"We all mourn the loss of an extraordinary leader who revived our spirits and restored our self-confidence as a nation," said RPCV Gov. Bob Taft.
Glenn, Taft remember Reagan's leadership
Ohio leaders remembered Ronald Reagan for his special ability to connect with people.
"He was a very charismatic president and had a very friendly nature that people responded to," said John Glenn, a former senator from Ohio who served during Reagan's presidency.
A Reagan family spokeswoman said the 93-year-old former president died Saturday of pneumonia complicated by Alzheimer's disease.
"We all mourn the loss of an extraordinary leader who revived our spirits and restored our self-confidence as a nation," said Gov. Bob Taft. "It's an opportunity for us all to be grateful for his leadership that came at a very important time when our nation was low with the Iranian hostage crisis and the economic problems that he inherited."
Taft first met Reagan in 1984, when the president came to speak at a rally in Cincinnati. A Hamilton County commissioner at the time, Taft was one of four Ohio co-chairs of the president's re-election campaign.
"It was an inspiring moment for me and everyone who was there," said Taft, whose great-grandfather William Howard Taft was president when Reagan was born in 1911. "I met him again two years later when I was running for lieutenant governor. I have a photo in my office with Hope, Anna and me with Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office."
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