President Reagan Loses to Alzheimer's

Ronald Wilson Reagan's body finally stopped working Saturday. To say that he died then, however, is incorrect. Alzheimer's Disease took away what made the 40th president of the United States unique many years earlier. While the media and the masses chew over their memories of him, his passing raises a bigger issue - the quality of life versus the quantity of years.

Had his life ended forty years ago, America would have lost an actor. Thirty years earlier, California would have lost a recent governor. Twenty years ago, a president set for a second term would have died in office. Ten years ago, the world would have lost a leader of historic importance. Today, though, it is more difficult to say just what it was the world lost because he was already gone.

For most famous elderly, the last years are quieter than those that made them famous. But they have time with their family and friends that, while full of aches, pains and the rest of it, is meaningful. Mr. Reagan and those who knew him personally were denied that time. His wife spent everyday at his bedside, alone. The hell that Nancy Reagan suffered is not something to wish upon anyone.

Euthanasia is one option in a case like Mr. Reagan's, and it is an ethical minefield. It is also defeatist. Mr. Reagan was, if nothing else, a congenital optimist (even when the facts were completely against him). A cure would be a far better solution. Death is inevitable, but death by Alzheimer's is not.

There are promising therapies, and there has been much progress in the last few years. This progress came too late to let Mr. Reagan play the role of ex-president. The Kensington Review encourages readers to visit the Alzheimer's Association's website.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


Home