Reagan an American 'original'

2004-06-06 20:13

Washington - Former US president Ronald Reagan, who died on Saturday at the age of 93, was a "true American original" and personified the "indomitable optimism" of the American people, former president Bill Clinton and his wife, senator Hillary Clinton, said.

"Hillary and I will always remember President Ronald Reagan for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people and for keeping America at the forefront of the fight for freedom for people everywhere," they said in a statement.

"It is fitting that a piece of the Berlin Wall adorns the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.

"Hillary and I send our prayers to Nancy, their children and their many friends and family, as well as our gratitude for the life of a true American original," they added.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Bill Clinton said he had called Nancy Reagan.

"I called Mrs Reagan and we reminisced a little bit about some of the times we shared in the 1980s when I was a young governor working with the Reagan White House," he said.

"I always liked being with him," Bill Clinton said of the 40th US president.

"And even when we had our differences about domestic policy, the one thing I liked about him was that he was not mean-spirited," he said.

"He was always optimistic about our country. And he believed that freedom was a universal value, as I do.

"He believed people everywhere wished to be free. And he believed that the Cold War would come to an end before most people did."

- AFP