Mount Rushmore needs to be revisited to
include Ronald Reagan!
Ramesh C. Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard
The number 40 brings so
many things into my mind. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights when the
first flood wiped out everyone except Noah’s family. The Israelites
wandered the desert for 40 years because of their disobedience after
being liberated by God from Egypt. Jesus was tempted in the desert for
40 days by Satan and overcame temptation using the Word of God. Jesus
appeared to his disciples for 40 days after His resurrection.
There has been 40 days
between lent and Easter. Rick Warren wrote a book called the ‘Purpose
Driven Life’ to be used for 40 days to grow strong in the Lord. The
University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball team, the Pittsburgh Panthers
won 40 games in a row at home in 2004. I have been blessed to be able to
write a book called ’40 days of Jamming with Joy in Jesus’
Most recently, it reminds
me of the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Wilson
Reagan who has gone to be with the Lord on Saturday. Reagan suffered
from Alzheimer’s disease for the past ten years and died of Pneumonia in
his home in California. Reagan was 93 years old!
He was the first American
president I came to know about when I first came from India. Once I was
so excited when I received the Presidential Academic Award signed by
Reagan. He became my favorite president as I loved his charm and his
pursuit of ending Communism and the Cold War among many of his
conservative ideals and policies. Reagan has been credited as the U.S
president responsible for the fall of Communism in many countries, the
end of the Cold War, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
America has lost a great
president since the 16th president of the United States,
Abraham Lincoln was gunned down. Let us remember the man who made so
many changes and affected America in a positive way.
Regardless of whether you
are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent you have to look at the
legacy that Reagan left behind. It is amazing when you think about
Reagan winning a landslide victory taking 49 of the 50 states during his
re-run for the presidency. He enjoyed the highest popularity rating
after leaving office.
It is time Mount Rushmore
be revisited not just for sight seeing the presidents whose faces are
carved there but to include our late beloved former president Reagan’s
face on it. Whatever has to happen needs to happen so this can become a
reality.
In closing, I will miss
Reagan’s charm and kind heartedness. He is the one that had wonderful
people working for him such as his wife Nancy Reagan and so many others
who believed in what he wanted to accomplish. The nation has lost a
great former president. If the memorial is made public, everyone should
try to attend it at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
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