Two key members of the administration of President Ronald Reagan have died in the last two days.
Lyn Nofziger, Reagan spokesman and adviser, dead at 81
Franklyn “Lyn” Nofziger, the rumpled and irreverent conservative who served Ronald Reagan as press secretary and political adviser, died of cancer Monday. He was 81.
Nofziger died at his home in Falls Church, Va., said Eldin Girdner, a family friend.
Former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a statement Monday: “I was deeply saddened this afternoon when I heard of Lyn Nofziger’s death. Lyn was with us from the gubernatorial campaign in 1965 through the early White House days, and Ronnie valued his advice — and good humor — as much as anyone’s. I spoke with him just days ago and even though he knew the end was near, Lyn was hopeful and still in good spirits.”
Nofziger, who joined Reagan’s ranks early in the political career of the actor-turned-politician, headed the White House political office during the first year of the Reagan presidency and then quit to form a political consulting and lobbying firm.
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Conservative columnist George F. Will once described the nonconformist, cigar-chomping Nofziger as “Sancho Panza” to Reagan’s Don Quixote.
Asked why he was leaving the White House, Nofziger replied, “I don’t like government, it’s just that simple.” He denied as “99 percent untrue” a report he’d quit because of his exclusion from the president’s innermost circle.
His determined irreverence extended to the Reagans.
“I’m not a social friend of the Reagans,” he told an interviewer. “That’s by their choice and by mine. They don’t drink enough.”
Former defense chief Caspar Weinberger dies at 88
Caspar Weinberger, who as Ronald Reagan’s defense secretary oversaw a massive U.S. military buildup, died on Tuesday at age 88.
Caspar Weinberger Jr. said his father had been suffering from pneumonia and high fever for about a week and died at 5 a.m. EST in the intensive-care unit of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, about 40 miles from his home in Mount Desert.
Weingberger’s wife of 63 years, Jane, his son and daughter, Arlin, were at his bedside when he died.
“He was just a worn-out guy,” his son, Caspar Weinberger Jr., told Reuters.
As head of the Pentagon, Weinberger strongly opposed concessions to Moscow in arms control negotiations and pushed hard for increased defense spending, such as Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, a program to develop a land-and space-based missile shield commonly known as “Star Wars.”
“He should be remembered as a world statesman, a great American patriot,” the son said. “What he did with Reagan really brought down the Soviet Union. They stuck to their plan and simply outspent the Soviets despite all sorts of doubts here.”
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Weinberger performed with gusto the task of persuading the U.S. Congress to spend more than $1 trillion on arms in Reagan’s first term and billions more after that.
He also steadfastly opposed concessions to Moscow in arms control negotiations advocated by Secretary of State George Shultz and other more moderate members of the Cabinet.
He made himself unpopular with many lawmakers by his unbending, often contentious push for funds for arms and for Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative — a program, commonly known as “Star Wars,” to develop a land- and space-based shield against incoming ballistic missiles.
A longtime member of Reagan’s inner circle of California friends, Weinberger was one of the president’s strongest supporters in the Cabinet.
“He was just a great American,” the son said. “He was a respected world diplomat, a member of ‘the greatest generation,’ as Tom Brokaw called it.”
The younger Weinberger said his father was “first and foremost a Californian” but had moved to Maine for the benefit of his wife, a native of the state. The Weinbergers first bought a summer home in Maine in the mid-1970s and had lived their full time for the past few years.
Weinberger was a Harvard-educated lawyer and serve on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s intelligence staff during World War Two, his family said.
His funeral will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.
I would like to think these two men for their years of dedication and service. For those so inclined, this may be a good moment to consider a donation to the Ronald Reagan Memorial Fund.