A Life Magazine photo during Reagan’s bid for
governor in California shows his love for horses.
The first time that I met President Reagan we talked about horse’s butts.
The grace of the polo game and the quiet beauty of Will Rogers Park seemed to freeze us in time.
We discussed the pros and cons of trying to play polo on a Quarter Horse rather than the preferred Thoroughbred.
It was a few weeks until I saw the President again at the next polo game. He began with “Oh, hello. Nice to see you again.”
We picked up our conversation right where we had left it a few weeks before. We were just two guys who loved horses.
I don’t know whether The President really remembered me, or was just being kind, but it was his kindness that overwhelmed me.
Here was a man who had been the leader of the free world, but yet when he asked you how you were, he really wanted to know, how you were.
That is the difference between a statesman and a politician.
Even in the twilight of his years President Reagan carried with him a gentility that is noticeably absent on the world stage today.
He wasn’t just the great communicator, he was a good man.
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