This page was last updated on June 23, 2004.

Wartime mystery: Why was bomber the USS Aliquippa?; Gino Piroli; Beaver County Times; June 21, 2004.

In what was otherwise an interesting piece, Mr. Piroli veered into a completely unrelated subject to take a partisan shot at President Reagan and his supporters.  Below is a detailed critique of the relevant portion of the column.

"In an unrelated thought, what should have been a respectful and dignified testimonial to one of our most popular and well-liked presidents, Ronald Reagan, his funeral because of its length and overexposure became more of a showcase than a tribute."

[RWC] Aren't all presidential state funerals showcases given their rarity?  Are "showcase" and "tribute" mutually exclusive terms?  What was not respectful and dignified?  This was not the Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) "memorial" -- a political pep rally in effect and intent -- where President Bush and Vice President Cheney were asked not to attend and a Republican senator was booed for merely attending.

"The funeral had been planned for years by some of the same people who ran the Reagan political campaigns and had that aura of hype that infringed on the remembrance and sorrow."

[RWC] Mr. Piroli makes it sound unusual for planning to take place years in advance; the reverse is true.  I missed the hype, unless intense public interest constitutes hype.  Who would you expect to aid in funeral planning if not family, friends, and former staff members?

Presidents are to prepare their funeral plans upon taking office.  Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush have their plans on file;  Bill Clinton does not.  The Military District of Washington (MDW) is responsible for this process and updates each president's funeral plans annually.

Presidents are entitled to state funerals and that is what Ronald Reagan requested years ago, as do most presidents.  Former Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson had full state funerals.  The most recent exception was Richard Nixon, who chose not to have a state funeral.¹  Neither did Franklin Roosevelt.  Beyond that, family members choose speakers and the like, but the Joint Operations Center of the MDW handles the remainder of the planning and execution according to its protocol, based mostly on history and military custom.  These guidelines fill nearly 150 pages.  Many aspects of presidential state funerals are used regularly for military personnel, including carrying the casket on a caisson and a riderless horse.

"Now there's a fear that these same people are undertaking a campaign of rewriting history to embellish his tenure in office.  Are they afraid that in years to come, history will not reflect their concepts of his record?  They should remember that there are many still alive who actually went through the ups and downs of his administration."

[RWC] The fear to which Mr. Piroli is among liberals.  He forgot to mention the liberal groups and individuals trying to rewrite history to diminish the Reagan years.  When they weren't rewriting history during the funeral week to show how much they "really liked him," liberals tried to make Reagan successes look like the work of  an affable but lucky boob.  For example, liberals who in the 1980s touted the economic and military strength of the Soviet Union as a reason for appeasement now claim the USSR was in its death throes and Reagan had nothing to do with its collapse.  The fall of the USSR was the work of many people over a long period of time, but to claim President Reagan did not make a major contribution is to lie.

Every president has his good and bad results.  President Reagan was no exception and requires no deification.  On the whole, though, I believe history shows the impact of his successes exceeded that of his shortcomings.

"He signed into law the requirement that presidents be dead for 25 years before any memorials are planned to honor them.  The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial all began construction 49 years after their deaths."

[RWC] I don't understand the relevance, and Mr. Piroli apparently doesn't understand the intent and effect of the law.

Here is the relevant portion of the Commemorative Works Act.  "A commemorative work commemorating an event, individual, or group of individuals, other than a military commemorative work as described in subsection (b) of this section, shall not be authorized until after the 25th anniversary of the event, death of the individual, or death of the last surviving member of the group."  The law applies to all nonmilitary events and persons, not just presidents.

While Mr. Piroli implies the act was some scheme by President Reagan to get a memorial sooner, if he gets one at all, the purpose is exactly the opposite.  The act itself says one of its purposes is to ensure commemorative works "reflect a consensus of the lasting national significance of the subjects involved."  In other words, the law exists to minimize the likelihood of building a memorial as a knee-jerk reaction.  If anything, by approving this act President Reagan reduced the likelihood of a memorial for himself.

Mr. Piroli left out some facts about the FDR Memorial dedicated in 1997.  The U.S. Senate established the commission to plan and construct the FDR Memorial in 1955, only 10 years after FDR's death.  If the CWA had been in effect at that time, authorization could not have been given until 1970.  Assuming all other planning proceeded as it did, the FDR Memorial would not be dedicated until 2012.

On a semi-related topic, FDR's image was placed on the dime in 1946, less than two years after his death, and JFK's image was placed on the 50¢ piece in 1964, less than a year after his assassination.  Are not these forms of a memorial?

I believe what really bothered folks like Mr. Piroli was the interest shown in President Reagan by everyday people.  200,000+ individuals waited hours to view Reagan's casket and pay their respects because they respected him, whether they agreed with him or not.  This excludes the thousands of people who lined streets and stopped on freeways to view the various processions.  Liberals cannot tolerate widespread grass-roots respect for a conservative, especially one out of office for 15 years and out of public view for 10 years.

1. There are conflicting opinions on whether the Nixon funeral was a state funeral or not.  Some news sources said Nixon did not have a state funeral, while others said he did but without the traditional Washington ceremonies (funeral procession, lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda, etc.).  The Nixon funeral was held completely in California.

© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.