When Character Was King

Fall break is over. I was going to take advantage of the time to get a head start on homework for the rest of the semester. Then my sister told me to do something I can't do during school. That made a lot of sense. So I bid my homework farewell for the week and sat down, and read. It was amazing.
That said, here are some of my favorite aspects of the story of Ronald Reagan, "When Character Was King" by Peggy Noonan.

There are two things I learned to admire about Reagan that actually reflected each other in a lot of ways:

The first was his character, and specifically, his "tough skin". Any president is going to have criticism and degrading comments thrown at them right and left. Reagan didn't let this get to him. He didn't let it rob him of any sleep. And most of the time, he didn't even try to defend himself; in fact, he often made light of it. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do. But Reagan learned the art of not letting it get to him, and I think that is one of the qualities that made him a great leader.

The second thing that impressed me was his sense of humor. You don't often hear of a president who loves cracking all kinds of jokes. But taking things a little less seriously can really help you cope with difficult situations, and I think that's where Reagan was right on. When one of those critical comments came his way, that he was lazy and didn't know the meaning of hard work, Reagan said: "I know hard work never killed anyone, but I figure why take a chance?" That cracks me up. Not only did he not need to defend himself, he made light of it and gave everyone else a good laugh. That takes self-control. And it takes confidence to know that when you're doing what you believe to be the right thing, everyone else opinion's are not top concern.

Reagan got shot 9 weeks into his first term as president. Before the bullet was actually discovered, there's a hospital scene with a president close to dying and doctors panicking because no one knows why. They hustle Reagan into the operating room to perform a surgery in hopes of determining the problem, and he says with what must have been a wink, "I just hope you're all Republicans." They weren't, but a doctor replies, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans."

Although Reagan certainly wasn't perfect, and made his share of mistakes like any president, we have a lot to learn from this strong man.  For one, don't let what people say deter you from doing what's right, and two, don't take yourself too seriously.