Scott Bruun: Ronald Reagan in Portland and the Burbs

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Scott Bruun, GoLocalPDX MINDSETTER

Want great fried eggs? Use paprika and Tabasco. Want to keep your car running well? Get regular oil changes. Want to see a middle-age suburban father blow a gasket?

Have his daughter’s high school history teacher throw Ronald Reagan under the bus.

So my oldest finished her sophomore year last Friday with a final in U.S. History. The test covered the last half of the 20th century and included questions on the Vietnam War, Robert Kennedy, Watergate, feminism, and our 40th president, Ronald Reagan. To the teacher’s credit, she provided plenty of classroom discussion and note-taking opportunities prior to the test. My daughter, looking to ace the test, was meticulous in taking notes – writing down the teacher’s comments almost verbatim.

On the day they studied the 1980s, the teacher presented a lecture titled “Five Myths about Reagan.” The “myths” the teacher taught her 15 and 16-year olds (and tested them on last week) were that Reagan was “fiscally responsible;” that he was “tough on crime;” that he was a “great communicator;” that he “supported democracy around the world;” and that he was a “champion of ordinary Americans.”

Myths all, says Ms. History Teacher.

Okay yes, we should support “academic freedom.” That is, support the notion that instructors be permitted, even encouraged, to teach from conscience rather than just prescribed norms or rigid guidelines. Yet shouldn’t the goal of academic freedom be to teach students how to think rather than what to think? Doesn’t a high school teacher, especially in the area of politics, owe it to her students to teach all sides? To acknowledge that there are hearty differences of opinion among reasonable people?

Or cutting to the chase, is she seriously suggesting that nothing positive came from the Reagan years? I mean I get it, Ms. History is no fan of the Reagan presidency. Fair enough. I’m no fan of the Carter, Clinton or Obama presidencies. But even a critic can say that Carter was a peace-maker and man of character. That Clinton was a crafty politician and instrumental in welfare-reform. And that Obama demonstrated courage when our country faced economic collapse, courage in going after Bin Laden, and is now showing some courage in dealing with the threat of ISIS.

Can’t a critic of Reagan still acknowledge that he was instrumental in ending the Cold War? That he was a catalysts for Solidarity movement in Poland and for democratic impulses around the globe? That his policies ended the economic malaise and stagflation of the 1970s, resulting in years of growth and job creation? Can’t he be given some credit for reminding Americans of our country’s exceptionalism? For rebuilding American confidence by explaining to us, and believing, that our country’s best days are ahead of us?

If a teacher can’t voice some of this, or at least explain that these views are held by others, well then that’s not academic freedom at all. Rather, it’s the simplistic musings of an ideologue. And a stunning disservice to her students.

When looking at U.S. history, one does not need to be a liberal to appreciate the greatness of FDR, and how essential he was to his times. One should not need to be a conservative to appreciate the same of Reagan.

So timing is everything. Last Saturday I attended a private book signing and lecture in Portland by H.W. Brands. Brands is the senior chair in history at the University of Texas, a New York Times bestselling author, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Franklin Roosevelt. Brands is a native of Portland, and spoke to groups last weekend at the Arlington Club and Powell’s.

His newest book, “Reagan: The Life,” was published last month. At Brand’s lecture, I asked his opinion on why the left seems quick to dismiss Reagan. Brand answered that there are misconceptions about Reagan on both the left and right. On the left, there is blindness toward Reagan’s intelligence, political skill and value to the nation and the times.

On the right, blindness toward Reagan’s pragmatism and willingness to compromise. Regan was not a conservative ideologue. Rather, he was a conservative who understood the necessary give-and-take of American democracy.

Teaching is a sacred trust, but maybe I take this Reagan thing too seriously. Perhaps I should have enough faith in American students, in my own daughter, to sift through a teacher’s subjective ideology. After all, it was my daughter who came home with notes in hand saying “can you believe this crud?”

Or perhaps we should just look at Reagan himself. Reagan who, with grace, gently endured a lifetime of obtuse critique from the left. Reagan who loved the American people. Reagan who might have said to an Oregon high school teacher - said with a smile, a twinkle in his eye and a slight tilt of his head, “Well, there you go again.”

Scott Bruun is a fifth-generation Oregonian and recovering politician. He lives with his family in the 'burbs', yet dutifully commutes to Portland every day where he earns his living in public affairs with Hubbell Communications.