Michael Mundia Kamau
P.O. Box 58972
00200 City Square
Nairobi
Kenya

12th June 2004

      THE PASSING OF AN ERA

Former American President Ronald Reagan has been put
to rest in a manner befitting his stature, his
contribution and his legacy. Ronald Reagan was a child
of many worlds, different things to different people
and indeed a leader. His long and illustrious journey
captures remarkable transition at all stages. Ronald
Reagan witnessed the inception of flight and then
presided over it’s rapid transformation several years
later through the growth of the space shuttle program
and through his monumental Strategic Defense
Initiative program (SDI), also known as “Star Wars”.
Ronald Reagan witnessed the birth and growth of the
American film industry, was a part of it as an actor,
and then presided over it’s transaformation several
years later by helping build numerous brilliant
careers, including that of present California Governor
Arnold Schwarznegger. That the final resting place of
Ronald Reagan remained his beloved California, a state
currently run by a contemporary American immigrant, is
a profound statement of Ronald Reagan’s legacy. Ronald
Reagan grew up during the Great Depression and
witnessed the birth of Henry Ford’s Model-T
automobile. Several years later, Ronald Reagan
presided over huge general economic growth in America
at the front of which stood giant automobile
manufacturers, General Motors (GM), The Ford
Corporation and The Chrysler Corporation.

Ronald Reagan lived and gave renewed inspirational to
the American dream. The epitome of a  quintessential
American, Ronald Reagan grew up poor, but died a
fulfilled man. Legend has it that Ronald Reagan
abhorred and avoided firing individuals at all costs,
because his father was laid off during the Great
Depression, and knew firsthand the pain of growing up
with a jobless father. Ronald Reagan did not come from
old money or obtain an Ivy League education, but
nevertheless became an actor, a governor, a president
and a statesman. The attendance of Reagan’s funeral
service by former leaders Mikhail Gobarchev, Margaret
Thatcher, Brian Mulroney and Lech Welesa, are a
lasting tribute of Reagan’s success at building a
better world. Many never believed that the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), would fall in
our time. The U.S.S.R. was a bitter foe of the U.S.A.
for many years and was last headed by Mikhail
Gobarchev, an equally great man in his own right.
Mikhail Gorbachev was under no obligation whatsoever
to attend Reagan’s funeral service, but he
nevertheless did of his own volition. This is a
profound indication of the regard that Gorbachev had
for the man.

Ronald Reagan was also a husband, a father and a
friend. Ronald and Nancy Reagan are beacons of family
values for global societies grappling with the
crumbling insitution. Nancy Reagan’s loyalty and
strength over the years, especially the last ten, are
remarkable and deeply commendable. She stood by her
husband to the very end, a contemporary rarity.
Nancy’s gracefulness and strength over the last five
days reflect features of the sound character that
helped build her life with Ronald Reagan. Despite her
advanced age, Nancy could have chosen to desert Reagan
if she wanted to, but she didn’t. Nancy even afforded
a chuckle at her husband’s funeral service when former
President George Bush jokingly reminisced about Ronald
Reagan’s rhyme answer “so so”, when asked about his
meeting with Bishop Tutu.

Ronald Reagan’s links with Africa and Kenya were not
that prominent. Former Kenyan President Daniel arap
Moi made two state visits to America during Reagan’s
presidency and Kenyan athletics’ legend, Kipchoge
Keino was hosted by Reagan in an event to honour great
world athletes. Kipchoge still jokes about how he and
his wife were sought out from their Eldoret home by
Kenyan security officials and promptly flown to
America abroad a concord, at speeds he could never
dream of running at. Apart from Moi’s and Kipchoge’s
visits, Kenya did not feature prominently in Reagan’s
policies. Many Kenyans at the time viewed Reagan as an
arrogant, cocky, reckless and abrasive cowboy,
especially after his administration bombed Tripoli and
Benghazi. Rather curiously and indirectly, Ronald
Reagan has another lasting legacy in Kenya. Many
Kenyans, young and old, now have a preference for
American pop music produced in the 1980s. There is
abundant play of music of the time by artists like
Kool & the Gang, Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind & Fire,
Kenny Rogers, Don Williams, Madonna and George
Michael. At some point five to six years ago, it had
become ridiculous to the point that radio stations
eventually decided to allocate playing of such music
to only certain hours of the day or night. A further
lasting Kenyan legacy of Reagan’s  America, is the
fact that Nairobi now has a full time soul station,
105.2 FM, that specilises in playing American pop
music of the 1980s. The fact that many Kenyans got to
see Reagan’s final journey to his final resting place
by way of live beams from the giant Cable News Network
(CNN), a station that was born, grew and thrived
during Reagan’s reign, is a loud indication of
Reagan’s legacy in Kenya. Ronald Reagan had an
enviable regular guy persona as does Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton playing the saxophone at his 1993
inauguration party is a defining statement of America.
If Ronald Reagan were a Kenyan, he would have been a
regular feature at Nairobi’s Burma market and would
not flinch from buying and eating roasted maize from
street vendors.

Another remarkable American president, Richard Nixon,
died ten years ago after what he described as his long
journey from his home town of Yorba Linda, to the
White House. Richard Nixon’s remarkable journey was
tainted by the Watergate scandal, which Americans
forgave him for in later years. At one such occasion,
a shop attendant reached out to Nixon and said “ For
what it’s worth Mr. President, I voted for you, and
I’d vote for you again”. Nixon was so overwhelmed with
shock, emotion and gratitude that he reached out and
gave the the shop attendant a warm bear hug without
uttering a word. In the same token, many non-Americans
would have voted for Ronald Reagan during and after
his presidential terms, were it possible. Ronald
Reagan was not just an American leader, but a world
leader. Rest In Peace, cowboy.



Michael Mundia Kamau