Wonderful story of your growing up into deeper understanding of the political figures. And your dad was right, you just needed the years to catch up to him. Heartwarming.

Ray-Gun as some of us called him, did have a warm, folksy way of speaking and it's understandable how as a young person you found him attractive.

If we care about other people, and do our civic duty and learn about laws and the people making them, we become better citizens and more reasonable folks.