“I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things.” – Ronald Reagan, in his Jan. 11, 1989 farewell address to the American people (text)
“The biggest misunderstanding about Reagan’s political life is that he was inevitable. He was not. He had to fight for every inch, he had to make it happen. What Billy Herndon said of Abraham Lincoln was true of Reagan too: He had within him, always, a ceaseless little engine of ambition. He was good at not showing it, as was Lincoln, but it was there. He was knowingly in the greatness game, at least from 1976, when he tried to take down a sitting president of his own party.” – Peggy Noonan, in her column on Ronald Reagan during this season of his 100th birthday celebration.
“We cannot buy our security, our freedom from the threat of the bomb by committing an immorality so great as saying to a billion human beings now enslaved behind the Iron Curtain, “Give up your dreams of freedom because to save our own skins, we’re willing to make a deal with your slave masters.”” – Ronald Reagan, in his October 27, 1964 “Time for Choosing” speech
“Reagan understood instinctively that modern liberalism represented a rejection of the constitutional premises of self-government. … Hence the core of Reagan’s political purpose was recovering an appreciation for the Founder’s understanding of the principles and practices of American government. This was central to his rhetoric to a much greater extent than it was to that of any other modern day president of either party. … ‘We’re for limited government,’ he said in his 1988 State of the Union speech, ‘because we understand, as the Founding Fathers did, that it is the best way of ensuring personal liberty and empowering the individual so that every American of every race and region share fully in the flowering of American prosperity and freedom.’” – Steven F. Hayward, in The Age of Reagan, 1980-1989: The Conservative Counterrevolution.
“Any system that penalizes success and accomplishment is wrong. Any system that discourages work, discourages productivity, discourages economic progress, is wrong. If, on the other hand, you reduce tax rates and allow people to spend or save more of what they earn, they’ll be more industrious; they’ll have more incentive to work hard, and money they earn will add fuel to the great economic machine that energizes our national progress. The result: more prosperity for all—and more revenue for government. A few economists call this principle supply-side economics. I just call it common sense.” – Ronald Reagan, in his book, Ronald Reagan: An American Life.
“MY FIRST ENCOUNTER with Ronald Reagan occurred late in the autumn of 1965 when he visited Sacramento during a trip around the state to drum up interest in his candidacy for governor. When my editor at the San Jose Mercury-News asked me afterward what I thought of Reagan, I said that I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to run against such a self-assured and friendly man. And I still don’t fully understand why the Democrats regarded Reagan as such an easy mark. Subsequently, he defeated Brown by nearly a million votes, which was no small feat. … How had Reagan done it? And why was it, after his victory, that he so totally dominated the California political landscape? On one level he seemed the “citizen-politician” he claimed to be, almost completely ignorant of even civics-book information about how bills were passed or how an administration functioned. But on another level, he seemed the most consummate and effective politician I had ever met.” – Lou Cannon, in his book, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime.
“There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” – Ronald Reagan, in his June 12, 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Bate in West Berlin.
“I met him seven or eight years ago. He was to introduce me at a lecture that night in Beverly Hills. He arrived at the school auditorium to find consternation. The house was full and the crowd impatient but the microphone was dead — the student who was to have shown up at the control room above the balcony to turn on the current hadn’t. Reagan quickly took over. … Reagan went off-stage and looked out the window. There was a ledge, a foot wide, two stories above the street level, running along the side of the window back to the locked control room. Hollywood-wise, he climbed out on the ledge and sidestepped carefully, arms stretched out to help him balance, until he had gone the long way to the window, which he broke open with his elbow, lifting it open from the inside, and jumping into the darkness. In a moment the lights were on, the amplifying knobs were turned up, the speaker introduced.” – William F. Buckley, Jr., in the Nov. 28, 1967 issue of National Review, and in his book, The Reagan I Knew.
“At the root of everything that we’re trying to accomplish is the belief that America has a mission. We are a nation of freedom, living under God, believing all citizens must have the opportunity to grow, create wealth, and build a better life for those who follow. If we live up to those moral values, we can keep the American dream alive for our children and our grandchildren, and America will remain mankind’s best hope.” – Ronald Reagan, in remarks at a White House ceremony celebrating Hispanic Heritage Week.
“Today, Mr. President, we’re all Republicans.” – Dr. Joseph Giordano, as he prepared to operate on Reagan after Hinckley’s assassination attempt.
“And yet our opponents tell us not to interfere with abortion. They tell us not to impose our morality on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking of the life of infants before birth. Yet no one calls it imposing morality to prohibit the taking of life after a child is born. We’re told about a woman’s right to control her own body. But doesn’t the unborn child have a higher right, and that is to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” – Ronald Reagan, in a January 22, 1988 speech at the March for Life Rally.
“President Reagan decided what he believed in, stuck to it through thick and thin, and finally, through its success, persuaded others. But I still recall those dark early days of this decade when both our countries were grappling with the twin disasters of inflation and recession and when some people, even in our own parties, wanted to abandon our policies before they had had a proper chance to take effect. They were times for cool courage and a steady nerve. That is what they got from the president. I remember his telling me, at a meeting at the British Embassy in 1981, that for all the difficulties we then faced, we would be “home safe and soon enough.” … When we attempt an overall survey of President Reagan’s term of office, covering events both foreign and domestic, one thing stands out. It is that he has achieved the most difficult of all political tasks: changing attitudes and perceptions about what is possible. From the strong fortress of his convictions, he set out to enlarge freedom the world over at a time when freedom was in retreat — and he succeeded. It is not merely that freedom now advances while collectivism is in retreat — important though that is. It is that freedom is the idea that everywhere captures men’s minds while collectivism can do no more than enslave their bodies. That is the measure of the change that President Reagan has wrought.” – English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in the Dec. 30, 1988 issue of National Review.
“All of the landslide majority did not vote against the conservative philosophy; they voted against a false image our Liberal opponents successfully mounted. Indeed it was a double false image. Not only did they portray us as advancing a kind of radical departure from the status quo, but they took for themselves a costume of comfortable conservatism.” – Ronald Reagan, in the Dec. 1, 1964 issue of National Review after the defeat of Barry Goldwater.
“In 1987, Reagan spoke at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin. “In the Communist world,” he said, “we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards.… Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself.” Thus the “inescapable conclusion” in his view was that “freedom is the victor.” Then Reagan said, “General Secretary Gorbachev…. Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Not long after this, the wall did come tumbling down, and Reagan’s prophecies all came true. The most powerful empire in human history imploded. These were not just results Reagan predicted. He intended the outcome. He advocated policies that were aimed at producing it. He was denounced for those policies. Yet in the end, his objective was achieved.” – Dinesh D’Souza, in his book, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader.
“I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things.” – Ronald Reagan, in his Jan. 11, 1989 farewell address to the American people (text)
“The biggest misunderstanding about Reagan’s political life is that he was inevitable. He was not. He had to fight for every inch, he had to make it happen. What Billy Herndon said of Abraham Lincoln was true of Reagan too: He had within him, always, a ceaseless little engine of ambition. He was good at not showing it, as was Lincoln, but it was there. He was knowingly in the greatness game, at least from 1976, when he tried to take down a sitting president of his own party.” – Peggy Noonan, in her column on Ronald Reagan during this season of his 100th birthday celebration.
“We cannot buy our security, our freedom from the threat of the bomb by committing an immorality so great as saying to a billion human beings now enslaved behind the Iron Curtain, “Give up your dreams of freedom because to save our own skins, we’re willing to make a deal with your slave masters.”” – Ronald Reagan, in his October 27, 1964 “Time for Choosing” speech
“Reagan understood instinctively that modern liberalism represented a rejection of the constitutional premises of self-government. … Hence the core of Reagan’s political purpose was recovering an appreciation for the Founder’s understanding of the principles and practices of American government. This was central to his rhetoric to a much greater extent than it was to that of any other modern day president of either party. … ‘We’re for limited government,’ he said in his 1988 State of the Union speech, ‘because we understand, as the Founding Fathers did, that it is the best way of ensuring personal liberty and empowering the individual so that every American of every race and region share fully in the flowering of American prosperity and freedom.’” – Steven F. Hayward, in The Age of Reagan, 1980-1989: The Conservative Counterrevolution.
“Any system that penalizes success and accomplishment is wrong. Any system that discourages work, discourages productivity, discourages economic progress, is wrong. If, on the other hand, you reduce tax rates and allow people to spend or save more of what they earn, they’ll be more industrious; they’ll have more incentive to work hard, and money they earn will add fuel to the great economic machine that energizes our national progress. The result: more prosperity for all—and more revenue for government. A few economists call this principle supply-side economics. I just call it common sense.” – Ronald Reagan, in his book, Ronald Reagan: An American Life.
“MY FIRST ENCOUNTER with Ronald Reagan occurred late in the autumn of 1965 when he visited Sacramento during a trip around the state to drum up interest in his candidacy for governor. When my editor at the San Jose Mercury-News asked me afterward what I thought of Reagan, I said that I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to run against such a self-assured and friendly man. And I still don’t fully understand why the Democrats regarded Reagan as such an easy mark. Subsequently, he defeated Brown by nearly a million votes, which was no small feat. … How had Reagan done it? And why was it, after his victory, that he so totally dominated the California political landscape? On one level he seemed the “citizen-politician” he claimed to be, almost completely ignorant of even civics-book information about how bills were passed or how an administration functioned. But on another level, he seemed the most consummate and effective politician I had ever met.” – Lou Cannon, in his book, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime.
“There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” – Ronald Reagan, in his June 12, 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Bate in West Berlin.
“I met him seven or eight years ago. He was to introduce me at a lecture that night in Beverly Hills. He arrived at the school auditorium to find consternation. The house was full and the crowd impatient but the microphone was dead — the student who was to have shown up at the control room above the balcony to turn on the current hadn’t. Reagan quickly took over. … Reagan went off-stage and looked out the window. There was a ledge, a foot wide, two stories above the street level, running along the side of the window back to the locked control room. Hollywood-wise, he climbed out on the ledge and sidestepped carefully, arms stretched out to help him balance, until he had gone the long way to the window, which he broke open with his elbow, lifting it open from the inside, and jumping into the darkness. In a moment the lights were on, the amplifying knobs were turned up, the speaker introduced.” – William F. Buckley, Jr., in the Nov. 28, 1967 issue of National Review, and in his book, The Reagan I Knew.
“At the root of everything that we’re trying to accomplish is the belief that America has a mission. We are a nation of freedom, living under God, believing all citizens must have the opportunity to grow, create wealth, and build a better life for those who follow. If we live up to those moral values, we can keep the American dream alive for our children and our grandchildren, and America will remain mankind’s best hope.” – Ronald Reagan, in remarks at a White House ceremony celebrating Hispanic Heritage Week.
“Today, Mr. President, we’re all Republicans.” – Dr. Joseph Giordano, as he prepared to operate on Reagan after Hinckley’s assassination attempt.
“And yet our opponents tell us not to interfere with abortion. They tell us not to impose our morality on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking of the life of infants before birth. Yet no one calls it imposing morality to prohibit the taking of life after a child is born. We’re told about a woman’s right to control her own body. But doesn’t the unborn child have a higher right, and that is to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” – Ronald Reagan, in a January 22, 1988 speech at the March for Life Rally.
“President Reagan decided what he believed in, stuck to it through thick and thin, and finally, through its success, persuaded others. But I still recall those dark early days of this decade when both our countries were grappling with the twin disasters of inflation and recession and when some people, even in our own parties, wanted to abandon our policies before they had had a proper chance to take effect. They were times for cool courage and a steady nerve. That is what they got from the president. I remember his telling me, at a meeting at the British Embassy in 1981, that for all the difficulties we then faced, we would be “home safe and soon enough.” … When we attempt an overall survey of President Reagan’s term of office, covering events both foreign and domestic, one thing stands out. It is that he has achieved the most difficult of all political tasks: changing attitudes and perceptions about what is possible. From the strong fortress of his convictions, he set out to enlarge freedom the world over at a time when freedom was in retreat — and he succeeded. It is not merely that freedom now advances while collectivism is in retreat — important though that is. It is that freedom is the idea that everywhere captures men’s minds while collectivism can do no more than enslave their bodies. That is the measure of the change that President Reagan has wrought.” – English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in the Dec. 30, 1988 issue of National Review.
“All of the landslide majority did not vote against the conservative philosophy; they voted against a false image our Liberal opponents successfully mounted. Indeed it was a double false image. Not only did they portray us as advancing a kind of radical departure from the status quo, but they took for themselves a costume of comfortable conservatism.” – Ronald Reagan, in the Dec. 1, 1964 issue of National Review after the defeat of Barry Goldwater.
“In 1987, Reagan spoke at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin. “In the Communist world,” he said, “we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards.… Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself.” Thus the “inescapable conclusion” in his view was that “freedom is the victor.” Then Reagan said, “General Secretary Gorbachev…. Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Not long after this, the wall did come tumbling down, and Reagan’s prophecies all came true. The most powerful empire in human history imploded. These were not just results Reagan predicted. He intended the outcome. He advocated policies that were aimed at producing it. He was denounced for those policies. Yet in the end, his objective was achieved.” – Dinesh D’Souza, in his book, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader.
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