Free Republic

On this day in 2004, Ronald Reagan, the nation’s 40th president, died at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Most historians give Reagan good marks for having lifted American confidence and for having managed the Cold War conflict with Soviets in its later stages. Before embarking on a political career that brought him to the White House in 1981, Reagan spent two decades in Hollywood. Although he never became a top movie star, he appeared in more than 50 films and several television programs. His nickname “the Gipper” came about from his having played Notre Dame football...

The story of the beautiful and haunting riderless horse in Ronald Reagan's funeral procession begins with the truth that a race horse suffering a case of the slows costs just as much in room and board as Secretariat did. The slows can be hazardous to a horse's health because some owners, sentimental as fire hydrants, dump horses faster than J-Lo dumps husbands. As to where they dump them, the words to remember are these from Dave Brandwine: "I didn't want to send him to the glue factory." Yikes. But business is business. Like his horses, Brandwine has to eat, and,...

When I heard about the passing of my hero, President Reagan, I was not prepared for the wave of sadness I would feel. We’ve all known we lost him to the ravages of Alzheimer’s many years ago. I suppose the finality of no longer having him as a light in our world, even if only a glimmer of its prior brightness, released years of pent up grieving. We decided to make the long trek to DC to say thank you. This is very long, but I wanted to get all the sights and sounds in.

I took out the domain name "TributeToRonaldReagan.com" today (it will take about 96 hours to propogate across the web). It is my permanent tribute to President Ronald Wilson Reagan...the greatest President in my life time, in the 20th centruy, and among the two top presidents of all time, second IMHO, only to George Washington.

How many Freepers have intentions of heading to Washington this week? A friend and I were planning on making the drive down from Pennsylvania, to see the beginning of the Prcocessional. However, I'm a bit worried about access in and out of the city. Anybody want to opine as to where a good spot to go would be? The casket will be placed on the cassion at 16th and Constitution on Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. EDT. for the trip to the Capitol. Not sure if it would be better to be there atthe beginning or the end of the route.

<p>Blame it all on Dales ECB website (I ran across it in a google search) - and the going home of our nation’s greatest President, who always remembered my name every time we met at a GOP gig.</p> <p>It has been a long time since I’ve posted here (roughly 2 ½ years) - I left to face a lot of trouble (legal, personal) and try to reorder life nearer the sane-level (still not quite there yet, as you’ll soon see...) - and knowing that I couldn’t do what needed done unless I quit spending so much time having a ball on FR for hours every day.</p>

The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic invites all those coming to our nation's capital on Wednesday to join us at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW beginning at 4 p.m. to pay respects to President Ronald Reagan.We will meet at the southwest corner of 15th & Constitution to witness the 6 p.m. transfer of President Reagan's casket to the horse-drawn caisson and observe the procession as it passes by. When the procession has completely passed by, we will march behind it in the street to the Capitol. (We have alerted the D.C. police to our plan.)The weather will be hot...

Some 100,000 people are expected to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan and government workers will get a day off to honor the former president who died Saturday at his California home. President Bush, mourning the nation's 40th president during a D-Day commemoration Sunday at Colleville-sur-Mer, France, said to applause: "Twenty summers ago, another American president came here to Normandy to pay tribute to the men of D-Day. He was a courageous man himself and a gallant leader in the cause of freedom. And today we honor the memory of Ronald Reagan." The White House later announced the federal...

The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic will try to act as a welcoming committee and clearing house of information for FReepers coming to Washington, D.C. this week to pay tribute to President Reagan.If you are planning on coming to D.C. from out of town, or from around here, please check in on this thread during the week. We'll try to coordinate meetings points for those who desire to gather with fellow FReepers.Offical schedule in D.C. according to the AP:5 p.m. Wednesday: Coffin arrives at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.6 p.m.: Formal funeral procession to the Capitol, with coffin transfer...

WASHINGTON -- Ronald Reagan, the president who charmed much of the nation with his populist conservatism, will be remembered this week in the way his family said he wanted: a bicoastal week of mourning allowing both world leaders and regular Americans to pay their respects. Following a private memorial service today, mourners will be permitted to say their final goodbyes at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., where the body of the former president will lay in repose until 9 p.m. EDT tomorrow, a spokesman for the Reagan family said. On Wednesday, Reagan's casket will be flown on...

It may be some time yet before Americans come to fully appreciate the magnitude of Ronald Reagan and his well-earned place in the pantheon of U.S. statesmen. But in many ways - not least, the boost he gave to the American spirit and his contribution to the defeat of communism - his was the most pivotal presidency of the 20th century. Reagan, who died yesterday at 93 - the longest-lived president ever - after an extended and agonizing struggle with the effects of Alzheimer's Disease, was the first two-term president in 30 years. And he left the White House with...