It seems like longer, but it was only 2006 when my friend John O’Sullivan published his book The President, The Pope, and the Prime Minister, a genuinely fascinating survey of the overlapping careers of the three great heroes of the closing years of the Cold War: Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and Margaret Thatcher. It is a book that retains its interest even today — in many ways, its interest is heightened by the great difference between that era and this one.
Nostalgia must always be resisted, but one might be tempted to give up on politics and public affairs altogether when considering how those three roles have been recast. The descent of the papacy from the sainted John Paul II to the confused and incoherent Pope Francis has left the Catholic world, and the broader Christian world that looks to the pope as an example, bereft of moral leadership; Boris Johnson has shown himself to be a buffoon not fit to carry Mrs. Thatcher’s handbag; and if you are looking for good evidence against the theory of evolution, the drop-off from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden (preemptively underlined by Donald Trump) offers tantalizing possibilities.
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