The Greatness of Ronald Reagan

                    It seems that almost every politician wants to be known as a Reagan-something.  Newt Gingrich claims that he is a Reagan-Conservative and wants us to believe that we can usher in another "Age of Reagan" by electing Gingrich to be the next President of the United States.  I personally do not see President Reagan in anything that Gingrich says or does!  I am not campaigning for Mitt Romney, but here is a short political ad explaining why Gingrich is no Ronald Reagan.  

                    Ronald Reagan was the best President of the United States in my life time and possibly the best President in the past one hundred years.  I liked him while he was President, and I admire him even more as time goes by.  President Reagan came to us after four very long and dark years under the administration of Jimmy Carter and was like a ray of sunshine after a terrible storm!  It was obvious in his words and actions that he loved our nation and wanted the people of the United States to be the best we could be.  His words were always positive and uplifting - even while participating in political debates.  I can still hear him say "There you go again!" and say it with a smile on his face.

                    I admire Ronald Reagan so much that I have posted ten different articles about him or quoting him in the past two years and feel impressed to write still another article.  The first article I wrote about President Reagan was during the fight to stop Obamacare.  It was entitled "Ronald Reagan on Health Care" and was dated December 1, 2009.  It was a short article that included a link to a talk given by a younger Ronald Reagan speaking as a private citizen about socialized medicine.  His remarks are still so appropriate that I want to link to them again.  President Reagan gave this speech in 1961 in opposition to Medicare and possibly Medicaid.  It could very well have been given in opposition to Obamacare!   I encourage you to listen to President Reagan - not only for the information in his talk but to get the sense of a real leader.

                    My next article was entitled "Generations of Freedom" and was dated December 17, 2009.   It quoted Ronald Reagan about the importance of each generation teaching their children and grandchildren about the importance of freedom and how to safeguard it.  "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States when men were free." 

                    My third article, entitled "Progressive Movement" on January 7, 2010, included a link to a speech given by Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention.  The speech was about Russia and the threat of communism, but his words apply to our nation right now. The entire speech is wonderful and worth hearing.  Here is just one small quote from it:   "This is the issue of the election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves." 

                    My next two articles were very similar and included the basic facts about the life of Ronald Reagan.  One of those articles can be found here.  

                    My sixth article about Ronald Reagan centered on his integrity and his willingness to stand on his principles.  The article, dated March 3, 2010, was entitled "Plant Your Flag"  and started with this quote:  "When General Victor `Brute' Krulak asked President Reagan what advice he would give young Marine officers, Reagan didn't hesitate: `Plant your flag.' He meant find those principles, those ideals, that plan or project on which you will stake your reputation, and plant your flag there…." (William J. Bennett, America: The Last Best Hope, Vol. II, p. 480). 

                    A second quote included in that article was from a speech President Reagan made in June 1982 as the first President of the United States to address the British House of Commons: "In an ironic sense, Karl Marx was right. We are witnessing today a great revolutionary crisis, a crisis where the demands of the economic order are conflicting directly with those of the political order. But the crisis is happening not in the free, non-Marxist West, but in the home of Marxist-Leninism, the Soviet Union…. [T]he march of freedom and democracy …will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people."

                    A third quote from the same article came from Reagan's famous speech at the Berlin Wall in West Germany in June 1987 as part of Berlin's 750th anniversary celebration.  The following paragraph tells the story.  "Reagan wanted to make a strong statement about divided Berlin. Reagan's speech writer visited Berlin in preparation for writing the speech. He saw the 60-mile long wall that separated West Berlin and East Berlin.  He also saw that the wall separated two different types of existence. He saw that East Berlin was colorless and had buildings which still showed signs of bomb and bullet damage from World War II. In West Berlin he saw life, color, movement, modern architecture, traffic, etc. He talked with people in West Berlin who explained how the wall had separated members of their family. He returned to Washington D.C. determined to write something about the wall coming down. The State Department, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of State didn't want anything about the wall in the speech. They rejected draft after draft of the speech. Each time Reagan put the famous line about the wall coming down back into the speech. Reagan's speech at the Brandenburg Gate is regarded today as one of history's greatest speeches. He said what he wanted to say, and he said it with emphasis. `General Secretary, 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, tear down this wall!' Reagan believed that the United States must always negotiate from a position of strength. He was a man who believed in standing firm on true principles."

                    My seventh article concerning Ronald Reagan was entitled "Defending Freedom,"  dated May 4, 2010.  It included this quote illustrating the strong and positive feelings that he had about the United States as he explained to Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev:  "When World War II ended, the United States had the only undamaged industrial power in the world. Our military might was at its peak, and we alone had the ultimate weapon, the nuclear weapon, with the unquestioned ability to deliver it anywhere in the world. If we had sought world domination then, who could have opposed us? But the United States followed a different course, one unique in all the history of mankind. We used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravished economies of the world, including those of the nations who had been our enemies."  

                    My eighth article, entitled "Teach Liberty" and dated July 9, 2010, included the Reagan quote about freedom being "never more than one generation away from extinction" quoted above as well as some personal examples.

                    My ninth article was entitled "Freedom to Work" and was dated November 11, 2010.  It included the following quote about putting Americans back to work.  "We hear much of special interest groups.  Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected.  It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines.  It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick - professionals, industrialist, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers.  They are in short, `We the people,' this breed called Americans.  Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination.  Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work.  … All must share in the productive work of this `new beginning' and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy.  With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America at peace with itself and the world."

                    My tenth article was entitled "Great Leaders" and was dated June 7, 2011.  There were no Reagan quotes in the article, just praise for the leadership of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher as part of a celebration for the life of this great President.  The two leaders stood together and worked together to make the world a better and safer place.

                    There can never be another Ronald Reagan, but there can be other great leaders who love this nation, have integrity, and stand on principle.  I believe that Ronald Reagan was another great man that was prepared by God to lead our nation at an extremely dangerous time.  I have nothing but admiration for him!