One of the rewards of serving as a trustee of my alma mater, Dartmouth College, has been discovering one remarkable Dartmouth grad after another. Today’s find, Grant Bosse, Class of ‘94, now considering a run for Congress from the second district of New Hampshire–and the author of an appreciation of my old boss, Ronald Reagan. In part:

Today would have been Ronald Reagan’s 97th birthday. When I first wrote about Reagan’s legacy over a decade ago, conventional wisdom held that the Gipper was an affable and charming leader; the Great Communicator, who used his skills as an actor to guide America through the upbeat 80s. I argued at the time that Reagan’s legacy had more to do with his substance than his style; more to do with his ideas and conviction than with his warmth and humor. Now, nearly twenty years removed from Reagan’s time in office, history has taken note of his greatness….I remember the anecdotes; asking the doctors who were poised to extract a would-be assassin’s bullet if they were all Republicans, and later telling Nancy that he forgot to duck; promising Walter Mondale not to use his opponent’s youth and inexperience against him; and reminding Nashua Telegraph Editor Jon Breen that “I paid for this microphone.” But on his birthday, and as we head into this election season, I hope we remember the core values that Ronald Reagan promoted, and the strength of character he showed by sticking to them.

Hat tip: Joseph Malchow, Class of ‘08.