William M. ``Mac'' Thornberry: “like many Americans, I feel a real and personal sense of loss with the death of President Ronald Reagan. He was a great…”

“like many Americans, I feel a real and personal sense of loss with the death of President Ronald Reagan. He was a great man and a great President, ranking in the top tier of all of our chief executives. He will be remembered as a pivotal historical figure; but, at the same time, many Americans feel as though they have lost a member of their family. Such was the unique character and legacy of Ronald Reagan, the President and the man. My wife, Sally, and I each had the honor of serving as political appointees during the second term of the Reagan administration. We were down in the bowels of the bureaucracy, but proud to be working for and certainly inspired by President Reagan. With his optimism and his confidence in America, he inspired at least a generation of conservatives to be involved in public life and to advance the ideals for which he stood. As important as his accomplishments domestically and internationally were, perhaps his most important success was to help the American people believe in themselves again. After the tumult of assassinations, Vietnam, Watergate, and malaise, Ronald Reagan came to remind us of the core values of the Founding Fathers and the special place that the United States has in the history of the world, that 'shining city on a hill.' President Reagan was called The Great Communicator, but he said that what was truly great were the ideas he communicated. Those ideas were fundamental in the creation of the United States.”