gab that only comes from a close encounter with the Blarney stone, he inspired our country to greatness in a time of national malaise and sweater wearing. When he took office we were faced with cataclysmic consequences on all fronts. Nuclear war and annihilation were a button push away.

Ronald Reagan's charismatic leadership inspired us to greatness. He steadfastly stared down the Soviet leaders which eventually broke the Soviet Union. This lead to the crumbling of the Berlin wall and opened up the floodgates of freedom around the world. We had unparalleled prosperity without the threat of nuclear annihilation hanging over our heads. He was truly a great man needed for that time. He was also the man on whose principles the modern day Tea Party is based on.

This humble man once said: " I am not a great man, I just believe in great ideas".

Happy 100th President Reagan, God Bless you up there!

PS: Could you please send us another February born President...soon!

Editors note: Feb 21, 2011 ... (NewsCore) - A Gallup poll taken ahead of President's Day reveals that Americans believe Ronald Reagan was the nation's greatest president, ...

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DennisQ | Feb 08, 2011, 05:34 PM EST

Beware of Irishness that presents itself with a twinkle in its eye. It's not genuine; shure and begorrah it's 19th century stage Irish. Ronald Reagan would know how to act Irish depending on the circumstances. He loved a good yarn, and he welcomed gibes at his own expense.

However, it was his mean-spirited attitude towards the poor that distinguished him from the Irish of actual, lived history. Two of Reagan's dubious achievements contrast with the Irish characteristic empathy for suffering. One is his slander of the poor as fraudulent claimants against the common good of society - the Cadillac-owning "welfare queen" of legend. The other is Reagan's choice of location to declare his presiditential candidadcy - in Philadelphia, Mississippi, notorious as the place where three civil rights workers were murdered. It implemented Nixon's Southern Strategy and appealed to Southern racism.

Reagan can't be considered a great president unless you rework notions of greatness to include being fortunate enough to have been there when great events took place. But that's a fairly accommodating definition. Pick out a great event at random and tie it to whomever happened to occupy the White House at the time it happened.

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hancock | Feb 08, 2011, 02:09 PM EST

Greatest president in my lifetime, maybe all you Irish whiners should worry about your own leaders.

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MalcomAC | Feb 08, 2011, 11:11 AM EST

But he raised taxes, increased the size of governments, and walked away from retaliating against Middle Eastern terrorists - negotiated with them, in fact.

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jamieLM | Feb 08, 2011, 09:13 AM EST

You've got 2 out of 3 right, but I don't agree with you about Reagan. He's definitely not the worst President, but I don't think he deserves to be ranked as the 3rd best President - not even close. I think you should rethink your choice for #3.

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mayoman | Feb 08, 2011, 01:46 AM EST

Ah yes, Ronald Reagan. The man that recklessly set off a massive arms build up against the Soviets that we are all very fortunate did not end in nuclear war. The man that broke the PATCO union, firing thousands of essential air-traffic controllers. Ronald Reagan; the man who illegally masterminded the Iran-Contra Affair, and who should have been impeached for his actions. (Instead Admiral Poindexter fell on his sword for his Chief.) Ronald Reagan is the man that is remembered by legions of adoring, but uninformed right wingers for lowering taxes, (which he did in 1981), only to raise them several times before he left office. Ronald Reagan; the man that attacked Grenada under the pretext that the American medical students on the island were under threat from Cuban forces, but who were under no such threat until Reagan's attack. Ronald Reagan is our greatest president? You must be delusional, Mr. Farnan. Very delusional.

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GeorgeDillon | Feb 08, 2011, 12:16 AM EST

I guess Reagan's greatest military achievement was attacking and occupying the island of Grenada. It was a feat on a par with Iwo Jima or Shiloh. Population of Grenada is what, 80.000? Less than Newark NJ. In fact less than a few blocks in Newark NJ.

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hancock | Feb 07, 2011, 10:38 PM EST

I guess you Irish lefties didn't live here when he was president.

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jmchrystal | Feb 07, 2011, 05:20 PM EST

NO, NO, NO! Ronnie, the ACTING President, is one of the top three Presidents only if the destruction of America is you criteria. His "let them eat crumbs" voodoo economic policies, carried on since his Presidency in a variety of forms, is precisely the root of out economic melt down of today. Under Ronnie, NO one counted for anything unless they were the super rich!

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CaptainTom | Feb 07, 2011, 12:04 PM EST

I thought the so-called "great communicater" was a better actor than he was given credit for. He was also a major league windbag who was good at delivering his lines if he could remember them. The "Gipper", I prefered Gaper, was the worst thing since the Civil War until "W" came along.

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Monsoonman | Feb 07, 2011, 11:14 AM EST

Pre-Reagan we were under the yoke of james earl carter, probably the worst leader our country has experienced, present occupant of the whitehouse excluded. Interest rates were 19%, we had fuel shortages, Iran was given to muslim extremists, all over the world cuba and russia were conducting wars of "liberation" and were threatening our very existence with nuclear war. Under Reagan everyone in America who wanted a job could work, loans were affordable and the private sector boomed, the soviet empire collapsed, there was no need for massive amounts of nuclear weapons, our friends trusted us and our enemies feared us...a total turn around from carter when we were on the brink. What more can one man do? He gave us peace and a great economy, it was up to us to preserve it.

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BigGuns | Feb 07, 2011, 11:13 AM EST

Based on the Liberal comments, he must have been the greatest.

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lawyer4 | Feb 07, 2011, 10:57 AM EST

Reagan was a dangerously simplistic and hypocritical "thinker", a mediocre actor who was good at soundbites, hyped by his controllers as a champion of democracy, who probably did more to harm the world's respect for the USA than anyone who ever held the office until the Bushes.

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TheOldPerfessor | Feb 07, 2011, 10:24 AM EST

As president he talked about smaller government, but the federal government did not shrink on his watch. He gave amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants and bragged that this would solve the problem for all time. It didn't. He dismantled government oversight of business, leading to the Savings and Loan crisis, and, ultimately to the market crash of 1987. His union busting helped lead us into the current Walmart economy where millions of people make enough to avoid unemployment but not enough to live. He made us feel better about ourselves. That's nice.

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JTravis | Feb 07, 2011, 10:24 AM EST

You've got to be kidding, or is this an early April Fool joke? Reagen ranks right up there with Millard Fillmore and James Buchanan.

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diannerae | Feb 07, 2011, 09:57 AM EST

I have never been able to figure out why people think Ronald Regan was a great president. I think he was just an actor and not even good at that.

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