From the Reagan Library

There's something special about the Reagan Library, and despite the less-fun aspects of working this weekend, I am so grateful for the opportunity to visit Simi Valley and this beautiful presidential library. There's been some despair, some bleakness, some desperation lately amongst conservatives. And I am not going to pretend that I was happy about the results of the election, or even that I've fully come to terms with four more years of moving backwards in this country. Some believe only our souls can be saved in times like these. But I am torn. I want to believe that hope will be restored. This country has seen its share of tough times...the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II. Sometimes this brings the best out of us.

This era is reminiscent of the 1970s, when conservatism was at its depths of despair. Out of four years of Jimmy Carter, we were given Ronald Reagan's presidency. 

I visited the Library, and re-read that letter President Reagan wrote when he announced his diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease.  He concluded it with words that I can almost recite by heart: "In closing, let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead."

Even in the depths of his despair, of a diagnosis that he would never recover from, he still held on to hope. And those words, like so many he uttered, reflected an innate belief in this country of ours, that there is always a shining city on a hill.  America is stronger, different, exceptional.  And for a moment, as tears welled in my eyes, I felt the strength of his conviction, and I could feel his own hope now, 18 years after he wrote those words. And I needed that.