Today marks the birthday of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the patriarchal figure of modern conservatism as we know it to be and one of the most influential presidential leaders of these United States. Agree with him or not — like him personally or not — President Reagan left a historical legacy deserving of the utmost respect, a point with which we may all agree in unison. Left of center, libertarian, religious or firmly rooted in atheistic belief, we may all agree that February 6th now marks a momentous day in our nation’s great history, and one that invokes emotions of all kinds for good reason.

Depending on the person, February 6th may bring dreary tears to the eyes and spark some of our most nostalgic thoughts of a past long gone, or remind some of this country’s most frustrating historical era to date. Whatever your political ideology — and whatever your personal misgivings about the consequences of his politics — this day must never be forgotten, if for nothing else than the majesty of the man who was born in tiny Tampico, Illinois.

And, boy, was that quirky personality of his majestic to the death. Ronald Reagan was born to Jack and Nelle some three years before the onset of World War I and passed away in the summer of June 2004, months upon months before “politics” ever even meant anything to me — and yet, Reagan has impacted me to an extent unparalleled.

We lost Ronald Reagan weeks before one Barack Hussein Obama even made it to the national stage in Boston, and yet his iconic figure still resonates with me to this day. How does something like that even happen? How does a conservative ideologue at the height of his powers in the 1980s still hold so much sway, especially in the eyes of a Vassar student studying Political Science in 2014?

It attests to the power — once again, to the sheer majesty — of the self-made man who made a religious brand of free-market conservatism cool in the eyes of the American electorate, a large chunk of it young, adventurous, and impressionable. But, policy aside, I am personally most drawn to the unwavering conviction of his beliefs, to the eloquently forceful delivery of his speeches, to the deepest of faiths in the God Above and the steady confidence in the religious fervor that permeated his very being. I find myself mesmerized by both the belief system — the affirmation of traditional American values, from heterosexual marriage to the pro-life agenda and dedication to the individual over the governing state — and the fundamental belief that that set of traditional values was best for these United States of America, and still is to this day.

Ronald Reagan was a traditional, yes, but his articulate, coolly crafted expression of faith in that traditional sphere made many in this country believe him as he delivered address after address on Capitol Hill and carried his communicative wisdom to the cold stone of that Berlin Wall. The coolly crafted articulation makes me believe him now, as I write vigorously from my college dorm room. That was the majesty of Reagan. His belief inspired a multitude of subsequent beliefs even after those golden days in the Oval Office faded into vague memory — and I’m living testimony that those values thrown about in some speech from 1987 actually still matter.

If nothing more, they matter to me. What was said time and time over back then, as the standing president explained the merits of free religious expression and relayed the eternal shortcomings of the oppressive socialistic system, still matters as many of those same questions are raised today. I am a conservative in the traditional sense, yes, but I am most of all an up-and-coming disciple of the man who rejuvenated the movement way back when.

“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” He said this in August 1984, in front of typical audience showering him in claps and cheers, and I look upon those words — that whole speech, rather — with a touch of amazement and steady lumps forming in my throat. Reagan just had that innately human touch in front of the podium, which doesn’t come around every so often. Politician after politician understands the art of spewed jargon and partisan spin, but very few ever connect with the listener on a personal level.

Ronald Reagan connected with me, as he did with many before my time, in the 1980s and even prior. The good-spirited phrases in passing, the witty jokes at the expense of Soviet Russia, the loyal dedication to the market, the small business, and the individual consumer — all of it, buoyed by his respectful humility in the midst of his and our Heavenly Creator, just sticks in the mind one long decade after the death.

And if the here and now is any indication, the memory of the man will stick in our collective American psyche for many more weeks and months and years to come. We will not forget Ronald Wilson Reagan, nor should we as proud Americans dedicated to life, liberty, and the never-ending pursuit of happiness.

I most definitely will not. May he rest in peace on this day and all others following.