Posted on 06/05/2004 2:37:07 PM PDT by motife
The most exciting moment of my life was voting for Ronald Reagan in 1980. I had supported him against Gerald Ford in 1976 when he failed by just a handful of votes at the GOP convention.
He represented my ideals of tolerance, affability, freedom, and unbreakable will against the Communists.
Ronald ReaganRIP. Free at last.
- Got the country going again
- Whipped inflation
- Erased the Energy Crisis
- Transcended Communism
God bless Nancy Davis Reagan.
God bless America.
SAM DONALDSON: Mr. President, in talking about the continuing recession tonight, you have blamed mistakes of the past and you have blamed the congress. Does any of the blame belong to you?
PRESIDENT REAGAN: Yes, because for many years I was a democrat.
Reagan's TV speech in 1964 for Bary Goldwater...just phenomenal..
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."
I remember being at my school, in our dress blues, standing at ram-rod attention, listening to the President's funeral speech for the Challenger crew.
when he got to 'slipped the surly bonds', the tears welled up; 'to touch the face of G-d', and there were no dry eyes, among cadets or instructors.
most moving thing ever.
But don't forget 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.' very powerful stuff, and it should have been carved on a monument in Berlin after it happened.
Three quotes...
"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
"Republicans think every day is July 4th. Democrats think every day is April 15th."
"Mr. Gorbachev! TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!"
Some reporter asked Reagan if he should share the blame for some problem. I can't remember the specifics, but I do remember his reply.
"Yes. Because for many years I was a Democrat."
I will never forget the day he was shot. I was riding home from school and the bus driver has the radio on. It was announced that the President was shot, every kid on the bus was quiet the rest of the way home.
My best memory is the debate with I think Carter, "There you go again" My favorite Reagan quote. May God Rest his soul. I hope to go to DC to see him lay in state.
Of course he thought the mike was off (maybe). But it was a great line to keep the Rooskies on their toes.
"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much."
Public Address, March 28, 1982
"We need true tax reform that will at least make a start toward restoring for our children the American Dream ... that each individual has the right to fly as high as his strength and ability will take him ... But we cannot have such reform while our tax policy is engineered by people who view the tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure."
"The Speech", October 27, 1964
"No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."
First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981
"It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work -- work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it."
First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981
"The years ahead will be great ones for our country, for the cause of freedom and the spread of civilization. The West will not contain Communism, it will transcend Communism. We will not bother to denounce it, we'll dismiss it as a sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written."
Notre Dame Univ., May 17, 1981
"I have outlawed the Soviet Union. The bombing starts in 5 minutes"
Rest In Peace, President Reagan
Click for some audio of President Reagan:
Inaugural Speech
1992 Convention Speech
Berlin Wall Speech
Address To The Nation
Peggy Noonan wrote that. Oneof the best speeches ever. and every time she was compliemnted on it, she would always say that Reagan made the speech work..
He said something to the effect of, "I pledge not to make the youth and inexperience of my opponent an issue"
I had a "friend" at the time of the assasination attempt who was thrilled that our President had been shot.
I was and am appalled that anyone could think that.
Both of your posts are great. I can tell that I'm going to love this thread. While I'm posting, let me pat myself on the back for doing something very right-- voting for Reagan both times.
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