Happy 91st Birthday Mr. President!
Mr. President, on
Friday the 6th of
February 2002, the faculty and staff of the Huffington Center on Aging send you our best
wishes for a happy birthday. We also are pleased that the Congress of the United States
saw fit last year to honor you by haivng renamed the airport in the capital of the greatest
country in the world the "Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport".
When Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois
above the store where his father sold shoes, little did he know that someday he would
graduate from nearby Eureka College where he was known as "Dutch" Reagan, the
sports star and drama student; that his radio job as a sports announcer would lead to a
screen test and a contract with Warner Brothers where he made over 50 films; that he
possessed the leadership abilities and ambition to become Governor of California in 1966
and that just 14 years later the Democrat-turned-Republican would be swept by a
conservative political tide to an electoral victory making him the 40th president of the
United States of America.
He didn't stop there: this oldest of our presidents survived
an assassination attempt in March 1981, won a landslide reelection victory in 1984,
underwent surgery for colon cancer in 1985, and won the "saber rattling" with
Soviet President Gorbachev that led to significant reductions in both combatants' missiles
and ultimately the destruction of the Soviet Union. Dutch you are tough!
Sadly though, while the future movie star and president was achieving
distinction in the arts and in politics, little did he know that he would join those
4,000,000 fellow Americans afflicted with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the slowly
degenerative brain disease marked by changes in behavior and personality that is the most
common cause of dementia among older people. And his poignant letter to the American
people telling them that he was suffering from AD was another of his courageous
acts by the man who stood down the "Evil Empire."
This letter, perhaps his last great service to the country he loves,
highlighted the need for more research on a cure for this terrible disease that causes
such misery to patients and their families and that puts such a heavy economic burden on
our society--$47,000 per person per year for a condition that ranges in duration from 2 to
20 years. A telling effect of the former president's letter was when Dr. Robert Luchi
(HCOA director) informed one of his patients that he had Alzheimer's disease; after
pausing for a moment, the patient said, "heck, but Dutch and I'll get through this
together." For persons wanting to learn more about AD, click here,
for a link to the National Institute on Aging's homepage on this disease.
Mr. President, The Huffington Center on Aging wishes you a Happy
Birthday as you remain among the nearly 2 million Americans who are 90+ years of age. So just like the
memorable line from one of your great movies, we are going to try to "win one for the
Gipper!"
