It’s been over a month since the passing of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States. Clearly, President Reagan was one of the giants of the 20th century.

The outpouring of respect from average Americans was not staged. The American public felt an obligation to honor this man who was one of the last of the greatest generation.

What was it about Ronald Reagan that so makes politicians want to emulate him and to define themselves as a Reagan conservative?

As someone who served on his 1980 national campaign staff and had the privilege of being around him for the last three months of the presidential race and in the first term of his presidency, I learned the secret. It is simply this: President Reagan was one of the most decent men I ever met.

I was introduced to then Governor Reagan in August 1980 in Middleburg, Va. The Reagan-Bush campaign had moved its national headquarters from Los Angeles to Arlington, Va. Governor and Mrs. Reagan were staying at “Wexford” in Middleburg, the small horse farm that Jackie Kennedy had built. She had desired to own a small ranch home close to Washington, but tragically the Kennedys had stayed there only one weekend, the weekend prior to going to Dallas.

The Middleburg home was purchased later by a former governor of Texas who had loaned it to the Reagans for the duration of the campaign. Reagan, as it is well known, loved to ride horses and in fact was quite adept as a horseman.

I remember clearly the time that I met then-Governor Reagan. I was assigned to Edwin Meese, who was running the election campaign on a daily basis. Reagan had just come from riding his horse and Meese took the time to introduce me to him. Reagan welcomed me on board and thanked me for “helping out.” Reagan seemed to me then and still seems now, 24 years later, as a figure larger than life.

Since then, I have spent the majority of my adult life helping politicians get elected to office. What struck me about President Reagan was that he seemed to have no ego. He was completely comfortable in his own skin and confident in his beliefs.

We came to understand that it was Reagan’s faith and convictions that grounded him as it has many other great leaders of men and nations. These lessons were taught to them by one, if not both, loving and supportive parents.

For Reagan, he had the benefit of the moral and biblical teachings of a wonderful, loving mother. She set a strong example for him and led him to understand that while life may be full of adversities and challenges, we ourselves can choose to be successful and not victims of life. Reagan’s father was by most descriptions a weak man, given to the rages of alcoholism. But Reagan did not let that shape him as an individual. He learned from it. And perhaps it was from this part of his life that he developed his great compassion for and understanding of the human condition.

Other great leaders, men of great character, such as Gen. Robert E. Lee, had many of the same challenges as youth,but they found the courage and strength to chart their course, grow strong in their own convictions and ask for divine guidance to help them in life’s journey. These men set the very best and most positives examples that we can point our young people to emulate—and we are lucky to have had them be a part of our history as a nation. Some men let adversity cripple them. Ronald Regan did not.

When you look back at the chances Reagan took politically and professionally, we have to admire his courage. As governor, Reagan defied the 1960s counter-culture on California’s university campuses even when his family was threatened with violence.

Whether it was dealing with the air traffic controllers’ strike or the Soviet Union, people knew that Reagan meant business. It is no coincidence the hostages in Iran were released on the day of Reagan’s inauguration as president.

As a mentioned earlier in this column, many politicians today try to tie themselves to Reagan. If you look back, at his career, he emulated no one but himself. Modern-day conservatives would be well-advised to stand on their own set of core convictions, be their own man or woman, and stick to their own values and beliefs. Reagan did, and it served our nation, and the world well.