REACT: The passing of a great American: Cap Weinberger

He has been described as "the best Cabinet member ever." While there is no way to prove such a subjective observation, an honest history will most certainly determine that Casper Weinberger was certainly in the first rank of not only Cabinet members, but also of patriots, in the very best sense of the word, and of human beings.

He was a combination of enormous intellect and compassion. He was determinedly persuasive and yet gently tolerant. He negotiated with the power of the rightness and justice of his causes. He had the ability of being comfortable among the powerful, and of making the less exalted comfortable in his presence.

Among his many great services to America, nothing could be more notable than his alliance with President Ronald Reagan in strategizing and implementing the downfall of the old Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. This was not something that just happened on their watch. It was with intent and foresight that these two men hatched the remarkable plan to bring down half the Communist world. (The Asian half of the Communist world was brought down less dramatically, but no less effectively, by an infectious dose of free market capitalism first administered by President Richard Nixon. Cap played his role in that, too.)

Without his role in ending the Cold War, Weinberger's accomplishments would have been extraordinary. In world affairs he was the Michael Jordan, the Tiger Woods -- a person of singular accomplishments so unique that words cannot adequately describe them.

His books should be re-read, not for their delineation of accomplishment, but for the humble tone and simple language that so well reflected his human side.

It was my great honor to have known him even a little bit. I am thankful for the times we spent together when he visited Chicago. The last time I saw Cap, his slightly hunched and noticeably fragile body was negated by the steadiness in his baritone voice, the clarity of his recollections and the infallibility of his wisdom.

In today's cynical world, Cap Weinberger will not be given the eulogy he so well deserves. Ironically, he would not have sought such post mortem praise, anyway. So, to Cap Weinberger, I say thank you for changing the course of history and for taking time out to spend some of your precious hours with me and my family.