Posted on 06/10/2004 10:42:21 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
MRS. REAGAN, PATTI, RON, MICHAEL, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, MEMBERS OF THE REAGAN FAMILY, AND FRIENDS OF RONALD REAGAN IN AMERICA AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD:
TONIGHT, PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN HAS RETURNED TO THE PEOPLE’S HOUSE TO BE HONORED BY MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO LOVED HIM.
SINCE 1824, UNDER THIS ROTUNDA, OUR NATION HAS PAID FINAL TRIBUTE TO MANY DEDICATED PUBLIC SERVANTS. PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO LIE IN STATE UNDER THIS CAPITOL DOME. IN THE COMING DAYS, THOUSANDS WILL COME TO THESE HALLOWED HALLS TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO ANOTHER SON OF ILLINOIS WHO, LIKE LINCOLN, APPEALED TO OUR BEST HOPES, NOT OUR WORST FEARS.
IN THE LIFE OF ANY NATION, FEW MEN FOREVER ALTER THE COURSE OF HISTORY. RONALD REAGAN WAS ONE OF THOSE MEN. HE ROSE FROM A YOUNG BOY WHO DIDN’T HAVE MUCH TO A MAN WHO HAD IT ALL, INCLUDING THE LOVE OF A FAITHFUL PARTNER AND FRIEND HE FOUND IN HIS WIFE NANCY.
THE TRUE MEASURE OF ANY MAN IS WHAT HE DOES WITH THE OPPORTUNITIES LIFE OFFERS. BY THAT STANDARD, RONALD REAGAN WAS ONE OF AMERICA’S GREATEST. HE FIRST PROVED THAT AS GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA AND LATER AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
WHEN RONALD REAGAN WAS SWORN IN AS OUR 40TH PRESIDENT, THIS NATION WAS GRIPPED BY A POWERFUL MALAISE, INFLATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT WERE SOARING, AND THE SOVIET UNION WAS WINNING THE COLD WAR.
BY THE TIME PRESIDENT REAGAN LEFT OFFICE, HE HAD REVERSED THE TREND OF EVER-INCREASING GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES, RESTORED OUR DEFENSE CAPABILITIES, GUIDED US THROUGH THE WORST ECONOMIC DOWNTURN SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND SET IN MOTION POLICIES WHICH ULTIMATELY LED TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE “EVIL EMPIRE.”
HIS INTEGRITY, VISION AND COMMITMENT WERE RESPECTED BY ALL. BUT HISTORY’S FINAL JUDGMENT, I BELIEVE, WILL REMEMBER MOST HIS ABILITY TO INSPIRE US.
PRESIDENT REAGAN PUT IT BEST WHEN HE SAID: “THE GREATEST LEADER IS NOT NECESSARILY THE ONE WHO DOES THE GREATEST THINGS. HE IS THE ONE THAT GETS [THE] PEOPLE TO DO THE GREATEST THINGS.”
THIS PRESIDENT INSPIRED AMERICANS BY REACHING OUT FAR BEYOND WHAT HE COULD ATTAIN. LIKE A GOOD COACH, HE UNDERSTOOD THE VALUE OF A GOAL ISN’T ALWAYS IN ACHIEVING IT; SOMETIMES IT IS ENOUGH TO SIMPLY LOOK OUT INTO THE FUTURE AND REMIND PEOPLE WHAT IS POSSIBLE. AND, OFTEN HE ACHIEVED THE IMPOSSIBLE.
HE REMINDED US THAT “GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE SOLUTION.” THE SOLUTION LIES IN EACH OF US. TRUE AMERICAN HEROES ARE ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO LIVE THEIR LIVES WITH EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER AND STRENGTH.
PRESIDENT REAGAN SHOWED US FREEDOM WAS NOT JUST A SLOGAN; HE ACTUALLY BROUGHT FREEDOM TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AROUND THIS GLOBE BY OPPOSING OPPRESSIVE REGIMES. THOSE OF US FROM THE WORLD WAR II GENERATION LOOKED UP TO HIM FOR HIS MORAL COURAGE; IN HIM WE SAW THE LEADERSHIP OF GREAT MEN LIKE EISENHOWER WHO LED THE WAY AND MOVED US TO FOLLOW.
ON A WINTER DAY IN 1981, RONALD REAGAN STOOD ON THE STEPS THAT LIE JUST BEYOND THESE DOORS TO DELIVER HIS FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS. HE SPOKE OF A JOURNAL WRITTEN BY A YOUNG AMERICAN WHO WENT TO FRANCE IN 1917 AND DIED FOR THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM. FROM THAT JOURNAL HE READ THESE WORDS:
“I WILL WORK, I WILL SAVE, I WILL SACRIFICE, I WILL ENDURE, I WILL FIGHT CHEERFULLY AND DO MY UTMOST, AS IF THE ISSUE OF THE WHOLE STRUGGLE DEPENDED ON ME ALONE.”
THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, RONALD REAGAN BORE OUR BURDENS AS IF THE OUTCOME DID DEPEND ON HIM ALONE. WE WILL ALL REMEMBER HIM AS AN UNPARALLELED LEADER AND AN EXCEPTIONAL MAN WHO LIFTED OUR NATION AND SET THE WORLD ON A NEW PATH.
PRESIDENT REAGAN ACHIEVED GREATNESS IN HIS LIFE; SOME MIGHT EVEN ARGUE HE TRANSCENDED IT. HE COULD NOT HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THIS WITHOUT NANCY. NANCY IS ONE OF THE FINEST FIRST LADIES THESE UNITED STATES HAVE EVER KNOWN. AND THE LOVE RONALD AND NANCY REAGAN SHARED TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.
IN 1989, PRESIDENT REAGAN DELIVERED HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS FROM THE OVAL OFFICE. IN THAT SPEECH, THE PRESIDENT SPOKE OF “THE SHINING CITY UPON A HILL” THAT, “AFTER 200 YEARS, TWO CENTURIES …STILL STANDS STRONG AND TRUE ON THE GRANITE RIDGE.” NOW, IT IS OUR TURN TO THANK RONALD REAGAN FOR MAKING US BELIEVE IN THAT SHINING CITY. AS WE SAY FAREWELL, HIS LAST WORDS AS PRESIDENT ECHO ACROSS THIS GREAT NATION. IF WE LISTEN, WE WILL HEAR HIM WHISPER THE HUMBLE WORDS HE USED TO SUM UP HIS REVOLUTION:
“ALL IN ALL, NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL.”
And I honestly thought it had the best content of the speeches last night....delivery was off, but the content was awesome.
I saw the speech. Maybe not political but it seemed small minded [as was Hassert's] compared to Cheney's.
Just alerting those FReepers who live on the East Coast; Rush Limbaugh is currently doing a side-by-side comparison of the Wellstone memorial and the services performed in honor of Ronald Reagan last night.
He's using Cheney's keynote speech as the reference point, thus far, he hasn't brought up any of the other speakers.
From how O described it. I'm a bit disappointed. The speech was great. I loved it. Just thought there was going to be something juicy after O was so offended.
Bill O is seriously so full of himself his eyes are turning brown.
Hardly. I'll tell you what is too political and partisan. At the Wellstone "Fun"-eral, democrats pumped their fists in the air and yelled "We will win!" in a unison chant. His son and several other speakers went into rants against Republicans while at the speakers' podium. Several members of opposition parties, including Trent Lott and Jessie Ventura were heckled into leaving due to constant verbal attacks by liberal event goers.
This has all been class.
It was implied in the references to character traits. That these character traits are unusual enough among politicians to be mentioned makes this a political speech.
Non-partisan? Maybe.
Stevens was gauche enough to mention the dogpile that Carter left behind for Reagan to clean up:
WHEN RONALD REAGAN WAS SWORN IN AS OUR 40TH PRESIDENT, THIS NATION WAS GRIPPED BY A POWERFUL MALAISE, INFLATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT WERE SOARING, AND THE SOVIET UNION WAS WINNING THE COLD WAR.
Sometimes, the truth hurts.
First he comes on and starts lambasting the French ... appropriate, yes, but FNC neglected to show so many of the touching moments which followed, such as Marilyn Quayle breaking up or Lady Thatcher performing a very noble courtsey.
Monica Crowley seemed oblivious to the fact the only reason Sick Willy spoke at Nixon's funeral was because he (Sick Willy) happened to be POTUS at the time.
I watched Stevens' speech again after that to see if I missed anything & I didn't - it was just Stevens deviated ever so slightly from the "Reagan was a good man of good humor" line which is usually indifferent to the policies and truth that Reagan espoused.
I find myself not watching BO anymore.
O'Really doesn't know jack. He only knows Bill.
My jaw dropped when he started talking about the terrible Carter years, saying oh oh, the dems and the liberal news are going to make trouble about this. But I thought who cares, it is the truth and it needed to be said.
Way to go Senator.
It looks much better in print. I don't agree with O'Reilly on it being too partisan but I think it was the way he delivered the speech. He was loud and spoke too fast and although I agreed with the content, I was very glad when it was over. I thought Speaker Hastert's speech was good and Vice-President Cheney's excellent.
I listened to all of the speeches. I thought that Sen. Stevens and Speaker Hastert should have at least review what they had written, as they were redunant in several instances. Also, they did not have the delivery and eloquence of the Vice President. I'd rather have heard the first two stay with a welcome and reflect on some of the times President Reagan visited the Capitol. As it was, they were too long with little to say in light of the Vice President's speech.
I thought the speech was fabulous. So what, his delivery was a little rushed. Let us not reduce ourselves to the lowly level of liberals and judge our public servants by superficial characteristics. (not you, 1Old Pro, everybody else!)
I herad Bill say that also & could not figure out what he was talking about....Bill O'Reilly is an idiot.
I type too fast for my own good sometimes...and never proofread. Oh well, live with my typos.
O'Reilly has lost his mind. It is a fine speech.
I think O'Reily was trying to create a controversy for ratings. OReily looked far more partisan about the opening eulogy than the eulogy itself.
You are missing nothing. You can't talk about Reagan the president without touching the subjects touched by stevens.
You will also note it includes reagan's quotes and reagan is giving credit to the people.
ever speak in a planetarium or other dome? EVERYTHING IS LOUD.
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