Posted on 08/28/2016 7:10:48 AM PDT by SamAdams76
Before reading on, please do me a favor and click the link to this video and watch the first 60 seconds. That's all I ask right now. Just watch the first minute and then come back to read the rest. You can watch the video in it's entirely later and I'll also post below a link to Part 2 of this speech by then Republican Nominee Ronald Reagan on a windswept late summer day at Liberty State Park, NJ - exactly 36 years ago this coming Thursday.
Now let's time travel back to 36 years ago - September 1, 1980 to be precise. Maybe some of you are old enough (like me) to actually remember the presidential election of 1980, but if not, don't worry, I'll try to paint you a picture of what it was like to be alive in America that summer and will throw in some cultural references to boot.
September 1, 1980 was on a Monday. It was Labor Day, which was traditionally the day that general election campaign seasons kicked off for presidential candidates. Before 24/7 news. Before there was an Internet, cell phones, and all the other gadgets we take for granted today. Personal computers at home were practically unheard of. There was a upstart company called Apple that was putting a bunch of them out but they generally went to rich kids who liked to tinker and executives who wanted to crunch numbers and do light word processing at home. IBM's personal computer was still about a year away. MTV was still a year away. If you wanted to hear a particular song, you bought the vinyl record or cassette tape or you waited for it to come on the radio. CDs weren't even invented yet. If you wanted to know the weather forecast, you waited for the 6 o'clock local news and sat through 22 minutes of news and sports to get to it.
A totally different world and those reading this under the age of 40 likely have no conception of such a non-connected and analog society. Long distance phone calls were prohibitively expensive for many so if you wanted to communicate to friends and family that were not local, you sat down and hand-wrote a letter that was sent through U.S. Mail. Days would pass before the recipient even got to read it. If you lived in New York and had a relative in Chicago, they might as well have been on the other side of the world.
Now let's consider the state of the presidential race back on September 1, 1980. You have the incumbent Jimmy Carter who is widely unpopular. The nation is mired in the economic doldrums. Millions are out of work. Meanwhile, under poor leadership, the image of America has suffered worldwide. Some ayatollah in Iran grabbed 52 of our citizens the year before and they are still held hostage today with no prospects of release in sight. The previous April, Carter authorized a rescue mission to get them out but we couldn't even get our helicopters off the ground at the staging area without having them crash into each other. It was an embarrassing time to be an American. The only bright spot we had to that point in 1980 was the upstart U.S. Olympic hockey team winning the gold medal in that Olympics that February. As for the summer 1980 games, Carter kept the U.S. out of them over "protest" on account of the Soviet Union invading the country of Afghanistan. Constant gas shortages has motorists waiting in line for gas for hours at a time, the lines snaking around several city blocks.
The United States was in a mess. And Jimmy Carter was just plain pathetic. The previous summer, Carter has his infamous Crisis of Confidence speech, also known as the "malaise" speech, in which he conceded that America had lost its way and and that he had no apparent clue on how to get us back on track. Jimmy Carter was truly a sad sack of a leader.
That all being the case, you would think that Republican nominee Ronald Reagan would be a slam dunk for the presidency in 1980.
But if you were around during the summer of 1980, that was apparently not the case at all. Even back then, the media was heavily slanted towards the Democrat point of view and they did their darndest to ensure that Jimmy Carter was re-elected by painting Ronald Reagan as temperamentally unfit for the presidency and who was prone to being intemperate with his tongue. The media had many of us believing that Reagan's loose way with words would blunder us into World War III if the American people made the mistake of electing him.
So even though President Carter was unlikeable, was not respected and was seen as an all-around doofus, it was postulated to us by the media that candidate Reagan would be even worse!
The polls, such as they were and if they were to be believed, reflected that. Aside from a GOP convention bounce, Jimmy Carter led most of the way, even into late October!
By September 1, Reagan's convention bounce had completely evaporated and Carter was back up to a four point lead (soon to become an utterly unbelievable eight point lead by October 1).
So here we are on Labor Day, 1980. Americans are just now starting to pay attention to the race, having devoted the summer to days at the beach, barbecues, camping and such. Like I said earlier, there was no 24/7 news cycle. People really did tune out back then and millions of us didn't even bother watching the news during the lazy, hazy days of summer.
So where does Ronald Reagan, four points down to Jimmy Carter, begin his fall campaign?
He chose to begin it at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, overlooking New York harbor and the Statue of Liberty.
A daring move for sure. All the pundits of the time were shaking their heads in disbelief. What the hell is a Republican candidate who is four or more points down in the race thinking about by giving his kick-off speech in what is probably the biggest Democrat stronghold in the nation? Why he's just wasting his time coming here?
Well those questions were answered in the first 60 seconds of the speech which is why I asked you all to go to the video of it first. Ronald Reagan came to Liberty Park, NJ precisely because it WAS the biggest Democrat stronghold. For Ronald Reagan was not buying all that jive about the polls. He saw that our nation was starved for leadership and that millions of Democrats were also fed up with their current leader. So he confidently strode onto their turf and ASKED for their votes! To hell with those phony-baloney polls put out by the media, Ronald Reagan wasn't buying that jive and he saw, before many of us, the landslide that was coming his way in November. All he had to do was get out there and ask for their votes.
Watching that speech today still gives me goosebumps. It's truly a time capsule. Liberty Island directly behind him with Lady Liberty towering above. To the left is lower Manhattan which was then in a state of rapid decline with increasing crime and unsafe streets. Graffiti and broken windows were everywhere. Time Square was basically a filthy run-down strip of X-rated peep-houses.
But there were two men on Manhattan Island, probably there on that very day, who with Ronald Reagan as president, would play gigantic roles in transforming the city back to greatness.
One of them was a 33-year-old real-estate developer named Donald Trump, who at the time was just starting to build one of his flagship towers a little further uptown on 56th and 5th Ave. Eventually Trump would make his mark not just in New York City but in great cities all across the globe. Also, a much younger Rudy Guiliani, future Republican mayor of New York City, was working at a law firm - soon to take a position in Reagan's Justice Department in which he would start his campaign against the organized crime that was choking the city of its lifeblood.
I now invite you to watch the rest of the speech.
President Ronald Reagan - Liberty State Park [Pt. 1]
Ronald Reagan - Liberty State Park [Pt 2]
On a personal note, I remember this speech the day it happened. In the fog of time, I forget if I saw it live on TV (probably not) or as a clip on the evening news. I had just enlisted in the Marine Corps and was scheduled for boot camp that coming February. I was only 17 years old but I remember that particular speech making a big impression on me especially with the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty, and the boats floating by in the background with their flags flapping in the breeze. Also, Reagan looked so youthful during that speech. I found out later that Nancy made him - forced him! - to take off that coat and tie!
I also associate that speech with the song by Christopher Cross called "Sailing". That was the big radio hit at the time and it always brings me back to the late summer of 1980, when I was getting ready to leave home for the armed services and we had a new president coming into office who actually seemed to love America instead of always apologizing for it.
I didn't think I had to specifically point them out in this rather stream-of-consciousness post but I'm sure that anybody who slogged through all this can see the similarities between the presidential campaign of 1980 and that of 2016. I also firmly believe we will have the same outcome!
I was going to do this post on Labor Day but as Labor Day this year is on the 5th, the anniversary of Reagan's great kick-off speech in New York harbor would have then passed already so I thought it might be better to do it today - on this lazy late summer Sunday morning!
Hope you all liked this little flashback.
Nice, thanks.
Here's the full quote verbatim:
"...His answer to all of this misery? He tries to tell us that we are “only” in a recession, not a depression, as if definitions—words--relieve our suffering."Let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for economic help, Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary. Well if it’s a definition he wants, I’ll give him one:
A recession is when your neighbor loses his job.
A depression is when you lose yours.
And a recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his..."
I usually post this every 9/01 since I was there in the park that day for the Reagan “picnic” with Ellis Island and NYC skyline behind Reagan. Lech Walesa step father (?) was introduced. I recall at least one reporter on the pay phone talking, not sure how to spell “Walesa”
Great post and great photo of Reagan. Thank you for the flashback. I can imagine that Reagan’s inauguration was gratifying before you started Marine boot camp in February.
I do remember this...I was 24, less than one month into my first “career” job post-grad school and about to get married around the time that Carter “took” that 8-point lead. It was a very different time, we lived very different lives then. Cable TV was only a few years old and we marveled at cable-only channels that were trying to create entirely new markets. Most of us never thought about computers in the home, certainly the Internet was stop ill an odd idea in Popular Science. Phones were big things with cord tethers. Stereo systems were based around a turntable. We thought we were in a great era of exploding communication...but we still sent letters through the mail.
People paid no more attention then to politics than they do now...and the alternative options for our attention were nowhere close to being as many as we have today. I still remember being surprised the day after the election that Reagan won as he did. The left-wing local newspaper congratulated him sincerely and hoped for the best in his presidency...even the left-wingers were different in those pre-Clinton days! But it was the surprise that I remember most - people were generally surprised he won - even in the news media that weekend before it was taken for granted that Carter would win comfortably. Then Reagan won everywhere on that Tuesday...even in Washington state where I was! People were astounded, no kidding, the surprise everywhere was palpable. No one expected that to happen - the TV was telling everyone constantly in the weeks previous that Carter had it won.
I agree. I moved to DC when Carter was elected and it was like being in a dreary black and white movie. On Reagan's inauguration day, everything came into color.
“...On Reagan’s inauguration day, everything came into color.”
And it was morning in America again :D
Bttt
This is why Trump needs to campaign in New York and New Jersey
Think about it
Trump is the new Reagan.
It sure was neck and neck if you believed the press and pollsters. EVEN on the eve of the election it looked as if Carter would be reelected.
Basically people were just ill from years of being abused and by being led by a girliman.
When Reagan was voted it it was a real catharsis, a real renewal.
Press never did give Reagan any credit, until long after he left the White House. Some didn't until he was long dead.
Of course, there are some rabid ideologues who still ridicule him.
But he is almost universally acclaimed as a great President.
Must have been great to be there on that day. I wonder how people found out about rallies back then. We are so dependent on social media and emails today. I only went to the Trump rally in Fairfield, CT because I saw it posted here on Free Republic and on the Trump campaign website.
Next week's schedule is already shaping up. Tuesday in Everett, WA and a major speech on immigration in Phoenix on Wednesday. Should be huge crowds both nights.
36 years ago today!
I remember this fondly,Sam.
Watching him on TV that day, I could not wait to vote for him the coming November.
Thanks for the memories.
We have another Reagan in Trump. And Trump will even do more.
We will need a Mt. Rushmore II for both of them some day.
September 1 bump - the final stretch of the long campaign is now upon us!
I took the Staten Island Ferry and was near the site of this famous speech 36 years ago today.
Listening to the Top 40 from this time in 1980 bump.
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