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Paying my respects to a great American
By William H. Wolcott
Wednesday, June 09, 2026

It’s the least I can do.

At the stroke of midnight (hopefully) Thursday, I will be turning my wheels south and heading to Washington, D.C.

It will mark the beginning of my one-and-a-half day journey to honor President Ronald Reagan.

My plan is simple, sort of:

-- Get out of work and drive the 7-plus hours to D.C., a place I’ve never been.

-- Find a conveniently close parking space (hopefully), and get in line to view Reagan lying in state.

-- After paying my respects, find a place to eat and a hotel to sleep.

-- Get back to Lockport before my shift starts at 4 p.m. Friday.

So why am I doing this?

I have to tell you I didn’t start out a Reaganite.

When Reagan was first running for president in 1980, I was a backer of the more moderate George Bush. He seemed a safer pick than the conservative ex-movie star.

And by the waning days of his sometimes-tempestuous administration, I had grown tired of the silver-tongued cowboy and looked with optimism toward new and younger blood in the White House.

But like the girl next door whom you should have dated but never did, my thoughts of Ronald Reagan grew fonder as the years ticked by.

It was sometime during the Bill Clinton administration when I finally began to appreciate Reagan.

Maybe it was the realization that we no longer faced nuclear annihilation. (If anyone ever saw the television epic “The Day After,” you would understand the fear that gripped our nation during the Cold War.)

Maybe it was the understanding that Reagan was right when he said that we are a nation filled with good and well-meaning people. (Is there another nation with so many people willing to risk their lives or lives of loved ones in order to free others from tyranny?)

And the pragmatic side of me wonders if my view of Reagan changed after the realization that the end of the Cold War, brought about largely by Reagan, ushered in the greatest era of prosperity in my lifetime?

I don’t really know the reasons why my views changed. All I know is that I grew to love the man.

That, I suppose, is why I cried Saturday for a man I never met.

So why am I going to Washington, D.C.?

To pay more than a passing tribute to a man I respect a great deal.

Night Editor William H. Wolcott’s column runs Wednesdays in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. Contact him at (716) 439-9222, Ext. 6241, or [email protected].
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