This is the sort of lecture we could use more of at American colleges and universities.

Robert Feinberg of Money News reports.

Scholar Rehearses Reagan Principles

Grove City College Professor Paul Kengor presented his book 11 Principles of a Reagan Conservative at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Kengor is executive director of the Center for Vision and Values, and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

For some readers, this will be an introduction to Grove City College, a Christian liberal arts college 65 miles north of Pittsburgh that is well known in conservative circles and famous for its policy of refusing to participate in federal student aid programs. Among its notable faculty was Hans Sennholz (1922-2007), the first student of Ludwig von Vises in the United States and a frequent lecturer at programs attended by conservative students such as me.

In his introduction, Kengor set forth the reasons why Reagan remains a figure of great interest, garnering more 30 million Google hits and breaking all records for electoral success and popularity, retaining the highest popularity among post-war presidents since Eisenhower and scoring near the very top in a Time survey of greatest Americans.

Kengor led his audience on something of a wild goose chase if they seek to find an actual list of the 11 Principles, advising viewers that it is in the book and they can rewind the tape. However, he was careful to say that there is nothing special about the number 11 in this instance, it just happens to be the number he compiled from studying Reagan’s speeches and policies.

Among the principles are freedom, faith, family, American exceptionalism, sanctity of human life, peace through strength, anticommunism and belief in the individual, belief in the vision and wisdom of the Founders, as well as low taxes. Kengor was at his best in explaining the origin and course of the graduated income tax over the hundred years since it was enacted, typing it to Marx’s platform dating back to 1848. Another tidbit one discovers is that during Reagan’s years as a lifeguard in Illinois, he saved a total of 77 lives.