“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”
by Scott L. Vanatter
In one of his last public speeches, Ronald Reagan returned on June 6, 1994 to Omaha Beach to speak a ceremony commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Invasion of Europe, D-Day. Later that year we learned of the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, and he retired from public view.
He repeated much of what he said ten years previous to this occasion. Again he spoke of the veterans of that Invasion who could share with us the “fear of being on the boat waiting to land.” How their loved ones could later “see the ocean and feel the sea sickness.” With them we “can see the looks on his fellow soldiers’ faces — the fear, the anguish, the uncertainty of what lay ahead.” Reagan then challenged us to “feel the strength and courage of the men who took those first steps through the tide to what must have surely looked like instant death.” [Read more...]
by Scott L. Vanatter
by Scott L. Vanatter
by Margaret Thatcher
His economic vision lifted America out of economic malaise. He was the architect of communism’s defeat.
A rarified world exists where most can only peer inside.
Nearing the end of his presidency, Ronald Reagan laid out a final challenge to the nation, its leaders and citizens. He sought to a.) summarize the principles which made possible his record economic growth, and b.) lay out a clear path to secure economic growth into the future.
The night the Challenger Shuttle exploded, January 28, 1986, President Reagan was due to deliver the annual State of the Union. The White House decided to postpone that speech and instead the president delivered one of the most memorable presidential messages. Reagan spoke from the Oval Office at the White House. The speech was written by Peggy Noonan.
In one of this first public speeches Ronald Reagan offered the Commencement Address at his alma mater, Eureka College. It was June 7, 1957, four months before Sputnik was put into orbit by the Soviet Union. America was in the height of the Cold War and Ronald Reagan was already speaking of American as a land of destiny, a theme he would return to again and again throughout his career as an elected official. “This is a land of destiny and our forefathers found their way here by some Divine system of selective service gathered here to fulfill a mission to advance man a further step in his climb from the swamps.”
The world has changed a couple times over since President Reagan spoke at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin on June 12, 1987. At the time the President’s staff debated whether to include the searing challenge to Mr. Gorbachev and to the Soviet Union. The President decided to issued the challenge. It provided the cultural impetus needed to cause the fall of the Wall. This impetus combined with economic and military factors combined to effect the change Reagan saw when he was asked what is strategy was to defeat Communism. He replied, “My strategy is: We win, they lose.”