Word to LIve by & Reagan Forum

Words To Live By – St. Paddy’s Day Toasts

‘Tis the season of wearin’ the green which means St. Patrick’s day and we just can’t be true representatives of President Reagan’s “Words To Live By” if we don’t celebrate some of his colorful thoughts on this, one of his beloved holidays. Going through our archives, I noticed the wonderful toasts given on various Irish occasions: things like when he would say, “…in the words of our forefathers, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the wind be always at your back, and may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.” Plus of course, he included plenty of jokes about the Irish…as only he could.

A Reagan Forum –2023 Medal of Honor Forum

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back one month to February 15, 2023 for our in-person event with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. For over a decade the Reagan Foundation has partnered with the Medal of Honor Society to hold their annual Medal of Honor Forum whereby Medal of Honor recipients speak with students about their stories of courage and sacrifice, exploring such themes as patriotism, citizenship, and integrity. During this year’s program, we heard from Sergeant First Class Gary Littrell, US Army, Retired, who received the citation for his Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War after fighting in Kontum Province in April, 1970. The Medal of Honor is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. It is awarded for gallantry and bravery at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.

Words To Live By – SDI 40 Years Ago

Let’s review a bit: recall when Jimmy Carter became President in the late 70s, believing the Soviets were not a threat, he cancelled the B1 Bomber Program and significantly reduced the American defense budget. What that did was to essentially force the US to accept nuclear parity with the Soviet Union. And yes, there was the SALT I Treaty which recognized the Soviet Union as equal in every respect. SALT II was never ratified by Congress; without ratification, both countries, the US and the Soviet Union were still supposed to hold to the terms. Of course, the Soviets ignored them. They invaded Afghanistan and deployed 200 SS20 missiles in East Germany, causing Europe to beg for help. Chancellor of West Germany Helmut Schmidt was frantic because the SS20 was a new kind of missile. All of Europe was within its range which was about 2300 kilometers. The missile had three warheads and it was mobile so it could easily be moved around wherever the Soviets needed. But the president had a better idea, a defensive weapon known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, which was rolled out to the American people in a national televised address, 40 years ago this month.

A Reagan Forum – Mike Pompeo

In this week's Reagan Forum podcast, we go back almost one month to February 8, 2023, for our in-person event with the 70th Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, for his new book Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love. In today's program, he sat down in conversation with John Heubusch, Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.

Words To Live By – Medal of Freedom

I’ve got a question for you today: what do George Balanchine, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Buckminster Fuller, and Clair Booth Luce have in common? The answer is they were awarded, along with 8 others, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in February 1983. This honor is not to be confused with the Kennedy Center Honors which focuses only on the arts. So what’s special about it? Well, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal which is, obviously, awarded by Congress.

So now…let’s dive in and listen!

A Reagan Forum – James Patterson and Matt Eversmann

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back two weeks to February 7, 2023 for our virtual event with New York Times bestselling author James Patterson and United States Army First Sergeant, Retired, Matt Eversmann for their new book, Walk the Blue Line: No Right No Left – just cops telling their true stories to James Patterson. James Patterson is one of the world’s bestselling authors, as well as one it’s most trusted storytellers. His writing career is characterized by a single mission – to prove that there is no such thing as a person who doesn’t like to read, only people who haven’t found the right book. He’s donated over three million books to school children and to the military, as well as endowed over 5,000 college scholarships for teachers. His co-author for Walk the Blue Line is Matt Eversmann, an Army Sergeant whose inspiring story of survival during a 1993 hostile conflict in Mogadishu became immortalized forever in the epic film, Black Hawk Down.

Words To Live By – To CPAC, with Love

CPAC…do you remember what it stands for? It’s an acronym for the Conservative Political Action Conference, kind of a Woodstock for movement conservatives. Always the headliner, Ronald Reagan appeared in January 1974 as Governor of California in CPAC’s inaugural year. To put it in perspective, that’s just a few months before a Richard Nixon would resign in fear of impeachment. That year, in 1974, CPAC attendees heard California Gov. Reagan urge them to remain united, as the Founding Fathers had, and that America’s responsibility as a world leader had been blessed by God. To be honest, this is a consistent theme throughout all his speeches, and today, we’ll focus on 1983.

A Reagan Forum – President Reagan’s Birthday

February 6, 2022 marked the 112^th anniversary of the birth of Ronald Wilson Reagan.  He used to love to joke that each birthday was the anniversary of his 39^th birthday, so 2023 would have marked the 73rd anniversary of his 39^th birthday! Since President Reagan’s passing on June 5, 2004, the Reagan Foundation has worked with United States Marine Corps Camp Pendleton to hold a birthday celebration on February 6^th of each year to honor the life and legacy of our nation’s 40^th president. Each year the program includes live musical entertainment from the 1^st Marine Division Band, an honor guard, a rifle guard, and the official laying of the White House Presidential Wreath on President Reagan’s gravesite. Keynote speakers in prior years have included Ed Meese, Elizabeth Dole, James Baker, and Sam Donaldson. In this week’s A Reagan Forum podcast, we listen in to the ceremony held on February 6, 2023 with keynote speaker Dr. Henry Kissinger.

Words To Live By – The Love Story

Everyone loves a good love story, and presidential love stories are no exception. Since we are in the season of Valentine’s Day, the theme of our podcast is the love story between Ronald and Nancy Reagan, specifically his expressive and loving correspondence which began in the 1950 and continued throughout their marriage. Our archives hold an abundance of letters, telegrams and cards from Ronald Reagan to his beloved wife, and a few cards from her. Because, for holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries, he believed that the best gift he could give her was his heartfelt expression of love and appreciation.

A Reagan Forum – Trey Gowdy

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast, we go back just one week to January 31, 2023 for our in-person event with former Congressman and New York Times bestselling author Trey Gowdy for his new book, Start, Stay, or Leave: The Art of Decision Making. The book is filled with surprising insights and questions, such as how to craft your unique vision of success, assess the price worth paying to achieve your goals, balance logic, emotion, and fear when facing a new challenge, chart the course of your life with the end goal in mind, and more. He discussed these topics and more during his conversation with John Heubusch, Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.