Posted on 06/11/2004 9:00:42 PM PDT by nuconvert
Text of Ron Reagan Jr.'s Remarks at Father's Burial Service
The Associated Press
Jun 11, 2004
Text of remarks by Ron Reagan Jr. at Friday's burial service for former President Reagan, as transcribed by eMediaMillWorks Inc.:
RON REAGAN JR.: He is home now. He is free. In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote, "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life." This evening, he has arrived.
History will record his worth as a leader. We here have long since measured his worth as a man. Honest, compassionate, graceful, brave. He was the most plainly decent man you could ever hope to meet.
He used to say, "A gentleman always does the kind thing." And he was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. A gentle man.
Big as he was, he never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he became, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable than when it was applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference, Dad treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy. Acknowledging the innate dignity in us all.
The idea that all people are created equal was more than mere words on a page, it was how he lived his life. And he lived a good, long life. The kind of life good men lead. But I guess I'm just telling you things you already know.
Here's something you may not know, a little Ronald Reagan trivia for you, his entire life, Dad had an inordinate fondness for earlobes. Even as a boy, back in Dixon, Ill., hanging out on a street corner with his friends, they knew that if they were standing next to Dutch, sooner or later, he was going to reach over and grab hold of their lobe, give it a workout there. Sitting on his lap watching TV as a kid, same story. He would have hold of my ear lobe. I'm surprised I have any lobes left after all of that.
And you didn't have to be a kid to enjoy that sort of treatment. Serving in the Screen Actors Guild with his great friend William Holden, the actor, best man at his wedding, Bill got used to it. They would be there at the meetings, and Dad would have hold of his earlobe. There they'd be, some tense labor negotiation, two big Hollywood movie stars, hand in earlobe.
He was, as you know, a famously optimistic man. Sometimes such optimism leads you to see the world as you wish it were as opposed to how it really is. At a certain point in his presidency, Dad decided he was going to revive the thumbs-up gesture. So he went all over the country, of course, giving everybody the thumbs up.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) and I found ourselves in the presidential limousine one day returning from some big event. My mother was there and Dad was, of course, thumbs-upping the crowd along the way, and suddenly, looming in the window on his side of the car, was this snarling face. This fellow was reviving an entirely different hand gesture. And hoisted an entirely different digit in our direction. Dad saw this and without missing a beat turned to us and said, "You see? I think it's catching on."
Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference.
Humble as he was, he never would have assumed a free pass to heaven. But in his heart of hearts, I suspect he felt he would be welcome there. And so he is home. He is free.
Those of us who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden fields will spread beneath a blue dome of a western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillsides. And someplace, flowing from years long past, a river will wind toward the sea. Across those fields, he will ride a gray mare he calls Nancy D. They will sail over jumps he has built with his own hands. He will, at the river, carry him over the shining stones. He will rest in the shade of the trees.
Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now only in memory. But we will join him soon enough. All of us. When we are home. When we are free.
I do have to admire Ron's polish and cool understated economy and elegance in his speaking.
Exactly.
I suggest we treat this as one would a loud fart in Church. Maybe wrinkle our noses a little but keep absolutely silent.
The children and the simpleminded may giggle, but no one ever listens to them anyway.
Great perspective. I had a dim sense when I heard Ron's eulogy that he was slamming someone, probably including GW, but I agree that he wasn't and could not be more blatant. OTOH, Chris (0.3%) Matthews [LOL] and Fineman are obviously going to try and push that line and it will appear in the media.
They are so hoping (that they are almost splitting) that Nancy Reagan will embark on a stem cell research push which will directly confront GW (and Laura, BTW). I think they are dreaming liberal dreams, but who knows given Ron's relation to his mother.
I still think that's a long shot, but liberals are commenting on this propsect all over the place. They try to make it so just by saying it. [Come to think of it, that might be description that applies to them in a more profound way]
I don't think Nancy is stupid however....Ron is a very stupid man.
Michael on the other hand is the smartest of the whole bunch. Since Nancy resented Michael from the get go. Nancy was hateful and nasty to Michael when he was growing up (she tried just about everything to stop him from living with them when he was a kid). She did not have the influence on him as she did on her own kids. Both her kids have turned out shameful and they are both a huge shame to their Dad.
I have taken issue with some of Ron's eulogy, but that was a very tender and elegant way in which he delivered the right message to his mother when she needed it. It was hard not to admire Ron at that moment. Then he moved out of the way so Michael could come next to Nancy.
Well done.
Arrogant!!!! The bible very plainly states the way to heaven. Of course Michael knows he'll go to heaven and see his Dad one day. Now on the other hand, Ron is delusional as all liberals.....he thinks he'll see his Dad one day without believing in Jesus Christ. I can say NO HE WON'T.
No...he's not stupid...just wrong.
I think Ron's statement was pretty generic and an across the board jab at phoney politicians. He was contrasting his father's sincerity against theirs...that's all.
I can't imagine why he would insult Bush at his Dad's funeral, considering how gracious his family was treated this week.
sw
Exactly! Christians know.
Never once heard of the earlobe thing until yesterday.
Probably was a private matter (in the home/ among close friends) and shouldn't have been mentioned in a eulogy to the masses.
No, you are wrong anyone who is saved knows that he is going to heaven. If you don't know where you are going when you die, I reccommend that you sit down and make a determination one way or the other. If you didn't like Michael's statement, it can only mean that you are not a believer.
I agree. Not unless Ron has a change of heart and mind he WON'T be seeing RR again. (His last view of RR was at his death bed.)
Definitely.
He is a stupid spoiled rich kid. An unless lots of folks start praying for both Patti and Ron; they'll never see they're Dad again.
I think you're right ---- I don't know why so many jump to the conclusion that he must have been referring to Bush --- unless they think it's Bush who acts like he has some mandate or uses his religion. It could be like one of those "if the shoe fits" things. I don't think Bush would have taken this to mean him.
"I don't think he was singling out any one individual person, unless someone has insider knowledge of an all consuming hatred he had for someone. I hope he wasn't speaking of Bush."
Frankly, I was appalled that Michael took advantage of his time to eulogize his father to make a political attack. It ruined his memorial and showed what a small person Michael really is.
Michael made no political statement.
"Mike Reagan turned me off with his "I'm going to heaven" line. Arrogant. Only God decides who goes to Heaven."
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ambrose,
"My people shall perish for lack of knowledge...."
I pray that you take that particular scripture seriously........As it is eternally important.
My best to you,
I'm confused. In your prior post, you chastize Ambrose for attacking Michael...and now you're saying he is the one who made a political statement?
I might be naive --- but I thought he was just pointing out that his dad's faith was genuine and he wasn't using it for political gain. I didn't think he necessarily was pointing a finger at any particular other politician --- just eulogizing that his father's religious was real and not for politics.
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