Island folks admired the man if not his politics

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Staff Writer

Ronald Reagan had long faded from the public stage, locked in a private struggle with Alzheimer's disease, but his time as president still stirs vivid memories.

"He was the John Wayne of politics. He stood tall," said John Elkington, of La'ie, the director of housing at Brigham Young University-Hawai'i. "I think he solidified the presidency in terms of dignity and integrity, which we seem to have lost."

Hawai'i, with its strong Democratic tradition, has only backed Republican presidential candidates twice since statehood: Richard Nixon in 1972, and Reagan in 1984 during his landslide election to a second term. Like many Hawai'i voters, Elkington supported Jimmy Carter in 1980, when Reagan was elected president, but converted to Reagan four years later.

"He will be missed," Elkington said.

People in Hawai'i yesterday expressed sadness that Reagan had died, and some said they believed that he would go down in history in the middle tier of American presidents. He was a man respected for his leadership and communication skills, a hero to conservatives, who may be revered most as the president who laid the groundwork for the end of the Cold War.

"I remember when he said, 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,' " said Jerry DeRose, a lawyer from Globe, Ariz., here on vacation.

Two years after Reagan's challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in a speech in Germany, the Berlin Wall, a symbol of Communist rule, was opened and began to fall.

DeRose, a lifelong Democrat with two sons in the military's special forces, said he appreciated Reagan's emphasis on national defense and foreign policy, even though he did not vote for him. "He seemed to bring back patriotism," he said.

Bruce Franchini, a television director from San Francisco also here on vacation, said the first take on history tends to be kind to presidents. He said he worked with Reagan on public television spots after his presidency and found him to be a nice and likable man, although he disagreed with Reagan's politics.

"I think he's a far side better than what we have now," Franchini said.

Reagan's politics often were polarizing. Many Democrats saw him as a captive of the wealthy and religious conservatives who pulled the country to the right.

"He did horrible things for the country, like trickle-down economics," said Carolyn Koehler, a church administrator who lives in Mililani. "My problem is that he made it OK not to care about certain people."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.