Politics & Power Quote by William L. Jenkins

The line is less a portrait of Reagan than a blueprint for how Republicans want power to feel: borrowed, not seized. Jenkins frames the presidency as a “valuable temporary loan,” swapping the language of authority for the language of trust and debt. It’s a shrewd metaphor because it turns restraint into virtue. If the office is a loan, then the ideal leader isn’t the one who expands the institution’s reach, but the one who handles it carefully, keeps the books clean, and hands it back without leaving fingerprints.

Jenkins also uses credit-giving as a moral credential. “Always gave the credit to the American people and American ideals” positions Reagan as a conduit rather than an auteur, a storyteller who lets the audience think it wrote the script. That’s politically potent: it flatters voters while insulating the leader from accusations of ego or overreach. The subtext is that legitimacy flows upward from citizens, not downward from bureaucracies, experts, or parties.

Context matters. Writing about Reagan is never only about Reagan; it’s about staking out a definition of conservatism where patriotism is expressed through humility and institutional skepticism. The reverent tone (“respected,” “dutiful appreciation”) subtly contrasts Reagan with the specter of permanent rule, careerist entitlement, and executive inflation. It’s nostalgia with a purpose: to argue that the highest form of leadership is remembering you’re temporary, even when the spotlight insists you’re not.