RIP, Michael Deaver

Michael Deaver died Saturday at the age of 69, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
I don't have any posters of Deaver up in my house or anything, but his work may be one reason why I have a picture of President Reagan hanging proudly on my Dead Legends wall.
You see, Deaver was the first of his kind; he often said, "The only thing I did was light him well."
It was Deaver's job to put Reagan in the best possible setting to help the Great Communicator properly shape and convey his message.
Reagan was the last president to escape the 24-hour news cycle that has reduced modern politics to an endless volley of beautiful hair and "which is worse" soundbytes. There were still only the Big Three networks, CNN hadn't reached any prominence yet, and Al Gore had not yet made the Internet accessible to us commoners. So supplementing Reagan's policies and speeches was that much more important.
It's unfortunate that politics has taken the superficial turn that it has, but Deaver deserves credit for being a visionary in that regard, and helping hone the image of a man beloved by so many.