Reagan’s flair touched
those with Hawaii tiesAppointees recall his knack
for listening to and disarming
rivals
As the nation mourned the loss of America's 40th president yesterday, Hawaii residents who worked in his administration remembered Ronald Reagan as a one-of-a-kind leader who had a knack for communicating, listening and making friends of rivals.
"I was impressed with him the first time I met him," said Faith Evans, whom Reagan appointed to be America's first female U.S. marshal.
"I was really impressed with his demeanor, with his ability to just get along with everybody," she said yesterday from her Kailua home. "It was really a thrill to be able to serve under him."
Reagan, the nation's longest-living president, died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 93. Flags across the state and country flew at half-staff yesterday in his honor.
"He's not like anyone I've ever met before or since," said James Kelly, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. "I did not find him out of touch, as many have suggested."
Kelly, former president of the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum who has a home near Pearl Harbor, worked in Reagan's White House for three years as National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs.
"He brought an ease with people," said Kelly, who was reached by phone yesterday at his Washington, D.C., residence. "He met people and could disarm them. He took a lot of pride in dealing with a difficult adversary and getting the person chuckling."
Kelly said Reagan was "enormously interested in improving our relationships" with Asian countries and saw this "as a vibrant part of the world."
Brenda Foster, of Kailua, agreed. She worked closely with the Reagan administration while executive director of the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council in Honolulu and said yesterday that the president's foreign affairs policy was positive, "primarily because it really took into account the countries in the Asia-Pacific region."
On one of Reagan's trips to the islands, Kelly said, former Hawaii Sen. Spark Matsunaga spoke with the president about the importance of supporting a technology center in Japan. When Reagan got to the country, the project was "the very first thing he mentioned" to the Japanese prime minister, Kelly said.
Reagan visited Hawaii twice during his eight years in office, and made two campaign appearances in the islands when he was the governor of California seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
He was also only the second Republican president since statehood to be supported by Hawaii voters.
"I was in Washington, D.C., for the (Reagan) inauguration," Evans said. "That day ... I don't care what your political affiliation, there was this great sense of hope there. It was a really thrilling experience, this real feeling of what an American is."
University of Hawaii President Evan Dobelle said he found Reagan "to be a person with a great love for America."
The university head was on Reagan's commission for education reform when the politician was California's governor.
Dobelle said yesterday that Reagan was often dubbed the "Great Communicator," but he was also a "great listener."
"The more he listened," Dobelle said, "the more you began to realize what you ought to do. ... He led you to make a decision without telling you what it ought to be."
"I have missed him for a long time."
Evans, who first met Reagan in 1982, said that when she heard of the president's death Saturday, she recalled "all the memories and things that he had done."
"It's kind of an overwhelming feeling, like a member of your family died," she continued. "You kind of know it's going to happen, but when it happens it's hard."
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Islanders fondly recall
Reagan’s leadership
Hawaii residents remembered former President Ronald Reagan as a man of character, conviction and wit.
"He was a great president; he really was," said Keith Tawada, 68, of Manoa. "I think he represented what America stands for. He really stuck to his guns on the important stuff. He was strong and compassionate."
Tawada, a self-proclaimed "staunch Democrat," said he voted for Reagan in 1984, but only after he had proved himself as commander in chief. He said it was the first and only time he has crossed party lines.
Bert Arroyo was too young to vote for Reagan, but said he would have if he'd had the chance.
"He was a strong leader who was able to bring Americans together," he said. "Partisanship wasn't an issue with him, and I think people didn't realize the benefits of his policies until later."
Even Jerri Lau, who disagreed with many of Reagan's policies, said it is hard to fault the man who worked so hard to defeat communism.
"I have great respect for him. He accomplished so much. It's so amazing when you think about it. I still get chicken skin when I watch that speech he made in Germany," she said, referring to Reagan's 1987 visit to the Berlin Wall, where he challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."
"I mean, you have to admit that he had guts," said the 42-year-old mother of seven. "I didn't always agree with him, but I respected him."
Judy Gray said Reagan he was a good politician who performed his presidential duties with conviction and confidence.
"He had a great outlook on life. He was such an optimist even in the worst times," she said. "He was an all-American guy who took things in stride. He was always coming up with some funny thing to say, even when things were bad."
In his first year in office, Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton. Gray recalls watching a television special on Reagan's recovery which told the story of Reagan waking from surgery to find his nurse holding his hand. He looked at her and quipped, "Does Nancy know about us?"
"What an incredible man he was," Gray said. "Sure, he was a great president, but he must have been a wonderful person, too."